Marriage – conclusion, conditions and procedure for entry, rights of spouses, circumstances impeding marriage

Conditions and procedure for marriage

Under what conditions can marriage be concluded, the validity of marriage

Marriage in the Russian Federation is a monogamous, voluntary, equal union of a man and a woman, concluded in the manner prescribed by law.
In the Russian Federation, only marriages entered into at the civil registry office are recognized as valid. The rights and obligations of spouses arise in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 10 of the RF IC from the date of state registration with the civil registration authorities. A marriage concluded in a church, or a marriage concluded according to local or national rituals, is not a marriage from a legal point of view and does not give rise to any legal consequences. The exception is marriages concluded in church form in the occupied territories that were part of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. Such marriages, in accordance with family law, have legal force and do not require subsequent registration with the civil registry office. Actual marital relations that are not registered with the civil registry office are not considered a marriage, that is, they do not give rise to legal consequences. The first necessary condition for marriage is its registration with the civil registry office.

The second necessary condition for marriage, provided for by the RF IC, is the mutual voluntary consent of the man and woman entering into marriage. Forced marriage is not permitted. The choice of a spouse should depend only on the will of the person wishing to marry, and no one, including close relatives, has the right to prohibit a marriage or force it to be concluded. Therefore, marriage must be voluntary. In addition, the consent of the man and woman entering into marriage must be mutual.

To enter into marriage, persons wishing to marry must reach the age of marriage - the third necessary condition for marriage. The RF IC establishes a general rule that the age of marriage is eighteen years old. Reducing the marriageable age to sixteen years is permitted only with the permission of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities (local government bodies) and only if two mandatory factors are present. This requires: the presence of valid reasons (the extent to which these reasons are valid is assessed by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities), and a request from minors wishing to get married to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities to allow them to marry.

How marriage is concluded, the procedure for concluding marriage

An application for marriage is submitted to the civil registry office by both persons wishing to marry. An application for marriage can be submitted by one person, provided that there is a notarized signature of the other spouse. Marriage registration is allowed only in the presence of both spouses.

Filing an application to the civil registry office has no legal consequences, and any of the persons who submitted such an application has the right to refuse to marry before the expiration of a month.

In the presence of special circumstances, which the law includes pregnancy, the birth of a child, or an immediate threat to the life of one of the parties, the marriage can be concluded on the day the application is submitted. In these cases, persons getting married can choose at their own discretion: to request a reduction in the period for registering a marriage or to register a marriage on the day of filing the application - depending on what is more convenient for them.

Special circumstances, as well as valid reasons, must be confirmed by relevant documents, which may be, for example, a medical certificate (in case of proof of pregnancy or birth of a child) or other documents.

Office of Civil Registry

Chapter 3. Conditions and procedure for marriage

Article 10. Marriage

1. Marriage is concluded in the civil registry office.

2. The rights and obligations of spouses arise from the date of state registration of marriage in the civil registry office.

Article 11. Procedure for concluding marriage

1. Marriage is concluded in the personal presence of the persons entering into marriage, after a month has passed from the date of their submission of an application to the civil registry office.

If there are good reasons, the civil registry office at the place of state registration of marriage may allow marriage to be concluded before the expiration of a month, and may also increase this period, but not more than by a month.

If there are special circumstances (pregnancy, birth of a child, immediate threat to the life of one of the parties and other special circumstances), the marriage can be concluded on the day the application is submitted.

2. State registration of marriage is carried out in the manner established for state registration of civil status acts.

3. The refusal of the civil registry office to register a marriage may be appealed to the court by persons wishing to get married (one of them).

Article 12. Conditions for marriage

1. To enter into a marriage, mutual voluntary consent of the man and woman entering into marriage and their attainment of marriageable age are required.

2. Marriage cannot be concluded in the presence of the circumstances specified in Article 14 of this Code.

Article 13. Marriage age

1. The age of marriage is set at eighteen years.

2. If there are valid reasons, local government bodies at the place of residence of persons wishing to get married have the right, at the request of these persons, to allow persons who have reached the age of sixteen to marry.

The procedure and conditions under which marriage, as an exception and taking into account special circumstances, may be permitted before reaching the age of sixteen years, may be established by the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Article 14. Circumstances preventing marriage

Marriage between:

persons of whom at least one person is already in another registered marriage;

close relatives (relatives in a direct ascending and descending line (parents and children, grandfather, grandmother and grandchildren), full and half (having a common father or mother) brothers and sisters);

adoptive parents and adopted children;

persons of whom at least one person has been declared incompetent by a court due to a mental disorder.

Article 15. Medical examination of persons entering into marriage

1. Medical examination of persons entering into marriage, as well as counseling on medical genetic issues and family planning issues are carried out by institutions of the state and municipal health care system at their place of residence free of charge and only with the consent of persons entering into marriage.

2. The results of the examination of a person entering into marriage constitute a medical secret and can be communicated to the person with whom he intends to marry only with the consent of the person who underwent the examination.

3. If one of the persons entering into marriage concealed the presence of a sexually transmitted disease or HIV infection from the other person, the latter has the right to apply to the court to declare the marriage invalid (Articles 27 - 30 of this Code).

Chapter 4. Termination of marriage

Article 16. Grounds for termination of marriage

1. A marriage is terminated due to death or due to the court declaring one of the spouses dead.

2. A marriage may be terminated by dissolution upon the application of one or both spouses, as well as upon the application of the guardian of the spouse recognized by the court as incompetent.

Article 17. Restriction of the husband’s right to file a claim for divorce

The husband does not have the right to initiate proceedings for divorce without the consent of his wife during his wife’s pregnancy and within a year after the birth of the child.

Article 18. Procedure for divorce

Divorce is carried out in the civil registry office, and in cases provided for in Articles 21 - 23 of this Code, in court.

Article 19. Divorce in the civil registry office

1. If there is mutual agreement to dissolve the marriage of spouses who do not have common minor children, the dissolution of the marriage is carried out in the civil registry office.

2. Divorce at the request of one of the spouses, regardless of whether the spouses have common minor children, is carried out at the civil registry office, if the other spouse:

declared missing by the court;

declared incompetent by the court;

convicted of committing a crime to imprisonment for a term of over three years.

3. Divorce and the issuance of a certificate of divorce are carried out by the civil registry office after a month has passed from the date of filing the application for divorce.

4. State registration of divorce is carried out by the civil registry office in the manner established for state registration of civil status acts.

Article 20. Consideration of disputes arising between spouses upon divorce in the civil registry office

Disputes about the division of the common property of spouses, the payment of funds for the maintenance of a needy disabled spouse, as well as disputes about children arising between spouses, one of whom is declared incompetent by the court or sentenced to imprisonment for a term of over three years for committing a crime (clause 2 of Article 19 of this Code) are considered in court, regardless of divorce, by the civil registry office.

Article 21. Divorce in court

1. Divorce of a marriage is carried out in court if the spouses have common minor children, except for the cases provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 19 of this Code, or in the absence of the consent of one of the spouses to dissolve the marriage.

2. Divorce is also carried out in court in cases where one of the spouses, despite his lack of objections, evades divorce from the civil registry office (refuses to submit an application, does not want to appear for state registration of divorce, etc.) .

Article 22. Divorce of marriage in court in the absence of consent of one of the spouses to divorce

1. Divorce in court is carried out if the court determines that further life together of the spouses and the preservation of the family is impossible.

2. When considering a case of divorce in the absence of the consent of one of the spouses to dissolve the marriage, the court has the right to take measures to reconcile the spouses and has the right to postpone the hearing of the case, assigning the spouses a period for reconciliation within three months.

Divorce is carried out if measures to reconcile the spouses are unsuccessful and the spouses (one of them) insist on dissolution of the marriage.

Article 23. Divorce of marriage in court with mutual consent of the spouses to dissolve the marriage

1. If there is mutual consent to dissolve the marriage of spouses who have common minor children, as well as the spouses specified in paragraph 2 of Article 21 of this Code, the court dissolves the marriage without clarifying the reasons for the divorce. Spouses have the right to submit to the court an agreement on children, provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 24 of this Code. In the absence of such an agreement or if the agreement violates the interests of children, the court takes measures to protect their interests in the manner prescribed by paragraph 2 of Article 24 of this Code.

2. Divorce of marriage is carried out by the court no earlier than the expiration of a month from the date the spouses filed an application for divorce.

Article 24. Issues resolved by the court when making a decision on divorce

1. In the event of a judicial dissolution of a marriage, the spouses may submit for consideration by the court an agreement on which of them will live with minor children, on the procedure for paying funds for the maintenance of children and (or) a disabled needy spouse, on the amount of these funds or on the division of common property. spouses' property.

2. If there is no agreement between the spouses on the issues specified in paragraph 1 of this article, as well as if it is established that this agreement violates the interests of the children or one of the spouses, the court is obliged to:

determine which parent the minor children will live with after the divorce;

determine from which parent and in what amount alimony for their children is collected;

at the request of the spouses (one of them), to divide the property in their joint ownership;

at the request of the spouse entitled to receive maintenance from the other spouse, determine the amount of this maintenance.

3. If the division of property affects the interests of third parties, the court has the right to separate the requirement for division of property into separate proceedings.

Article 25. Moment of termination of marriage upon its dissolution

1. A marriage dissolved by the civil registry office shall be terminated from the date of state registration of the dissolution of the marriage in the civil registration book, and in the case of a divorce in court - from the day the court decision enters into legal force.

2. Divorce in court is subject to state registration in the manner established for state registration of civil status acts.

The court is obliged, within three days from the date of entry into legal force of the court decision on divorce, to send an extract from this court decision to the civil registry office at the place of state registration of the marriage.

Spouses do not have the right to enter into a new marriage until they receive a certificate of divorce from the civil registry office at the place of residence of either of them.

Article 26. Restoration of marriage in the event of the appearance of a spouse declared dead or recognized as missing

1. In the event of the appearance of a spouse declared dead by the court or recognized by the court as missing, and the corresponding court decisions are annulled, the marriage may be restored by the civil registry office upon a joint application of the spouses.

2. The marriage cannot be restored if the other spouse has entered into a new marriage.

Chapter 5. Invalidity of marriage

Article 27. Recognition of marriage as invalid

1. A marriage is invalid if the conditions established by Articles 12 - 14 and paragraph 3 of Article 15 of this Code are violated, as well as in the case of a fictitious marriage, that is, if the spouses or one of them registered a marriage without the intention of starting a family.

2. A marriage is declared invalid by a court.

3. The court is obliged, within three days from the date of entry into legal force of the court decision to recognize the marriage as invalid, to send an extract from this court decision to the civil registry office at the place of state registration of the marriage.

4. A marriage is declared invalid from the date of its conclusion (Article 10 of this Code).

Article 28. Persons who have the right to demand that a marriage be declared invalid

1. The following have the right to demand recognition of the marriage as invalid: the minor spouse, his parents (persons replacing them),

the guardianship and trusteeship authority or the prosecutor, if the marriage was concluded with a person under marriageable age, in the absence of permission to enter into marriage before this person reaches marriageable age (Article 13 of this Code). After a minor spouse reaches the age of eighteen, only this spouse has the right to demand recognition of the marriage as invalid;

the spouse whose rights are violated by the marriage, as well as the prosecutor, if the marriage was concluded in the absence of the voluntary consent of one of the spouses to its conclusion: as a result of coercion, deception, delusion or the inability, due to one’s condition at the time of state registration of the marriage, to understand the meaning of one’s actions and lead them;

a spouse who did not know about the existence of circumstances preventing the conclusion of a marriage, a guardian of a spouse recognized as incompetent, a spouse from a previous undissolved marriage, other persons whose rights were violated by the conclusion of a marriage performed in violation of the requirements of Article 14 of this Code, as well as the guardianship and trusteeship authority and the prosecutor ;

the prosecutor, as well as the spouse who did not know about the fictitious marriage in the event of a fictitious marriage;

the spouse whose rights have been violated, in the presence of the circumstances specified in paragraph 3 of Article 15 of this Code.

2. When considering a case on invalidating a marriage concluded with a person under marriageable age, as well as with a person declared incompetent by the court, the guardianship and trusteeship authority is involved in the case.

Article 29. Circumstances eliminating the invalidity of a marriage

1. The court may recognize a marriage as valid if, by the time the case on declaring the marriage invalid is considered, those circumstances that, by force of law, prevented its conclusion have ceased to exist.

2. The court may refuse a claim to invalidate a marriage concluded with a person under marriageable age if the interests of the minor spouse so require, as well as in the absence of his consent to invalidate the marriage.

3. The court cannot recognize a marriage as fictitious if the persons who registered such a marriage actually created a family before the court considered the case.

4. A marriage cannot be declared invalid after its dissolution, except in cases where there is a degree of relationship prohibited by law between the spouses or the condition of one of the spouses at the time of marriage registration in another undissolved marriage (Article 14 of this Code).

Article 30. Consequences of declaring a marriage invalid

1. A marriage declared invalid by a court does not give rise to the rights and obligations of spouses provided for by this Code, except for the cases established by paragraphs 4 and 5 of this article.

2. The provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on shared ownership apply to property acquired jointly by persons whose marriage is declared invalid. A marriage contract concluded by spouses (Articles 40 - 42 of this Code) is declared invalid.

3. The recognition of a marriage as invalid does not affect the rights of children born in such a marriage or within three hundred days from the date of recognition of the marriage as invalid (clause 2 of Article 48 of this Code).

4. When making a decision to recognize a marriage as invalid, the court has the right to recognize the spouse whose rights are violated by the conclusion of such a marriage (the bona fide spouse), the right to receive maintenance from the other spouse in accordance with Articles 90 and 91 of this Code, and in relation to the division of property acquired jointly until the marriage is declared invalid, has the right to apply the provisions established by Articles 34, 38 and 39 of this Code, as well as to recognize the marriage contract as valid in whole or in part.

A conscientious spouse has the right to demand compensation for material and moral damage caused to him according to the rules provided for by civil law.

5. A bona fide spouse has the right, when a marriage is declared invalid, to retain the surname chosen by him during state registration of the marriage.

Personal rights and obligations of spouses

Among the personal rights and responsibilities of spouses, the IC includes the freedom of choice by spouses of their occupation, profession, place of stay and residence, and some other rights, as well as the responsibilities of spouses in relation to each other. The provision on equality of spouses in the family is aimed at ensuring and is a continuation of the constitutional norms that define the basis of the legal status in the Russian Federation: on equal rights and freedoms of men and women and equal opportunities for their implementation, on the freedom of each citizen to choose their place of stay and residence, type of activity and profession, about the care and upbringing of children as equal rights and responsibilities of both parents, about the inadmissibility of the abolition and derogation of these rights and freedoms of citizens. In accordance with constitutional norms, the RF IC assigns to spouses the right to freedom in choosing occupations, professions, places of stay and residence. These rights of spouses are closely related to the personality of each spouse, and they cannot be canceled or limited by agreement between the spouses. If such conditions are included in the marriage contract, they are void, that is, they have no legal force. Usually, the choice of occupations and professions by spouses is agreed upon primarily based on the interests of the family, but the implementation of this right in life can be the cause of family conflict, family breakdown and divorce.

Place of residence and cohabitation of spouses

It should be noted that, although each of the spouses is given the opportunity to independently determine their place of residence, the RF IC still gives priority to the joint residence of the spouses, as evidenced by the general orientation of its norms. The issue of the place of residence of the spouses must be decided by their mutual consent. Cohabitation of spouses, especially in cases where there are children in the family, is the most important condition for its strength, and for these purposes it is ensured by law. Thus, spouses enjoy equal rights arising from the social tenancy agreement for residential premises; the spouse acquires the right to use residential premises in cases where the spouse, the owner of this residential premises, moves into the living space. However, when living together for some reason is impossible, the law proceeds from the free decision of each spouse on the issue of separation.

Spousal equality

In family life, neither spouse can enjoy any preferential rights over the other, therefore the law establishes that issues of maternity, paternity, upbringing, education of children and other issues of family life are resolved by the spouses jointly based on the principle of equality of spouses. Moreover, family law establishes that spouses are obliged to build their relationships in the family on the basis of mutual respect and mutual assistance, and are also obliged to contribute to the strengthening of the family and its well-being, and to take care of the well-being and development of their children. This means that both spouses should not only strive to the best of their ability and ability to contribute to the material well-being of the family, but also create a favorable atmosphere in it, promote the comprehensive spiritual, moral and physical development of all family members, especially minor children.

The principle of equality of spouses in the family is also reflected in the provisions of the legislation on the personal rights and responsibilities of spouses, according to which spouses, at their own discretion, choose a surname when marrying one of them as a common surname, or each spouse retains their premarital surname. As a rule, spouses take a common surname. A common surname emphasizes the common interests of all family members and facilitates the exercise of rights and responsibilities by spouses, parents and children.

Is parental consent required?

If marriage is registered between the ages of 16 and 18, then parental approval is not required. However, it is necessary to obtain it from the guardianship authorities.

In a situation where marriage occurs before the age of 16, the rules will vary depending on the region. For example, in order to carry out this process in the Moscow region, it is necessary to obtain the approval of an authorized Government official. The basis for consideration of the issue is the submitted statements from parents or guardians. If the parents disagree, the decision is made by the guardianship authorities.

Alimony relations

In addition to property and non-property rights, after marriage, spouses acquire a mutual obligation to provide material support to each other, which has a legal nature. In case of evasion of alimony payment, the spouse in need of financial support has the right to apply to the judicial authorities to collect it. Alimony is collected from the spouse who has the necessary means for this in the following cases:

• disability of the needy spouse;
• pregnancy and birth of a common child (within 3 years from the date of birth);
• when one of the spouses cares for a common disabled child of the 1st group since childhood.

Alimony is payable monthly in a certain amount of money. You can read about how to collect alimony in the article “Ex-husband does not pay alimony.”

Invalid marriage

The conclusion of a marriage union may be declared invalid by the court in the following cases:

• registering a marriage without the intention of starting a family, that is, a fictitious marriage;
• concealment of sexually transmitted diseases or HIV infection;
• lack of consent to marriage by one of the parties;
• the presence of a previously concluded and undivorced marriage.

In a marriage that has been declared invalid by a court, the rights and obligations of the spouses cannot arise.

A spouse who did not know about the presence of any obstacles to registering a marriage has the right to retain the surname chosen at the conclusion of the marriage. If one of the spouses conceals the fact of a previously concluded and undivorced marriage, based on the norms of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the other party has the right to demand the division of property on more favorable terms. Let us note that the recognition of a marriage as invalid in no way affects the rights of children born in this marriage.