Mothers' names to be added to wedding certificates

Mothers' names are to appear on marriage certificates for the first time as the Government corrects an "archaic anomaly"

 

The changes will enable the names of both parents of the couple to be included on marriage certificates and is part of a new electronic system to modernise the way marriages are registered.

 

The changes will also see the registry book replaced with a "schedule" that can be computerised. The regulations amending the Marriage Act of 1949 mark the biggest changes to the marriage registration system since 1837

 

The changes were initiated in a Private Member's Bill by the Rt Rev Dr Alan Smith, Bishop of St Albans, to end what he said was an "archaic" practice unchanged since Victorian times when "children were seen as fathers' property, and little consideration was given to mothers' roles in raising children. This change rights a historical wrong so that wherever marriages take place, a woman's place is not on the sidelines" he said.

 

The Church of England's head of welcome and life events, Canon Sandra Millar, said that the previous rule had caused some "awkward conversations" between clerics and couples over the past decade, and said: "We'll be delighted to be able to include that part of their story [mothers and their occupations] as well,"

 

The computerisation of the marriage register will also mean the demise of the registry book, which couples have traditionally signed with the priest and their witnesses. Instead, they will sign a "marriage schedule" at the ceremony which will then be taken to the marriage register by whoever officiated at the wedding to be logged in the electronic register. A marriage certificate will then be issued to the couple.

 

Home Office sources said it would enable any changes that subsequently needed to be made quicker and easier, while the process would be more secure as paper registers would no longer have to be kept in registry buildings or churches.

 

Kevin Foster, the Home Office minister, welcomed the move and described how it had affected his own wedding to his wife, Hazel, four years ago. "When Hazel and I got married in 2017, my father and Hazel's mother shared the day with us, but sadly my mother and Hazel's father could not be with us, both having passed away beforehand. Whilst Hazel's father could still be part of the day by being listed on our marriage certificate, one was missing, my mother. These changes bring the registration process into the 21st century and mean no parent will be missing on their child's wedding day."

 

 

E&K Solicitors

Rusholme