The
Blending of the Elements
Marriage
& the Law
From
Paper to Platinum
Birthstones
Read
the Right Book
Catholic Weddings
Hindu
Weddings
The Art
of Gifting
The
Lighter Side of Weddings
Beauty
and the Bride
Grooming
the Groom
Marriage
Customs in Goa
Budget
Checklist
Marriage and the Law
Marriages, they say, are made in heaven. But that is the spiritual aspect of marriages. A practical problem a person intending to get married faces is the legal formalities involved in doing so. Most people would not like to start their married life with legal complications, and for that reason it is useful to know the law so that one can abide by it.
REGISTRATION
Marriages in Goa are compulsorily registerable. Only a
civil registration of marriages in Goa is accepted as
evidence of the marriage. Like births and deaths,
marriages also have to be registered to create legal
rights.
This law which requires registration is the Code of Civil
Registration. Chapter VII prescribes that the
registration of the marriages shall be made in accordance
with the Decree Law No. 1, dated 25th December,
1910.
In every taluka, there are offices of the Civil
Registrar, where the marriages are to be registered.
Those who desire to marry have to declare their desire
before the Officer of the Taluka chosen, alongwith
(1) a certificate of domicile of residence & (2) the
certificates of birth.
BIRTH CERTIFICATE
Thus, the first requirement is that you must
obtain the birth certificates of both the boy and the
girl and the domicile certificate of any one party. If
the birth was not registered, a slightly lengthy
procedure has to be followed. Firstly, you will have to
secure a NIL registration certificate from the Civil
Registration Office that your Birth is not registered.
This will then have to be produced before the Mamlatdar
of the taluka with an affidavit that your birth was never
registered earlier and your actual birthdate. Thereupon,
the Mamlatdar will order your birth to be registered and
this will enable you to obtain the birth certificate.
DOMICILE
CERTIFICATE
This certificate is to be obtained from the Talathi of
the taluka, that you reside in that taluka. At
least one of the parties must produce the
Domicile certificate to facilitate the Registration of
the Marriage.
If the office selected for the purpose of the marriage is
not of the domicile of both, the officer shall send
copies thereof to the offices of domicile and birth of
the parties.
WHO CAN MARRY?
The Law of Marriage in Goa treats a Marriage as a CIVIL
CONTRACT, solemnised between two persons or different
sex, with the purpose of legitimately constituting a
family.
Any boy who is 21 years of age or more and any girl who
is 18 years of age or more, can enter into a marriage. In
the case of a girl above 18 but below 21 years, she will
require the consent of her parents or where such consent
is not given, she will have to approach the Court. A boy
and girl above 21 years can marry without consent of the
parents. A person who has previously married and the
marriage is not dissolved, cannot marry again. So also
legitimate or illegitimate brothers and sisters cannot
marry each other.
PROCEDURE
The persons getting married will have to appear
themselves or through their attorneys before the Civil
Registrar. If the consent of parents is necessary as
discussed above, they will have to remain present.
Besides, there have to be four witnesses for the ceremony
of the registration, who know the parties marrying and
who know that they are not married earlier.
Before the date of registration of the marriage, the
Civil Registrar shall affix a Public Notice on the
office, inviting objections if any, within 10 days. This
is known as the EDITAL period.
If a party is in a hurry to get married, he has to make
an application before the Delegado, i.e. the Asst. Public
Prosecutor of the taluka, who is empowered, and he can
give exemption from waiting for the said 10 days. It is
then possible to register the marriage immediately,
probably even on the same day you first approach the
Registrar.
UNIFORM MARRIAGE
LAW
The above provisions for marriage apply for all religious
communities in Goa. There is also no obstacle legally for
a person of one religion, say a Hindu to marry a person
of another religion. Thus inter-religious marriages are
not prohibited under the Civil Law.
CHURCH MARRIAGES
It must however be noted that there are special
provisions in Goa for Catholic marriages. Catholics in
Goa can marry as per the colonial laws. Both will have to
be Catholics or convert as Catholics. Such marriages will
produce all civil effects. The parishes are considered as
offices of Civil Registration and the marriages are
solemnised in the Church. But a certificate will have to
be produced from the office of the Civil Registrar that
there is no objection for solemnisation of the marriage.
It is common knowledge that the wedding banns or notices
are read out in the church on two Sundays before the
marriage, calling for any objections.
WHAT ABOUT
FOREIGNERS?
If a foreigner wants to marry a Goan, in Goa, besides the
birth certificates of both, the domicile certificate of
the Goan and the passport of the foreigner will be
required. The foreigner will have to apply to Court under
Article 248 of the Civil Registration Code. The Court on
being satisfied that the foreigner is not previously
married, (the passport will indicate this) and that the
marriage is not barred under the law of his country, will
grant the certificate to get married. This will have to
be tendered before the Civil Registrar.
MARRIAGES OUTSIDE
GOA
The civil law of a person follows the person.
But Goans residing outside Goa, normally get married
under the laws of that place, and do not bother to
register their marriages in Goa. It is advisable that the
marriages are also registered formally in Goa, by
producing the marriage certificate from outside Goa.
No doubt, our law has been so interpreted if two persons
have been living openly as husband and wife, they can
legally be presumed to be actually married and this will
cure any defect of non-registration.
By Jyoti Dhond