a legal question please

[danabnormal]

right my wife took on an asumed name when she was younger, obviously before she met me. its a long story involving womens refuges and the such.
now she got married in her ashumed name.
are we legally married? or should she have changed her name by deed poll before she got married or is it ok to get married under her taken name.

p.s the name she took was not the name on her birth certificate, so my wife asked me this the other day and it got me wondering.
please help and forgive the spelling , i have been up about about 16 hours and am bloody tired!

[5 Knuckle Shuffle]

Taken from here http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family_parent/family/getting_married.htm#Making_a_marriage_legally_valid

It says this, "Marriages which are not valid"

Certain marriages are treated as if they never took place. These are called void marriages. They are marriages which do not meet the requirements of United Kingdom law. An example of a void marriage is one where the partners may not marry because they are related.


Some marriages may have met the requirements of United Kingdom law when they took place but may then be annulled. These are called voidable marriages. An example of where a marriage is voidable is where one of the partners did not give valid consent to the marriage because the consent was given under duress. Either partner can seek to annul the marriage but if neither partner does, the marriage will be valid.


If you need to know more about voidable marriages, you will need to seek specialist advice. An experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau may be able to help you find specialist legal advice. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB

I have checked further on the government site and it does say that you should contact your local superintendent registrar to find out about legalities of marriage ceromonies. I believe that you wouldn't want to do that at this moment in time, in case it's looked upon as a lot more serious offence than you first expected.

[danabnormal]

Taken from here http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family_parent/family/getting_married.htm#Making_a_marriage_legally_valid

It says this, "Marriages which are not valid"

I have checked further on the government site and it does say that you should contact your local superintendent registrar to find out about legalities of marriage ceromonies. I believe that you wouldn't want to do that at this moment in time, in case it's looked upon as a lot more serious offence than you first expected.

oh fuck , looks like a spell in chokey for me and my wife.

[5 Knuckle Shuffle]

Blimey, don't think me as judge knuckles!! I just thought that caution was the best measure and you'd be better off going to the Citizen's advice bureau first.

[danabnormal]

Blimey, don't think me as judge knuckles!! I just thought that caution was the best measure and you'd be better off going to the Citizen's advice bureau first.

i was only joking , but the implications surely will be massive.. banks/ homeverything would surely be invalid??? as she would not legally be mrs **** would she?
sorry but you aint knowing my surname , just incase.

[Uncle_Z]

[Disclaimer]Never studied this sort of thing [/disclaimer]but I would not start to panic just yet.  

If the marriage is invalid (which I doubt) I do not think it carries any criminal sanction (given that there is no intent to deceive and so long as neither of you are already married elsewhere) just from a "legal" point of view you would not be married.  You would of course be commiting mortal sin, but that is another story.  

Has Mrs. A earned money, paid national insurance etc. under her unmarried name?  Surely would make it a bit more difficult for the powers that be to get really upset.  Chances are a visit to the registrar as suggested above would either confirm no problem or just require you to get a notarised letter showing Mrs. A's original name etc.  (Many local solicitors will know a Notary Public who will attest the facts as presented.  This will cost around £50 for a signature, but life's a beeyatch sometimes.)

As for bank accounts I am reasonably confident you can open them in whatever name, but in any event it would not make Mrs. Abnormal just "disappear" from legality.  Perhaps they may temporarily request she changes her name back from abnormal to perfectlynormal but that's just a paperwork exercise.

Relax and make the call in the morning.

[danabnormal]

Has Mrs. A earned money, paid national insurance etc. under her unmarried name?  Surely would make it a bit more difficult for the powers that be to get really upset.  Chances are a visit to the registrar as suggested above would either confirm no problem or just require you to get a notarised letter showing Mrs. A's original name etc.  (Many local solicitors will know a Notary Public who will attest the facts as presented.  This will cost around £50 for a signature, but life's a beeyatch sometimes.)



Relax and make the call in the morning.

yes she did earn and pay natioal insurance under miss perfectly normal.
and looing at the now found marriage cert , her sister's states that her name is miss ***** known as *****.
and another thing ,my wife's middle name is spelt wrong as well.

[danabnormal]

and she is panicing like a fucker!!!
bless her. pity about the bank though as it could wipe out my debt problem in one go!
she is now talking that if shes not legally married she wants another wedding.another big white one as well,well no fucking chance i aint paying out for another one!

[thomasina]

You should both stop worrying.  Your name, your legal name is the one that you are generally known by.   To change your name, you just start calling yourself by it.  Its only illegal to use an assumed name if you do it for purposes of deception.

True.

[european son]

i only realised very recently that my middle name is wrong on all my bank details (it has an "R" stuck in there for no reason).

i don't think these things matters really. thomasina's seems to be right. you may have a few extra forms to fill in or an argument with a cretin at one point in your life but that'll be the worst of it.

[danabnormal]

well she phoned up the registar this morning and found out that we are legally married, as her father signed the marriage certificate , which i suppose confirms that she is who she says she is. shes a lot happier now!!!

[5 Knuckle Shuffle]

well she phoned up the registar this morning and found out that we are legally married, as her father signed the marriage certificate , which i suppose confirms that she is who she says she is. shes a lot happier now!!!

Good news :thumbsup:

Sorry for getting you all worked up for nothing :(

[hands cold, liver warm]

Dan, perhaps you could use this to your advantage e.g.

Wife: Dan could you put the rubbish out?
You: Don't feel like it
Wife: For god sake just do it you idiot
You: You're not my proper wife anyway.

Wife: I want to go back to college. Could you work more hours to pay for it? In the long run it will help me to get a better paid and more fulfilling job.
You: Can't be arsed, sorry.
Wife: You're not the same man I married
You: Ha Ha. You didn't marry me anyway. Get out!

[Abbie]

:-)

Will you marry me Hands Cold?

Dan, a question for ya.  Did your wife not have to show her birth certificate to the registrar/vicar before they agreed to marry you both?  I thought you had to cough up this document before anyone would do anything....1

[danabnormal]

well she did show the vicar the birth certificate and i believe there was a query at the time, the vicar said that if it was her ashumed name , it would be ok , but it was almost  <tiny voice> twelve years ago <tiny voice> . its just that my wifes friend is getting married soon abroad and she was once divorced and took on her married name after the divorce , she now has to change her name by deed poll to get legally married.
and it just go my wife thinking if it was the same for her.


edit to say that i got married when i was 11 if you are thinking!!!!! i know i look good for my age!!

[hands cold, liver warm]

:-)

Will you marry me Hands Cold?

only if you put the rubbish out and don't ask where I got this love bite from