My fiancé' was previously married nearly 20 years ago. The Check list in packet three claims they would like copies of all marriage certificates from prior marriages. This seems to be a problem. According to my Fiancé, as soon as she was issued her divorce absolute 18 some years ago the UK government takes your Marriage certificate. Does anyone have any experience with this situation? Can my fiancé obtain an old copy of her marriage Cert. ? Is it Needed if she has her divorce absolute?

I wasnt asked for mine at the interview but i took it just in case. I couldnt find it as it had been so many years since i had had it, i telephoned the town registrar where i got married and asked them to send me a certified copy....if i remember correctly it cost me 8GBP and it took 3 days to arrive. I would definately get a copy, im guessing the last thing you want is a hold up at the interview stage because of not having this certificate... Good luck

I got a certified copy of the divorce final from the court.

The OP is talking about marriage certificates - not divorce decrees.

We have had this discussion before - whether or not they'll even be asked for. But if they've listed it in packet 3 as one of the papers to procure before the interview, then I'd do everything in my power to get it.

I haven't heard that the UK government 'takes' them if they go back many years (esp. as they already 'have' them anyway). Can she not call or email the registrar where she was married and ask how to get a marriage certificate that is that old? Or research online to see how to go about getting it?

I think they're more apt to ask for it if the UKC is a female - for the 'record' of the potential name changes, so if I were her, I'd try my best to get it.

Thank You for all the responses. I will have her contact the local registrar where she was married.

I also have packet 3 - you can get the divorce absolute from the court where the divorce was processed and i got my marriage certificate from an internet website - google the word marraige certificate nd i suspect you will be offered a lot of options - i also used the same place for my birth certificate - it should be very easy - as far as i am aware the marraige certificate is never asked to be returned in the event of a divorce......

No the marriage certificate is never asked for, the UK government has no right to it. If she has lost it then it can be replaced, all copies of Birth, Marriage and Death registries are kept at Somerset House London.

*Tracy little know fact, all Birth, Marriage and Death certificates in England are kept at the above address, as far as I know this has been the case for over two hundred years, so yes it would be kept.

Somerset house

Thanks Janice. I figured they were kept - just didn't know where.

As for the marriage certificates 'never' being asked for - I guess I'd rather have mine instead of getting to the consulate for the interview without it - then becoming the person that they DO ask.

They're not kept at Somerset House anymore... or at least, if they're kept there (and I don't think they are - I'm pretty sure they're kept on microfilm in Wales somewhere), the public are no longer allowed in! If you go into Somerset House and ask at the reception desk they'll just tell you to go to the Family Records Centre in Islington/Clerkenwell instead. As I discovered a while back when some friends-of-friends who live in the US had asked me to get copies of their birth certificates... I work just over the road from Somerset House so went out in my lunch break, only to be told that stuff isn't there anymore. I think the old births/deaths/marriages bit is now used by the Inland Revenue instead. At least I knew where to go to get my long-form birth certificate...

Anyway, after all that rambling - here's a link to the Family Records Centre. Ignore all the stuff about tracing family trees - a lot of people go there for that (because you can look through all the birth/death/marriage records) but the certificates you get from them are definitely certified copies from the original records.

I just rang the Solicitors who dealt with my divorce to enquire about the marriage certificate and this is what she said “Your marriage certificate is taken away from you and sent to the County Court Offices where it remains when you file for divorce papers. The Decree Absolute terminates the marriage. The marriage certificate is never returned to you.” I have however contacted the registry office where I was married and they are sending me a duplicate copy of my marriage certificate for around £7 so ill see what happens from there.

I didn't think the question was ever if the marriage certificate would be 'returned' to you (why would it be?) but rather, can you get a copy of a marriage certificate that is 20 plus years old?

Obviously the registry office could sort you out. How a solicitor didn't know whether or not you could get a copy of it is beyond me.

That wasn't what the question was! The question was, how I understood it, was when I got divorced 17 years ago my marriage certificate was taken from me and was never returned, and when my divorce was finale I received my copy of the Decree Absolute, now this is the only document I thought would be needed for info regarding packet 3. My partner has since learned that a marriage certificate might be needed also and seeing that I didn't have it, I wanted to find out why, and so I did just to be sure!

I never stated that my solicitor didn't know that I could obtain a duplicate copy of my marriage certificate because I never asked her; I just read the previous threads on here about obtaining a copy and with that knowledge contacted the registry office where I got married, problem solved

I guess I misunderstood your fiance's original post, not to mention the ensuing conversation. He said that your marriage certificate was 'taken' from you after receiving the absolute divorce decree. Then we discussed if its ever asked for at the interview, whether or not you could get your hands on a copy of it, etc.

So when the solicitor said 'your marriage certificate is never returned to you', I assumed he had asked the solicitor "Would they return the marriage certificate to her?" I guess maybe he just asked a general question, but I didn't glean that from his post.

Sorry I offended.

NP no offence taken

I had the same problem! You can order a copy of your marriage certificate online or over the telephone from the General Register Office (0845 603 7788) and it costs approx £27.00 for a copy and takes a couple of weeks to be posted or:
You can physically go to the local registry office of the Borough/District where the marriage took place and pay £7.00 and receive it he certificate on the day.