Marriage

What is marriage?

The civil-law definition of marriage is a stable union between two persons of the same or opposite sex, established in accordance with the requirements of the civil legislation.

Marriage takes effect in civil law from the time of solemnisation. These effects apply both to the individuals concerned (the spouses’ rights and obligations) and to their estates (the matrimonial property regime). Marriages must be registered in the Civil Registry to be fully recognised

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What is a marriage licence?

Any Spaniard can marry in or outside Spain in the form laid down by the Civil Code or in the religious form legally provided for. If both parties are foreigners they can marry in Spain in accordance with the same provisions as for Spaniards or the provisions of the personal law of either party.

Persons wishing to marry must first produce documentation or an act compliant with the legislation on civil status to certify that they meet the requirements of capacity and there is no impediment or the waiver of any impediment or any other obstacle, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code. A decision will then be issued authorising the marriage to take place.

The Legal Advisor of the Administration of Justice, Notary, Civil Registrar or civil servant who processes the act or file, when necessary, may request from the Administrations or social initiative entities for the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, the provision of human, technical and material support to facilitate the issuing, interpretation and receipt of the consent of the contracting party or parties. Only in exceptional cases where any of the contracting parties has a health condition which, obviously, categorically and substantially, could prevent them from giving consent to marriage despite the support measures, will a medical opinion be sought about their ability to give consent.

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Where the marriage act or documentation is processed?

The act will be processed before a notary from the place where either of the spouses is domiciled. The documentation will be processed by the court clerk (judicial law clerk) or superintendent registrar of the place where one of the spouses is domiciled.

If one or both of the spouses was residing abroad, the documentation may be processed by the diplomatic or consular superintendent registrar responsible for the consular district in which they reside.

Once the new civil status model is established, the documentation will refer to the joint address where the spouses are domiciled. If they have different addresses, the spouses may choose one of them. If neither is chosen, the application will be sent to the civil registry corresponding to the spouse who appears first on the application.

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How the marriage documentation or act is initiated?

The documentation begins with an application for a marriage licence signed by both spouses, which should contain:

• Particulars of the identity, including the profession, of the spouses;
• Identification of witnesses;
• First name(s) and surname(s) of any previous spouse or spouses, and the marriage dissolution date(s);
• A declaration of no impediment to the marriage;
• The authority chosen, if any, to perform the marriage;
• Places of residence or domicile in the past 2 years.

Proof of identity, or of birth where the former is unavailable, and, where appropriate, proof of dissolution of previous ties, or of emancipation, or waiver where the former is unavailable, must be submitted with the document.

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Marriage licence and certificate of no impediment

If a notary is used, the procedure will conclude with a decision authorising the marriage. This will state that the legal requirements and checks on capacity to marry and no impediment are deemed to have been complied with.

The marriage documentation procedure will be concluded by a decision of the court clerk (judicial law clerk) stating that the spouses have met the requirements for contracting marriage, as well as determining the applicable matrimonial property regime and, where appropriate, the right of domicile of the contracting parties, and a copy of the decision will be given to them.

What the certificate of no impediment is and who should apply for it

This is a certificate to be obtained by the spouses when they have expressed their intention to marry abroad in the form laid down by the law in the place where the wedding is to be held or in religious form and when a certificate of no impediment is required.

Who issues the documentation and how it is processed in order to obtain a certificate of no impediment

This will be issued by the court clerk (judicial law clerk), notary, superintendent registrar or consular or diplomatic officer at the place where either of the spouses are domiciled. The issuance requires the processing of documentation or an act containing the judgement of the authorising officer certifying the capacity of the spouses to marry.

A notary from the place where either of the spouses is domiciled will be responsible for processing the act.

The documentation will be processed by the court clerk (justice administration law clerk) or superintendent registrar of the place where one of the spouses is domiciled.

Once the new civil status model is established, the documentation will refer to the joint address where the spouses are domiciled. If they have different addresses, the spouses may choose one of them. If neither is chosen, the application will be sent to the civil registry corresponding to the spouse who appears first on the application.

How the documentation or act is initiated

The documentation begins with an application for a marriage licence signed by both spouses, which should contain:

• Particulars of the identity, including the profession, of the spouses.
• Identification of witnesses;
• First name(s) and surname(s) of any previous spouse or spouses, and the marriage dissolution date(s);
• A declaration of no impediment to the marriage;
• The authority chosen, if any, to perform the marriage;
• Places of residence or domicile in the past 2 years.

Proof of identity, or of birth where the former is unavailable, and, where appropriate, proof of dissolution of previous ties, or of emancipation, or waiver where the former is unavailable, must be submitted with the document.

Issuance of the certificate of no impediment

The documentation processed by the court clerk (judicial law clerk) or superintendent registrar concludes with a decision authorising the marriage, stating that the spouses have met the requirements to enter into the marriage, after which the certificate of no impediment will be issued and given to the spouses.

If a notary is used, the procedure will conclude with a decision authorising the marriage. This will state that the legal requirements and checks on capacity to marry and no impediment are deemed to have been complied with.

Validity of the certificate of no impediment

The certificate of no impediment is valid for 6 months from its date of issuance.

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Where the marriage can take place

If the decision of the court clerk (judicial law clerk) is favourable, the marriage may be performed by the same or another court clerk, magistrate, mayor or their delegated councillor, as the spouses choose.

If the decision of the superintendent registrar is favourable, the marriage must be performed by the magistrate, mayor or their delegated councillor, as the spouses choose.

If the decision of the consular superintendent registrar is favourable, the marriage may be performed by the same or a different official, or by a magistrate, mayor or their delegated councillor, as decided by the spouses.

If the marriage act is drawn up by a notary, the spouses have the choice of giving their consent before the same notary or before a notary other than the one who processed the documentation, a magistrate, a mayor or their delegated councillor. Consent must be given in the manner provided for in the Civil Code.

Marriages outside Spain will be performed by the consular or diplomatic superintendent registrar abroad

A marriage performed by a magistrate, mayor or their delegated councillor or by the court clerk (judicial law clerk) will be recorded in an act; a marriage performed by a notary will be recorded in a notarial deed. In both cases, it must be signed by the spouses and two witnesses, in addition to the person performing the marriage.

Once the act has been drawn up or the notarial deed has been approved, a copy certifying that the marriage has been performed will be given to each of the spouses and the authorising party will send a certified statement or an electronically authorised copy of the document on the same day to the civil registry for registration, following classification by the superintendent registrar.

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Registration of marriage

Registration of marriage is the registry entry, drawn up by the superintendent registrar, which attests to the act of marriage and the date, time and place of the marriage and fully acknowledges the civil effects of the marriage vis-à-vis bona fide third parties.

The following will be registered:

• A marriage whose requirements have been established and concluded in accordance with the procedure set out above will be registered in the personal records of the spouses.

• A marriage performed before a foreign authority will be recorded in the civil registry by registering the corresponding certificate, provided that it is effective under the provisions of the Law on Civil Status.

A marriage performed in Spain in religious form will be recorded in the civil registry by registering the certificate issued by the officiating minister, in accordance with Article 

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Where the marriage must be registered

The marriage must be registered in the municipal or consular registry (if abroad) of the place where the wedding was performed.

When consular registration applies, if the sponsor (the person on whose initiative the marriage took place) is domiciled in Spain, the registration must first be entered in the central registry and then transposed to the corresponding consular registry.

In cases in which a marriage has been celebrated without the corresponding file or record being processed, and where necessary, the Court Clerk, Notary, diplomatic or consular official, or Civil Registrar who celebrated the marriage, before proceeding to register it, must verify the validity of the marriage and whether the legal requirements have been met, by processing the record or file referred to in this article.

If the marriage has been celebrated before a competent authority or person other than those indicated in the previous paragraph, the marriage record will be sent to the Civil Registry Registrar in the place of celebration so that the validity requirements may be verified in the corresponding file. As soon as it is verified, the Registrar of the Civil Registry will register it.

Once the marriage has been registered, the superintendent registrar will make the marriage registration certificate available to each of the parties.

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Información por Comunidades Autónomas

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