The Marriage Certificate

Wed, 28 Aug 2013

On your wedding day, you will be presented with a Certificate of Marriage which is a legal document and proof of marriage.  Blank Certificates of Marriage are issued to both religious and civil celebrants, to complete and present to their couples on the day. Hence they are called a Presentation Certificate.

Whilst these are a legal document, they cannot be used by the bride to change her surname to that of her husbands, or indeed for any government agency such as Department of Transport or Immigration.

All couples need to apply to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the state in which they were married for a certified copy of their marriage certificate. Because of privacy laws, only the bride or the groom can apply for the certificate after their wedding day.

http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/7517/BDM-form-Marriage-Cert-Extract.pdf

The current government charge in Queensland is $40.50 and it can take up to six weeks to receive the certified copy of your marriage certificate from the date of the lodgement of the application.  Applications can be made 'online' or by downloading the application form from the relevant website and posting.

Each application requires three forms of identification, the details of which are located on the back of the form.

The purpose of requiring a certified copy of a marriage certificate only as proof of marriage is that this confirms that all necessary paperwork has been completed correctly, lodged accordingly and registered as per requirements.

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