A certificate confirming the fact of marriage is, in most cases, important only for ex-wives who want to change their surname after divorce. However, due to inexperience and ignorance, they submit its original along with the statement of claim to the court, which deals with the divorce proceedings and, after completion of the proceedings, sends the case to the archive, from where it is almost impossible to obtain it. The fact is that court officials do not care whether you still have a marriage certificate in your hands after divorces or not, since they act according to instructions prohibiting the release of documents from the archive.
In addition, some citizens are careless about official papers and carelessly allow them to be damaged or destroyed, and then do not know what to do if a document about a previously concluded marriage is suddenly required when contacting government agencies.
All this indicates the following: to prevent such situations from arising, you need to know the answers to the following questions:
- Do marriage certificates remain after divorces or not and in what cases does this happen?
- Which government agency and how can I obtain copies of a marriage certificate after a couple divorces?
- Employees of which government agency can, after a divorce, take away marriage certificates from members of a family union and for what reasons?
- How can spouses confirm the validity of their previous marriage and the fact that they have dissolved the family relationship?
Are marriage certificates taken from spouses during a divorce and for what reasons?
Upon divorce, the marriage certificate is confiscated from the former spouses by the civil registry office staff to transfer this civil status act to the archive. This provision is established by the law “On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation”. However, what exactly will be taken from you: the original or a duplicate, depends on the discretion of the registry office employees. The court may also take away the original document from you for inclusion in the case file sent to the archive. To prevent this from happening, you should never attach original official papers to your statement of claim. You only need to bring originals to court hearings.
Is a marriage certificate taken away during a divorce?
In our country there are several ways of divorce: 1. Through the registry office - carried out in the case of mutual consent of the spouses and the absence of common minor children. To dissolve a family relationship between a husband and wife, a number of documents must be submitted to the court or the registry office, including a certificate of registration of their union. What should you do when this important paper gets lost somewhere? Really, people whose relationships are completely destroyed should officially remain spouses for the rest of their lives?
But what to do if you need to get a divorce, and the marriage certificate is lost, damaged or hidden by the second spouse, who in every possible way interferes with the divorce process? It turns out that the absence of a certificate is not a reason for government authorities to refuse a divorce if the rules provided by law are followed.
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Note: In practice, parties often submit the original certificate along with the claim, but this is not required by law. The court, if there are doubts about the authenticity of the copies, may require the presentation of the original certificate during the hearing, but no more. If the original certificate of registration of relations is submitted to the court, then the applicant party can write a petition for its return from the case materials, leaving a copy of the document certified by the court in the file.
What is given in return
In a situation with spouses who have already divorced and received a certificate of termination of the marriage union between them, the registry office can act in relation to the marriage certificate in two different ways:
- On the original certificate confirming the fact of the marriage between the spouses, the authorized civil registry office employee puts a stamp marked “Invalid”. This is an official confirmation that a document has lost its legal force. Next, he makes a copy of this paper in order to remove it and add it to the archival data. In this case, the original certificate may remain with the former spouses.
- Civil registry office employees take away from the wife and husband a certificate certifying the fact of registration of family relations, citing the fact that at any time former participants in family relations can receive a certificate containing the same information as the original document. They should not be allowed to do this. It is necessary to request a copy certified by an authorized employee to be made instead of the original, which is confiscated by the registry office. If a government agency refuses to comply with your demands, seek protection from the court, because the registry office has no right to irrevocably take away your certificate. You must have at least a copy of this document in your possession.
In the event that the original certificate certifying the fact of the marriage union was seized by the judicial authority and sent to the court archive, there is only one opportunity to obtain a copy of it. To do this, you will need to submit an application to the registry office, which was responsible for registering the marriage relationship, with a request to provide a certificate of previous marriage.
If the government agency where you got married is located in another city, then in order to get a duplicate, you will need to go to this locality to get it.
In addition, the following life situation may arise: a judicial authority is considering a divorce case, and the defendant and plaintiff do not have marriage certificates. In this case, the interested person, who, as a rule, is the plaintiff, requests a duplicate through the registry office. Since this is not the first time the spouse has received the certificate, government officials mark it as “Repeated.”
This is done so that it is impossible to use the original, since the conclusion of the registry office, which formalizes the issuance of a duplicate, deprives the legal force of the first document.
Does a marriage certificate remain after a divorce?
A certificate confirming the fact of marriage is, in most cases, important only for ex-wives who want to change their surname after divorce. However, due to inexperience and ignorance, they submit its original along with the statement of claim to the court, which deals with the divorce process and, after completion of the proceedings, sends the case to the archive, from where it is almost impossible to obtain it
The fact is that court officials do not care whether you still have a marriage certificate in your hands after divorces or not, since they act according to instructions prohibiting the release of documents from the archive.
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All this indicates the following: to prevent such situations from arising, you need to know the answers to the following questions:
- Do marriage certificates remain after divorces or not and in what cases does this happen?
- Which government agency and how can I obtain copies of a marriage certificate after a couple divorces?
- Employees of which government agency can, after a divorce, take away marriage certificates from members of a family union and for what reasons?
- How can spouses confirm the validity of their previous marriage and the fact that they have dissolved the family relationship?
What is given in return
In a situation with spouses who have already divorced and received a certificate of termination of the marriage union between them, the registry office can act in relation to the marriage certificate in two different ways:
- On the original certificate confirming the fact of the marriage between the spouses, the authorized civil registry office employee puts a stamp marked “Invalid”. This is an official confirmation that a document has lost its legal force. Next, he makes a copy of this paper in order to remove it and add it to the archival data. In this case, the original certificate may remain with the former spouses.
- Civil registry office employees take away from the wife and husband a certificate certifying the fact of registration of family relations, citing the fact that at any time former participants in family relations can receive a certificate containing the same information as the original document. They should not be allowed to do this. It is necessary to request a copy certified by an authorized employee to be made instead of the original, which is confiscated by the registry office. If a government agency refuses to comply with your demands, seek protection from the court, because the registry office has no right to irrevocably take away your certificate. You must have at least a copy of this document in your possession.
If the government agency where you got married is located in another city, then in order to get a duplicate, you will need to go to this locality to get it.
In addition, the following life situation may arise: a judicial authority is considering a divorce case, and the defendant and plaintiff do not have marriage certificates. In this case, the interested person, who, as a rule, is the plaintiff, requests a duplicate through the registry office. Since this is not the first time the spouse has received the certificate, government officials mark it as “Repeated.”
This is done so that it is impossible to use the original, since the conclusion of the registry office, which formalizes the issuance of a duplicate, deprives the legal force of the first document.
Marriage Certificate or a duly certified copy of it The most reliable way to confirm the marriage that a husband and wife had in the past. Certificate from the Civil Registry Office Issued from the archives of a government agency in the form of an extract containing information from a previously issued marriage certificate. To receive it, you will need to pay a fee of 200 rubles to the state treasury. Certificate confirming the fact of death + a copy of the marriage certificate or a certificate from the registry office This set of official documents certifies the fact of marriage with the deceased spouse. A court decision or verdict + a copy of a marriage certificate or a certificate from the registry office. These documents certify the existence of a past marriage with a person imprisoned for more than 3 years, missing or incompetent.
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How to confirm that a marriage is dissolved
According to the twenty-fifth article of the Family Code, spouses were able to officially divorce when the registry office made an appropriate entry in the book registering acts of civil status, or when the court decision in the divorce case came into force.
The document that is transferred to both former spouses and confirms the breakdown of family relations between them is a certificate of termination of marriage issued by the registry office.
If it becomes unusable or destroyed, you can obtain a second certificate from the registry office by submitting the appropriate application and paying a fee of 350 rubles to the state treasury.
How to confirm that there was a marriage
Document's name | As confirmed |
Marriage certificate or a duly certified copy thereof | The most reliable way to confirm the marriage that a husband and wife had in the past. |
Certificate from the registry office | Issued from the archives of a government agency in the form of an extract containing information from a previously issued marriage certificate. To receive it, you will need to pay a fee of 200 rubles to the state treasury. |
Certificate confirming the fact of death + a copy of the marriage certificate or a certificate from the registry office | This set of official documents certifies the fact of marital relations with the deceased spouse. |
Court decision or verdict + copy of marriage certificate or certificate from the registry office | These documents certify a previous marriage with a person imprisoned for more than 3 years, missing or incompetent. |
How to confirm that a marriage is dissolved
According to the twenty-fifth article of the Family Code, spouses were able to officially divorce when the registry office made an appropriate entry in the book registering acts of civil status, or when the court decision in the divorce case came into force.
The document that is transferred to both former spouses and confirms the breakdown of family relations between them is a certificate of termination of marriage issued by the registry office.
If it becomes unusable or destroyed, you can obtain a second certificate from the registry office by submitting the appropriate application and paying a fee of 350 rubles to the state treasury.
Is it possible to need a marriage certificate after a divorce?
Neither the ex-husband nor the ex-wife may need an act of registration of relations after divorce. Its place is taken by a divorce certificate; it is this that is endowed with official force and must be presented upon request.
If the act of divorce is lost, then it is necessary to restore it, and not the document on the previously concluded marriage. Moreover, even if there is a surviving certificate, it cannot be presented anywhere, because it is considered officially no longer valid.
The legislative framework
Name of the normative act | What regulates |
Family Code of Russia | Article 25 establishes the moment from which the marriage union is considered officially dissolved. From this moment on, a certificate certifying the fact of termination of the marriage comes into force. |
Russian Tax Code | Article 333.26 regulates the amount of state fees that must be paid to obtain government services at the registry office. |
Federal Law “On Archiving in the Russian Federation” | Chapter 4 establishes the procedure for recording and storage periods for archival papers and documents. |