Getting married in 4 weeks amd gave no notice to the state!

S

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Getting married on Dec 20th and went to visit priest tonight. He asked us had we given notice to the state, which we haven't. Between getting our house built and other things, we never thought of it. Thought the proest wouldhave let us know anyway. Think we might have to go to court now or something. Has this happened anyone before. All help appreciated.

Thanks
 
Have a look at the General Register Office website here.

The details for the granting of an exemption are set out at 1.5 on the page linked to above. Prepare yourself for a trip to court!
 
It's just a formality - just the bother and expense of going to court.
 
Make sure you get it sorted in advance as the State part of the wedding is the important one from a legal perspective. A church wedding has no status in law, so you would not be regarded as married if you dont do the State part.
 
There are lots of new rules in this area since November 2007. Basically there was a seperation of the church and state in terms of the legality of marriage - you have to go through all the state paperwork before the marriage regardless of whether it's a religious ceremony or not .
The law sez you have to present yourself to an appropriate registrar's office (in our case it was Dublin - Lombard Street) and bring documentation including birth certs, evidence of address, names and dates of birth of witnesses etc. All info on www.groireland.ie
You're supposed to do it three months before hand so I'm not sure how the court situation will work BUT when you get your 'certificate' to say the wedding can go ahead LOOK AFTER IT - it has to be given to the priest on the day and signed, and then returned to the office. You can't photocopy it or get a new one - that is the original and if you lose it or don't get it signed on the day of the wedding you'll have to go through the whole thing again. In regard to the priest 'not telling you' - they too had to change their whole approach to paperwork when the new law came in and to be honest a lot of them seemed to have been left to figure it out themselves.
Lots of discussion here
www.weddingsonline.ie (sub forum legal and religious)
Oh and there's a charge of E150 for the paperwork in the registrar's office.
Good luck!
 
The only fee was €21.36 for the wedding/licence if you were getting married in the registry office. The actual notice giving was free.
 
Full details of the E150 here http://www.groireland.ie/getting_married.htm

A lot of people got their paperwork in before November last year to avoid this - not only is it E150 but you have to present yourself at the office in person, even if that means taking time off work.
In the past the priest did a lot of the paperwork for either nothing, or a small donation. Now the couple is down E150, the priests are down a donation and the state is up E150! Insert 'can't buy me love' jokes here as appropriate...
(newly married) speirbhean
 
Could you not get the religious ceremony done now, give notice and do the civil ceremony in three months? It would save the cost of going to court.

I do know some people who have done the civil part and will be doing the religious part in a year or two.
 
The Court application is very routine. It should not be a big deal.

I'm more interested in the idea that it never occurred to them to think about the legal practicalities of a marriage. Its not rocket science and it is clearly explained on the website.

My own view ( as writer disappears on an enormous tangent!) is that people do not take marriage very seriously - seeing it more as a big outing and an opportunity for a party than a major legal commitment.

mf
 
I worked with a guy that this happened to. They just completely forgot the state part. Unfortunately he and his partner had to cancel the wedding with only a few weeks to go. The priest could not marry them without the legal side done, I think his hands were tied with this, he couldn't proceed with the church part without the state part done. They weren't successful either with their application to court, I think the circumstances had to be exceptional, not just 'I forgot/didn't know'.
They lost some money on deposits etc but they found a lot of their suppliers were very sympathetic and got a good proportion of their money back.
Don't know if they ever went ahead with arranging another wedding, he moved to another office.
 
They didn't get a nice judge then. A solicitor would probably have framed an application in such a way it would be likely to be granted.
 
bond-007 said:
They didn't get a nice judge then. A solicitor would probably have framed an application in such a way it would be likely to be granted.
Click to expand...

Bond 007 - I'm going to have to stop you there - you mean you think Solicitors have a real purpose in life !!!!!! You're gonna lose all your credibility if you carry on like that.

:p

mf
 
bond-007 said:
They didn't get a nice judge then. A solicitor would probably have framed an application in such a way it would be likely to be granted.
Click to expand...


I sure hope you are right. I cannot imagine the stress that this is causing the OP. Anyone who has organised a wedding would know how devastating it would be financially and emotionally if they had to cancel.

Slookie, let us know how you get on won't you.
 
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