PREPARING FOR A WEDDING THIS SEASON

A QUICK LEGAL CHECKLIST: Taking a decision to get a married and planning a marriage is one of the sweetest things to be involved in. However the whole ceremony may take months to plan and the ceremony may take place within a week or a day. However, the decision to live, love and walk together is a vow that affects our life. So, this is a quick checklist of things to consider.

AGE: Are you within the Legal Age? The Marriage Act states that unless a party is a widow or widower, there is need to obtain the written consent of either the parents or guardians where such person is under the age of twenty one years.

Consent: Under statutory marriage or marriage under the Act, parental consent of both the male and female parties is a legal requirement but only in cases where either or both of the parties are under the age of twenty one years. The Marriage Act is silent in relation to the consent of parties themselves but the Matrimonial Causes Act (MCA), 1970 provides for the consent of the parties, that is, consent obtained without duress or fraud.

Subsisting Marriage: Parties will lack the capacity to embark on a statutory marriage if either of them is already married under the Act to another person and the marriage has not been dissolved by any court of law. Also, section 33 (1) of the Marriage Act provides that no marriage in Nigeria shall be valid where either of the parties thereto at the time of the celebration of such marriage is married by native law or custom to any other person other than the person with whom such marriage is had.

Kindred and Affinity: Persons intending to get married must ensure that there is no impediment of kindred or affinity between them. The list of prohibited degrees of consanguinity and affinity applies to statutory marriages and it is provided in Schedule 1 of the MCA. A Registrar will not issue a certificate to marry unless he is satisfied by reason of a sworn affidavit by the parties that there is no such impediment. A marriage between two persons who are within the prohibited degree of consanguinity or affinity is void. Under section 4 of the MCA, where persons are within the prohibited degrees of affinity and desire to marry, they may apply in writing to a Judge for permission to do so and if the Judge is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances, the Judge may by an order permit the parties to marry one another.

The Prohibited Degrees of Consanguinity and Affinity are:

 Consanguinity Affinity

 Marriage of a man is prohibited if the woman is, or has been his-

Ancestress	Wife's mother
Descendant	Wife's grandmother
Sister	Wife's daughter
Father's sister	Wife's son's daughter
Mother's sister	Wife's daughter's daughter
Brother's daughter	Father's wife
Sister's daughter	Grandfather's wife
	Son's wife
	Son's son's wife
	Daughter's son's wife

 Marriage of a woman is prohibited if the man is, or has been, her-

Ancestor	Husband's father
Descendant	Husband's grandfather
Brother	Husband's son
Father's brother	Husband's son's son
Mother's brother	Husband's daughter's son
Brother's son	Mother's husband
Sister's son	Grandmother's husband
	Daughter's husband
	Son's daughter's husband
	Daughter-s daughter's husband

The Matrimonial Causes Act further provides that for the purposes of the Act, it is immaterial whether the relationship is of the whole blood or half-blood, or whether it is traced through, or to any person of illegitimate birth.

To be continued…

My references are drawn from the Matrimonial Causes Act, Cap 220 LFFN, 1990 and Nigerian Marriage Act, cap 218, Laws of the Federation 1990.