Genealogy Chat

A marriage cert, as handed to someone at the time of their marriage, or as purchased at a later date from a registry office or the GRO is simply a CERTIFIED COPY OF the original entry (it actually says these words if you look at the cert). That copy can be ripped up by a solicitor, shredded, set fire to, destroyed in the washing machine etc, etc, but it's only that particular COPY which has been destroyed. The original marriage record, as held by the GRO, will remain intact and be held for all time and further copies can be purchased at any time. I have four copies of my marriage cert; several copies of my children's birth certs and two of my own, which I've had to buy due to them going missing (and annoyingly turning up again as soon as I've shelled out for another) or because I've needed to send off copies of the same cert to different places at the same time. If one copy is destroyed, the others still exist.The original GRO record will always exist. Think of marriage and divorce certificates in the same way as birth and death certificates: if someone dies and a death certificate is issued, we are not asked to hand in their birth certificate, as if they'd never lived, and, as we all know, we can still get copies of their birth certs over a century after their deaths. In the same way, the divorce taking place doesn't cancel out the former marriage and the marriage cert lives on. It looks to me like some of the legal authorities people have referred to here have taken these steps almost like ceremonial -almost theatrical - gestures that actually have no standing in law. If the judge in the local court takes someone's cert, there is nothing to stop them walking over to the registry office and buying another copy immediately. As for the issue surrounding passports, I know someone who had exactly the same hassle as you, OC. I think the issue arises where there has been a change of surname. If a woman retains her married name after divorce and never remarries, there would be no reason for any changes to be made to the name on her existing passport or any new one.

I too had to 'hand my marriage certificate over' to the solicitor and was never given it back. However I was able to renew my passport without providing either my marriage certificate or decree absolute!! Not just solicitors who make up their own rules!!! Methinks a letter to my solicitor (20 years after the event lol) is due!! maggie

I was told that it was kept by the court.

How very odd and random are the workings of our legal system! I argued in vain with the Passport office, that I could not have remarried without showing my decree absolute to the Registrar, and that my second MC clearly shows my previous married name and 'previous marriage dissolved'. But they wouldnt have it! And what exactly, do they want with your old marriage cert? surely, if anyone needs it back, it should be the Registrar who issued it, not some Solicitor's secretary! OC

I wanted to keep my marriage certificate but was told I couldn't. I did keep photocopies.

When I divorced in the '90's I had to give the Marriage Cert into the court, though I did take a copy first. But I wasn't asked for it when I renewed my passport. All seems a bit random - maybe it depends on who's dealing with it, and what mood they're in! Bx

Oh dear OC! I have been without a passport for over 10 years now, so this is likely to affect me when I eventually come to renew. I'll keep the decree absolute somewhere safe too in case they need that as well. (BTW I cannot believe how expensive passports are these days!) Tracey

Tracey I was horrified when I renewed my passport in 2001, and was asked to provide BOTH marriage certs and both Decree Absolutes. In fact, by great good fortune, I had kept all this stuff AND I put my hand on it straight away! I distinctly remember, when I married, the Registrar handing the MC to ME, and giving a little lecture about 'This belongs to YOU, not to your husband, and you must never surrender it to anyone'. And - tearing up a marriage cert does not invalidate a marriage - so why on earth do some solicitors feel the need to do this??? OC

Thanks for your replies eveyone. Looks like I'll just have to get a copy from the GRO - at least I'll be able to! Hopefully this thread will have acted as a cautionary tale for any genealogists going through a divorce. The daft thing is, as important as my own paper trail would be to future family, I have until now made the mistake of overlooking myself in the excitement of tracking down my forebears. oops! Tracey

When i divorced 14 years ago, I had to give in my marriage certificate, a friend at the time told me you dont get it back, so I did in fact photocopy mine as my children were still very young at the time and I felt they might want to see it later in life, reading all these threads it seems to depend on your solicitor, the friend who told me you dont get it back, knew this as she had started divorce proceedings and them halted them when there was a reconcilliation, she asked at that time for her marriage certificate back, and was told it had already been destroyed. Nicky

Tracey, My uncle and his one and only wife divorced when I was so young I don't remember it - must have been in the late 1960s. I ordered his marriage certificate last year from the GRO and received it the same as any other certificate, no questions asked. It will be possible for you to order a replacement. Chris

Also divorced twice. Can not remember what happened the first time but the second time I made sure I got the certificate back - they were not going to return it but I said it was my property and did eventually get the document back. Maureen

I've been divorced twice and have neither of my MC's. When you file for divorce they ask for your marriage cert, I didn't see the point in getting copies so gave them the original ones. I've never had either back

Tracey You can get an additional copy of your marriage cert (or anyone else's for that matter), whether you are still married to that person or not, from the registry office where you married or from the GRO for a fee of £7.00. As OC says, they've either lost it or can't be bothered to go down to their basement archives to have a look for it! I'd be tempted to buy a new copy, keep the receipt and bill them for it!

Tracey What a pile of *****!! I have been divorced twice and still have both my original MCs - in fact, I had to produce BOTH, in order to renew my passport. They've lost it....you shouldnt have the slightest difficulty getting a copy from the GRO. OC

I then remembered I had handed it over to my solicitor 15 years ago for divorce procedings. I've just phoned the solicitors and have been told that as I am now divorced, I forfeited my marriage certificate as I am no longer married. Does this mean I will be barred from getting a duplicate certificate from the GRO? I only started my genealogical research in relatively recent years and would have take a photocopy of my own certificate for my family's records, if I had known that the original was never coming back. Do all divorced people have to give up their original proof of marriage? Tracey

Going through my personal genealogy documentation, I realised that my own marriage certificate had apparently vanished. (more below)