We wrote this article because although our job is to musically accompany the bride and groom during their wedding, during the specialized consultations we do with them several times we are asked if we are aware of what documents need to be submitted in order to be civilly married.
First and foremost, the first step is to request Civil Publications from the Registrar of Civil Status of one of the two municipalities of residence of the future spouses. Those entitled to make such a request are the bride and groom or another person with a special power of attorney.
The bride and groom should state:
- First name, last name, place and date of birth (you must be of legal age to contract marriage).
- Residence and Citizenship
- Freedom of status, i.e., not being bound by previous marriage (e.g., divorced, widowed, nullity of previous marriage)
- That the previous marriage has been dissolved for at least 300 days (temporary ban on remarriage).
- Absence of impediments of kinship, affinity, adoption or affiliation.
- Absence of a declaration of disqualification due to insanity.
- To not have a conviction for consummated or attempted murder on the spouse of the other spouse
Having made these declarations, the registrar draws up the minutes, signs them together with the two bride and groom-to-be, and verifies what has been declared by acquiring office documents.
After verifying the truthfulness of the declarations, the Officer displays the Act of Publication for 8 full days after which he issues the certificate of publication or the marriage clearance to be taken to the priest in the case of a concordat rite, or again the authorization in the case of a non-Catholic marriage.
When one of the bride and groom is a resident of another municipality, the Registrar will take care of requesting publication in that municipality as well, which will always post the banns for 8 full days. On the ninth day, he will send the notice of successful publication to the other municipality.
If you chose the route of only civil ceremony, the marriage can be celebrated after 4 days after the last publication has taken place, otherwise you will also have to wait for the time for religious publications to be posted.
For reasons of necessity or convenience, the civil marriage may also be celebrated in a municipality other than the one where the banns were requested. In this case, similar to the above, the Registrar will forward the documentation to the offices of the municipality chosen for the rite.
Even if celebrated in a different municipality, the civil wedding will still take place in the municipality or in a location belonging to the municipality. The only exception to this rule is the infirmity or other justified impediment of one or both spouses.
That said.
I hope you found the information in this article useful.
I am Paolo Furlan founder of the music agencies Wedding Symphony specializing in ceremony music and Wedding Music Fun specializing in wedding music and entertainment. Follow our social channels to stay up to date with the latest news and get helpful tips on how to best plan your wedding!
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