Articles to Love II

 

Starting the wedding planning - procedure before the Registrar and deadlines

Marrying parties have to announce their intent to a marriage contract jointly and in person at the Register Office, which is operating as a registry group next to the Mayors‘ Office in each self government. The announcement may happen at any Register Office, it is not subject to domicile or residence.

The earliest date of the announcement is 6 months before the wedding day, however the earliest day of the wedding is the 31^th day following the announcement at the Registrar. An exception could be from the latter if the notary grants exemption or in an extreme case, when either party to a marriage is in a medical condition threatening with near death.

Following the announcement of the marriage intent, the Registrar examines if there is a legal impediment to the marriage. Such legal impediment is, if a person being under conservatorship whishes to enter a marriage, or if he is not under guardianship, but at the time of the marriage contract he was incompetent, except that the latter person being already in the possession of a legal capacity, subsequently approves the marriage. Another impediment to a valid marriage is, when the Registrar does not act in his official quality or if the parties to the marriage contract were not jointly present when expressing their marriage intent.

The marriage ceremony is void also in the case when the previous marriage or a previous registered partnership status still exists, furthermore in case of a marriage between direct line (ancestors, descendants) relatives, adoptive and adoptee, siblings.

Albeit it is void, the Registrar may grant exemption in respect of a marriage with the siblings‘ bloodline descendent, or with the ex spouses‘ direct line relative (for example when the spouse marries the ex spouses‘ ancestors or descendants, that is with her ex father in law, or ex mother in law, or with a stepchild).

It is important to mention, that if our beloved is not a Hungarian, but a foregnier citizen, generally proper documents certifying the existence of the legal conditions need to be obtained from the consulate, which means we need to calculate a proper time for this too and please check the competent embassies consulate department about the documens which need to be obtained, also the necessary time input and the possible costs.

After the announcement, the Registrar examines the existence of the necessary legal conditions for the marriage. If there is no legal impediment to the marriage contract, he invites the parties to the marriage to pay a determined fee.

The Registrar is entitled for a fee defined in the legal acts. However, we may see differing conditions regarding the fees in each self government, that is why it is also advisable to inform ourselves on the governing provisions in the given self government. A seperate fee may apply in cases, when the marriage takes place at the weekend, furthermore it is applicable when we plan a marriage outside the self governments‘ premises, which is in fact ensured free of charge, or seperate fee applies if we would like to host beyond the witnesses and the parties to the marriage more guests on the civil wedding ceremony and for this reason we are required to use other premises suitable for the mariage contract.

It is very important to determine the time, while it may happen that the marriage is not possible on the given wedding day at the given selfgovernment. Unfortunately, in practice we may meet with cases like this as well.

If all the necessary fees have been paid, we must choose our wittnesses. It is usual to invite one-one witness from both the husbends‘ and the wifes‘ side. It is important to note that the witness must be of a legal age, must have a capacity and is able to be present on the wedding day to be able to sign the marriage certificate. If we wish to conclude a marriage with a foreign citizen who does not speaks the Hungarian language, we need to take care of the presence of an interpreter. Please see also the rules on bearing a name in a separate box.

After making the above decesions we have nothing else to do than to announce the beatific „I do“!

 

 

We at BWSP Gobert and Partners are constantly at your diposal! Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us!

office@gfplegal.com

www.gobertpartners.com