Legal Material #Pt.1: The wedding License in Belgium

Posted by le

When Administration is in the planning, too. 



The wedding license in Belgium 

The marriage licence is a legal document issued either by a religious organization or state authority, authorising a couple to marry. 
The procedure varies according to the place you are living in BUT is very useful. You cannot legally pretend to be married to someone without that specific license. 

What I’m about to say is pretty obvious but when thinking about your wedding you will probably think first about the decorating and organisation, and your dress, but this is important as well. 
Step 1 : Set the date - Book - Gather all documents 
Yes, you might want to get married a specific date and then, there is no room ! So make sure you can can married around the very date you wish to seal the deal. 
2 weeks priori to your wedding you need to go to the City Hall with the following : 

1- A copy of the birth certificate of each of the prospective spouses. The registrar will request a copy if the prospective spouses were born in Belgium or if their birth certificate was transcribed in Belgium
2- Proof of identity (ID card) 
3- If there is a marriage contract, you must provide a certificate from the notary who drew it up.

Until the day of the wedding, an objection to the marriage can be made. However, this must be justified.

Marriage ceremony : Official Ceremony 

The marriage ceremony is held in the municipality of the place where the declaration of marriage was made, at least 14 days and at most six months after that declaration.

That ceremony takes place in the presence of the mayor or the alderman with civil registry responsibilities. The presence of witnesses is optional in a civil marriage.  If the prospective spouses decide to get married in the presence of witnesses, they can choose no more than four. Those witnesses do not necessarily have to be relatives of one of the prospective spouses. 

Next, the registrar asks each prospective spouse whether they wish to take the other as their spouse. After the spouses give their consent, the registrar declares in the name of the law that the spouses are united in marriage.

The registrar immediately draws up the marriage certificate. That certificate is entered in the registers of civil status proving that the marriage has been contracted.

The spouses then receive a marriage booklet, in which a record may be kept of, for example, children to be born and, possibly, the parish in which any religious marriage ceremony takes place



Now you know the basics of getting married in Belgium !