Family law > Pregnant bride: it’s not too late to go to the registry office
Reading time: 4 minutes If you did not manage to register your relationship before you learned about the upcoming birth of a child, now is the time to do it. Moreover, the law in the described situation protects the interests of both the expectant mother and the unborn baby. The marriage registration procedure for such couples has been simplified and accelerated.
- 2 Why is it better to register a marriage during pregnancy?
- 3 We're going to the registry office!
3.1 Algorithm of actions when deciding to officially register a relationship
- 3.2 What to take with you
Features of marriage registration during pregnancy
According to Article 11 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the presence of special circumstances, which include a woman’s pregnancy, gives the right to accelerate the registration period in the registry office.
The couple may decide, at their own discretion, not to change the registration deadlines and hold the wedding celebration on a general basis a month or more from the date of filing the application.
How much to wait
If the newlyweds are in a hurry to legalize the relationship due to the pregnancy of their future spouse, they must collect the necessary documents and submit them to the registry office. After reviewing the documents, the authorized employee will set a date for registering the marriage.
The waiting period for the wedding day can vary and depends on the workload of the registry office schedule and the stage of pregnancy of the bride.
During advanced stages of pregnancy, registration is allowed on the day of application or within the first week from the date of application. For a period of up to 4-6 weeks, registration may take place after 1-2 weeks.
Why might a certificate be needed?
Certificate of change of surname from the registry office
The state provides several types of social guarantees that are provided for pregnant women. To obtain them, you need to go through many bureaucratic barriers and procedures, submit documents and simply show up at a certain place at a specified time. In order to be on time everywhere, the girl is issued a certificate, which can be submitted to:
- educational institution for providing academic leave or a simplified form of passing the test;
- place of work to switch to light work or get maternity leave;
- for the registry office to postpone the official registration of relations to an earlier date;
- for court in some cases.
Such a certificate can be issued at any stage of pregnancy at the request of the expectant mother and necessity.
Certificate form
They take such a certificate separately to prevent divorce on the initiative of a man. In this case, the document is submitted to the court and is the basis for a ban on divorce in accordance with Article 17 of the Family Code. Not only in case of pregnancy, but also within a year after the birth of the child, only a woman can file for divorce. This is how the state protects young mothers from the fate of being left alone and gives the couple a chance to restore their relationship.
The court terminates the divorce proceedings at the moment when the woman brings a certificate from the antenatal clinic, which confirms the presence of pregnancy and its duration. Regardless of the stage at which the case is at the time the document is submitted, if the woman does not agree to divorce and is in a position, then until the very moment paternity is established, the man does not have the right to divorce her.
The judge will leave the man’s application without consideration as soon as the girl’s situation and her refusal are documented. Due to newly discovered circumstances, it is possible to cancel the divorce on the basis of the provided paper. In this case, the court reviews the decision and makes a new one.
Important! Even if the court does not ask to bring such a certificate, only its presence is confirmation of the state of pregnancy and termination of the divorce process.
With all this, the pregnant woman herself can go to the registry office at any time and write an application for divorce. And during the divorce process, he also has the right to demand alimony for the unborn child and for his own maintenance for up to 3 years. A man has the right to challenge such a decision only when he has documentary evidence in his hands that he is not the father of the child.
Submitting an application to the registry office during pregnancy
A young couple wishing to enter into a legal marriage on a voluntary basis must submit a personal application to the civil registry office. The document is drawn up on a special form - Form No. 7, filled out by each party to the future union - the bride and groom. The form contains personal information, passport data and the surname of one of the persons entering into marriage, chosen as the common name for the family.
When submitting an application, a state fee is paid. The payment receipt is presented to the civil registry office employee along with the main documents.
According to the law, a couple can submit an application to the registry office through the MFC portal. However, if you need to accelerate the date of marriage registration due to pregnancy, this method of filing an application is not suitable.
On the State Services website, applicants independently choose the date of marriage registration after the expiration of a month. Acceleration of the registration date is possible only if a certificate is provided confirming the fact of pregnancy indicating the due date. You can read about the general conditions and procedure for marriage in Russia here.
Is it possible to conclude?
Russian legislation allows couples expecting the birth of a child to marry . Moreover, according to Article 11 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, if special circumstances arise, such as the bride’s pregnancy or the birth of a child, the marriage union can be concluded in an expedited manner, including on the day when the future spouses submitted an application to the registry office.
We talked in detail about the conditions for marriage in the Russian Federation in a separate article.
Acceptable age
Russian legislation allows persons who have reached the age of majority to register an official marriage. But, according to paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the RF IC, special circumstances may be allowed that will make it possible to officially start a family before the age of 18. Such cases include, but are not limited to, the birth of a child or the pregnancy of the bride.
In most regions of Russia , couples expecting a baby can legalize their relationship at the age of 16 . However, the Family Code provides the opportunity for the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to establish their own exceptions for marriage before the age of 16. So, in some regions you can start a family during the pregnancy of your future wife at an earlier age:
- from 15 years old - in the Murmansk, Tver, Ryazan and Chelyabinsk regions;
- from 14 years old - in the Moscow, Samara, Vladimir, Vologda, Tyumen regions.
In the Republic of Tatarstan, the minimum age for marriage during pregnancy is not specified at all . However, teenagers under 14 years old will not be able to officially legitimize their relationship, since they will not yet have passports, the presence of which is mandatory for registering a marriage.
You can find out more about the age at which you can get married in Russia here.
Documents for registration of marriage due to pregnancy
To register a marriage due to pregnancy, the couple needs to provide some documents to the registry office.
What you will need:
- personal statements of the spouses drawn up on form No. 7;
- civil passports of the bride and groom;
- check for payment of state duty;
- medical certificate of pregnancy;
- divorce certificate, death certificate of the former spouse, if one of the spouses was previously married.
In the application for marriage registration, the couple must indicate the fact of pregnancy as a special condition to reduce the time required for the procedure.
Conditions for minors
Childbearing age comes quite early, but legally a person under 18 years of age is considered a child and has no right to decide his own life. Before this age, you can only sign for a valid reason. One of them is pregnancy.
The Family Code states that marriage is possible after reaching the age of 18, but pregnancy is the basis for registering a relationship before reaching adulthood.
Couples who have reached the age of 16 can apply for marriage. Marriage of minors is possible only with the consent of parents or guardians. After receiving written approval, applications are processed by the municipality within a short time.
Certificate of pregnancy for the registry office
A pregnancy certificate for the registry office is issued at the request of the expectant mother. The document is drawn up according to the established template.
Where to get
You can get a pregnancy certificate for the registry office at the antenatal clinic where the pregnant bride is registered. It is issued by an obstetrician-gynecologist. The document contains the patient’s data, gestational age, date of issue of the certificate, doctor’s name and signature, and a wet seal from the medical institution is affixed.
What does the document look like?
This document has a standard form with all necessary marks and seals. The format of the pregnancy certificate is 1/2 A4 sheet. The document is filled out by the obstetrician personally and certified with a wet seal and the personal signature of the specialist. This certificate has an unlimited validity period until the birth of the child.
Deadlines for reviewing documents
Submitting an application to the registry office during pregnancy is carried out according to the general rules regulated by the RF IC. To apply, citizens must complete the following steps:
- collect the necessary documents;
- pay the state fee for registration actions in accordance with the established procedure;
- appear in person for an appointment with a civil registry office employee;
- fill out the application in accordance with the official instructions;
- Submit a completed application and required documents.
Right to registration “in an accelerated mode”
In accordance with the Family Code of the Russian Federation (Article 11), pregnancy is recognized as a “special circumstance”, in the presence of which the couple can be registered directly on the day of filing the application. If the expectant mother and father still want time to prepare the celebration, but the month period seems too long to them, they can take advantage of the right given to them by law and get married before the expiration of this period. Moreover, future newlyweds can declare their right to marry earlier than a month both during the initial visit to the registry office and after the application has already been submitted. For example, young people notified the registry office in writing of their intention to get married, they were given a date for registration in a month, and a short period of time after that the bride finds out about the pregnancy. In this case, if there is a desire and a medical report, the couple will be married before the deadline.
We are already a family!
Standard waiting times
The minimum period required to verify documents is 1 month. By contacting the registry office, newlyweds can choose any free day after this period has expired. Through State Services the waiting time is 2.5 months.
Applicants can submit documents six months in advance. This is the maximum recording period. Therefore, many apply in January or February to register the relationship in the summer.
When submitting documents, future spouses must choose the method of entering into a marriage union. The ceremonial registration takes place on some days, and the creation of families in a non-ceremonial atmosphere on others. Only formal registration is possible at the Wedding Palace. It is recommended to apply there in advance, since registration usually takes place six months in advance. This is especially true during the summer months.
Additional features and nuances
Pregnancy does not give people the right to register a marriage between an adoptive parent and a child, persons incapacitated by a court order, or between people who are already officially married.
If future spouses apply for marriage registration through the government services portal, they will not be able to speed up the marriage procedure. Registration will take place only in a month. If you want to use the portal, you must have a registered account, and when entering data in a special form, you must confirm it with an electronic signature. It is permissible to make corrections to the form within 24 hours.
If a registry office employee makes an unreasonable refusal to expedite marriage registration, the couple has the right to go to court. You will need to draw up a claim and attach medical certificates to it, as well as a written response from representatives of the registry office.
Please note that registry offices are closed on holidays and Sundays.
Confirmation of an “interesting situation”
A medical certificate helps confirm the fact of pregnancy. A doctor's report is presented not only when applying to the registry office. A document confirming an “interesting position” will be useful at work (for transfer to easier working conditions) or in an educational institution (for receiving academic leave).
Mandatory information
The pregnancy certificate indicates:
- information about the medical organization (full name, address, telephone);
- personal data of the expectant mother (last name, first name, patronymic, date of birth);
- DS (diagnosis) – approximate pregnancy period;
- place of presentation (registry office);
- Date of preparation.
Mandatory details include information about the specialist, whose signature must appear on the document (position, surname, patronymic name, personal seal).
Validity period of the certificate
The legislation does not provide for a specific period during which a pregnancy certificate is considered valid.
According to general rules, the relevance of health documents depends on the following factors:
- duration of analysis;
- diagnosis and rehabilitation period;
- age.
The pregnancy certificate is valid for the entire period of pregnancy. However, some civil registry offices refuse to register future parents; the document was issued later than 30 days from the date of submission.
Where to get a certificate, who certifies the document
A pregnancy certificate is issued by a gynecologist at a public or private clinic. In the early stages, the necessary certificate is issued after tests or based on the results of the first ultrasound. At a later date, the document is drawn up during a routine inspection.
There are several ways to get a certificate:
- Register with the antenatal clinic at your place of registration.
- Contact the medical institution at your place of actual residence.
- Visit a private clinic.
When visiting a public clinic, you will need a passport, insurance certificate (SNILS) and a compulsory health insurance policy. The conclusion is issued free of charge. Services of a commercial organization are provided on a paid basis.
The certificate is certified by the attending physician and the seal of the medical institution.
What does the sample look like?
The legislation imposes only one requirement on certificates of “interesting position” - a standard form indicating the required details. Medical institutions issue documents in two versions.
The first sample is a regular medical report, which reflects:
- last name, first name, patronymic, date of birth of the expectant mother;
- fact of pregnancy, approximate duration (in weeks);
- the organization to which the certificate is submitted;
- date of issue;
- data from the attending physician.
