The Ministry of Justice’s consultation, “Tying the Knot: Reforming Weddings Law in England and Wales”, could bring about the biggest change to wedding law in more than 200 years. A lot of the discussion so far has been about where couples should be allowed to get married, and how wedding ceremonies might be made more modern and flexible. However, for separating couples and families, the consultation also matters because the legal status of a marriage can affect financial claims, inheritance rights, pensions, tax, and, in some cases, immigration issues.
The current proposals would move us away from a system that focuses mainly on the building or venue where the wedding takes place and instead, focus more on whether the person conducting the ceremony is properly authorised. That could make life clearer for couples who want a religious, cultural, humanist or more personal ceremony, and help avoid uncertainty about whether their marriage is legally recognised in England and Wales.
Although the consultation is primarily focused on how people get married, rather than how marriages end, the question of whether a marriage is legally valid sits at the heart of many family law issues. If a couple later separate, it can make a very real difference to what financial claims are available, whether pension sharing is possible, what happens on death, and how the couple are treated for tax and other purposes. Greater clarity at the start could therefore help avoid difficult and expensive arguments later on.
The current wedding laws
At the moment, the rules can be quite confusing. Weddings in the Church of England, the Catholic Church, and the Church in Wales can be legally recognised for opposite-sex couples if they are carried out by authorised clergy, with the usual formalities such as banns or a licence. Same-sex marriages are not currently carried out by these churches, although services of blessing may be available.
Civil weddings are legally recognised where they are conducted by a registrar at a register office or at a venue that has been officially approved for civil weddings.
Other religious ceremonies can be legally recognised too, but only if the correct legal steps are followed. For example, under the current law, Jewish marriages are treated differently from other religious marriages which are not part of the Christian denomination. Unlike most other religious groups, a Jewish marriage does not generally have to take place in a registered place of worship or before a civil registrar for it to be legally recognised. Instead, the marriage must be solemnised according to Jewish customs, and certain statutory requirements applicable to Jewish marriages must be satisfied.
Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh weddings are legally valid only if they comply with the statutory formalities under the Marriage Act 1949. In practice, this means:
- The ceremony must take place in a Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh place of worship (temple, mosque, or gurdwara) that has been registered for the solemnisation of marriages or at another approved venue.
- The marriage must be solemnised by an authorised person or in the presence of a registrar.
- The statutory requirements, such as giving notice of marriage and registering the marriage, must be satisfied.
Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh religious ceremonies which take place without complying with these legal formalities, may be religiously valid within the Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh faith but will not create a legally recognised marriage in England and Wales. Therefore, the reality is that most couples from these faiths will still need a separate civil ceremony to make sure their marriage is legally valid in England and Wales.
The proposals to replace the current system
The current system is largely based on where the wedding takes place. One of the main proposals is to change this so that the key question is whether the person conducting the ceremony is authorised to do so. That may sound like a technicality, but it could make a big practical difference. It would give greater certainty for couples of all faiths to have a legally recognised marriage according to their particular religious, spiritual, or cultural beliefs, as well as provide more freedom over the style and location of their ceremony.
The consultation also seeks to deal with long-standing differences in how the law treats various faiths and belief systems. The aim is to create a more consistent framework for religious and non-religious ceremonies, including ceremonies conducted by organisations that cannot currently perform legally recognised weddings.
For clients and families, the reforms could help to:
- reduce the gap between what a couple believes their ceremony means and what the law actually recognises;
- give couples more confidence about their financial and legal position if they marry in a religious, cultural or bespoke ceremony; and
- reduce the risk of couples later discovering that they were not legally married after all.
The Supreme Court decision in Akhter v Khan
The case of Akhter v Khan is a very important example of why this matters as it highlights the serious consequences that can arise when couples discover that their wedding ceremony did not create a legally valid marriage. In this case, the couple had an Islamic Nikah ceremony in a London restaurant. They lived together for 18 years and had children, but never completed the civil legal formalities needed for the marriage to be recognised under English law. When the relationship ended, the court treated the ceremony as falling outside the marriage law framework. This meant the ‘wife’ could not bring the usual financial claims available on divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and was left in a very vulnerable position.
Its relevance here is simple: it shows the real risk for couples who believe they are legally married but later discover that the law does not recognise their religious ceremony. The proposed reforms aim to make that risk much less likely.
Conclusion
Tying the Knot is not just about making it possible for more couples to marry on beaches, in gardens or in other personal settings. It is really about how the law recognises marriage in a modern, multicultural society. While the immediate focus is on making wedding law simpler and more flexible, the effects will be felt much more widely in terms of family law, inheritance planning and financial disputes on separation.
By creating one cohesive framework and simplifying the legal requirements for marriage, the Government hopes to reduce the number of people who mistakenly believe they are married when, legally, they are not. These proposals should help many couples understand their position more clearly from the outset.
The consultation remains open until 24 September 2026.
If you would like advice about the validity of your marriage, financial or children matters, or any other aspect of family law, including co-habitation agreements, prenuptial, or postnuptial agreements, please get in touch with Keshini Rajendra on KSR@branchaustinmccormick.com.