Milestone Moments - Deirdre Fennessy

The minimum notification is one calendar month prior to the ceremony. This is what is legally called lodging a Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM). A NOIM cannot be lodged sooner than 18 months. Generally, both parties sign the NOIM together with the celebrant witnessing each party’s signature. If for some reason one party is not able to sign at least one month prior to the proposed date of the ceremony, one of the parties can sign with the other party signing in the presence of the authorised celebrant, before the marriage is solemnised.

Even though the NOIM only needs to be lodged one calendar month prior to the date of the ceremony, ultimately, making contact with the celebrant as early as possible gives everyone plenty of time to ensure lodgement is on time.

Only if exceptional and limited circumstances exist, a PRESCRIBED AUTHORITY may approve an APPLICATION FOR SHORTENING OF TIME. These are limited to:

* Employment related or other travel commitments

* Wedding or celebration arrangements, or religious considerations

* Medical reasons

* Legal proceedings, or

* An error in giving notice.

If this is the case, you will need to make an appointment with the Prescribed Authority and take the completed NOIM and any other documentary evidence to prove your request such as, medical certificates, travel documents or letters of employment.

To fill in a NOIM, a celebrant needs to have evidence of each party’s date and place of birth. This can be an original Birth Certificate or Passport (Australian or overseas). The celebrant also needs photo identification as evidence to verify your identity.  This can be a driver’s license, proof of age/photo card or Passport.  If either party has been previously married, the celebrant will need to sight the actual Certificate of Divorce, Divorce Order or Decree Absolute or the original Death Certificate of the former spouse.

If an original Birth Certificate or Original Death Certificate needs to be obtained, these can be acquired by contacting the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the state or Territory of the birth or death. In Victoria you can apply online at www.bdm.vic.gov.au. If a party does not have their actual Certificate of Divorce, Divorce Order or Decree Absolute, they should request another copy from the court of issue.

The marriageable age in Australia is 18 years for both male and female. A person under the age of 16 years is not able to marry under any circumstances and neither are two people under the age of 18 years. A marriage may take place if one of the parties is of marriageable age and the other between 16 and 18 years if:

* A judge or magistrate has made an order authorising the person to marry a particular person of marriageable age, and

* The required consents (usually parental) have been given to the marriage.

Two people are required who are over the age of 18 years to witness the marriage ceremony and the signing of the Marriage Register and the Marriage Certificates. Witnesses can be family members, friends or anybody who is over 18 and understands English, otherwise an interpreter can be utilised.