Acts and Regulations

2011, c.188 - Marriage Act

Full text
Document at 1 September 2011
2011, c.188
Marriage Act
Deposited May 13, 2011
Definitions
1The following definitions apply in this Act.
“cleric” means a person who is charged with the solemnization of the ceremony of marriage by a church or religious denomination and is authorized by this Act to solemnize the ceremony of marriage in the Province, but does not include a clerk of the Court. (ecclésiastique)
“clerk of the Court” means a clerk or deputy clerk of The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick. (greffier de la Cour)
“issuer” means a person authorized under this Act to issue marriage licences. (délivreur de licences)
“Minister” means the member of Executive Council designated by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council to administer the Service New Brunswick Act. (ministre)
“Registrar” means the Registrar General of Vital Statistics appointed under the Vital Statistics Act and includes any person designated by the Minister to act on behalf of the Registrar. (registraire)
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.1; 1979, c.39, s.1; 1983, c.50, s.1; 1986, c.8, s.70; 1986, c.52, s.1; 2000, c.26, s.184; 2006, c.16, s.106; 2007, c.32, s.2
Persons entitled to solemnize marriage
2(1)Any person being resident in the Province may solemnize the ceremony of marriage between any two persons who are lawfully entitled to contract that marriage, if the person is duly registered under this Act and charged with the solemnization of the ceremony of marriage by a church or religious denomination
(a) in respect of which persons being resident in the Province and duly registered under this Act and charged with the solemnization of marriage by that church or religious denomination were, immediately before September 1, 1987, authorized to solemnize marriage under this Act, or
(b) that is recognized in accordance with subsection (2).
2(2)The Registrar may recognize a church or religious denomination for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) if the church or religious denomination is, to the satisfaction of the Registrar, permanently established as to the continuity of its existence in accordance with the criteria prescribed by the regulations.
2(3)A decision by the Registrar to recognize, or to refuse to recognize, a church or religious denomination may be reviewed by the Minister, and any decision of the Minister to recognize a church or religious denomination shall be deemed to be a recognition under subsection (2).
2(4)The Registrar shall keep or cause to be kept a register showing the names of every church or religious denomination recognized under subsection (2) and any other particulars that the Registrar considers advisable.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.2; 1979, c.39, s.3; 1983, c.50, s.2; 1986, c.52, s.2; 1999, c.2, s.1; 2000, c.13, s.1
Clerk of Court may solemnize marriage
3A clerk of the Court may solemnize the ceremony of marriage between any two persons not under a legal disqualification to contract the marriage, and that clerk is deemed to be registered as a person authorized to solemnize marriage in the Province.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.3; 1979, c.39, s.4
Registration of persons entitled to solemnize marriage
4(1)On application to the Registrar on the form provided by the Registrar, the Registrar may register an applicant as a person who is authorized to solemnize marriage in the Province, and the application may be made by the applicant or on the applicant’s behalf by the ecclesiastical authority or governing body of the church or religious denomination to which the applicant belongs.
4(2)The Registrar shall not register an applicant under subsection (1) unless the application is supported in writing by a church or religious denomination that is recognized under this Act.
4(3)The Registrar shall issue a certificate of registration to any person registered under subsection (1) and, when a request is made on reasonable grounds, may issue one or more additional certificates to that person.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.4; 1983, c.50, s.3; 1985, c.33, s.1; 1986, c.52, s.3; 1995, c.10, s.1; 2000, c.13, s.2
Temporary registration
5(1)The Registrar may grant temporary registration to a person who is not resident in the Province on being satisfied that the person, if that person were resident and officiating in the Province, could be registered as authorized to solemnize marriage under section 4, and may register that person as authorized to solemnize marriage in the Province during a period to be fixed by the Registrar, and any certificate of registration issued as a result shall state the fixed period during which the authority to solemnize marriage under it may be exercised.
5(2)The Registrar shall not grant a temporary registration under subsection (1) unless the request for temporary registration is supported in writing by a church or religious denomination that is recognized under this Act.
5(3)An application for registration referred to in subsection (1) shall be on a form provided by the Registrar.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.5; 1983, c.50, s.4; 1986, c.52, s.4; 1995, c.10, s.2; 2000, c.13, s.3
Cancellation of registration
6When it is made to appear to the satisfaction of the Registrar that a person registered as authorized to solemnize marriage has ceased to possess the qualifications entitling that person to be registered, the Registrar, with or without a hearing, may cancel the registration and, as a result, revoke the authority of that person to solemnize marriage in the Province.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.6
Registrar to keep register
7The Registrar shall keep or cause to be kept a register showing the names of all persons registered as authorized to solemnize marriage, the church or religious denomination to which each belongs and the date when each was registered and, if a registration has been cancelled, showing that fact and the date of the cancellation and revocation of authority to solemnize marriage.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.7; 1986, c.52, s.5
Certificate of Registrar
8(1)At the request of any person who wishes to know if a person is registered as authorized to solemnize marriage, the Registrar shall search the register referred to in section 7 and issue a certificate in respect of the results of the search, along with any relevant particulars set out in section 7.
8(2)A certificate issued under this section that purports to be signed by the Registrar is for all purposes proof, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, of its contents without proof of the appointment, authority or signature of the Registrar who issued it and is admissible as evidence in any court of the Province.
8(3)A certificate issued under this section that purports to be signed by the Registrar is not invalid because the Registrar ceased to hold office before the issuance of the certificate.
8(4)A certificate issued under this section that purports to be signed by the Registrar is sufficient evidence of the due execution of the certificate by the Registrar for all purposes respecting the registration or filing of the certificate under any Act, and no further evidence of execution by or the signature of the Registrar is required for the purpose of registration or filing.
1995, c.10, s.3
Signature of Registrar
9When the signature of the Registrar is required for any purpose under this Act, the signature may be written, engraved, lithographed or reproduced by any other method of reproducing words in legible form.
1995, c.10, s.3
Departure of cleric
10(1)The ecclesiastical authority or governing body of a church or religious denomination whose clerics are registered as authorized to solemnize marriage under this Act shall notify the Registrar of the name of any cleric belonging to that church or religious denomination who
(a) has moved from the Province, on the cleric’s departure,
(b) has ceased to belong to, or for any other reason is no longer charged with the solemnization of marriage by, that church or religious denomination, within 30 days after that cleric has ceased to belong to, or is no longer charged with the solemnization of marriage by, that church or religious denomination, or
(c) has died.
10(2)A cleric registered under this Act shall without delay notify the Registrar when the cleric moves from the Province or ceases to belong to, or for any other reason is no longer charged with the solemnization of marriage by, the church or religious denomination to which the cleric belongs or belonged.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.8; 1985, c.33, s.2; 1986, c.52, s.6
Marriage licence
11No cleric shall solemnize a marriage unless duly authorized to solemnize that marriage by licence under the hand of the Registrar.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.10; 1986, c.52, s.8; 1995, c.10, s.5
Publication of banns
12Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the publication of banns according to the usage of the church or religious denomination of the cleric proposing to solemnize a ceremony of marriage, but the publication shall not take the place of a marriage licence.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.11; 1986, c.52, s.9
Solemnization of marriage by clerk
13(1)A clerk of the Court may solemnize a marriage for which a marriage licence has been issued.
13(2)The contracting parties shall pay the fee prescribed by regulation for the solemnization of their marriage by a clerk of the Court.
13(3)If the parties to a marriage solemnized by a clerk of the Court desire a religious ceremony as well, a certificate of the clerk that he or she has solemnized the marriage shall be sufficient authorization to a cleric to perform a religious ceremony.
13(4)A clerk of the Court who solemnizes a marriage shall prepare and transmit the statement of marriage required under the Vital Statistics Act, but a cleric who performs a religious ceremony after the marriage has been solemnized by a clerk of the Court is not required to prepare and transmit the statement respecting that marriage.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.12; 1979, c.39, s.5; 1980, c.32, s.18; 1983, c.50, s.5; 1985, c.33, s.3; 1986, c.52, s.10; 1995, c.10, s.6
Appointment of issuers
14(1)The Registrar may appoint one or more competent persons who are employed in the public service of New Brunswick, as set out in Part 1 of the First Schedule of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, to issue marriage licences under this Act.
14(2)In case of the death, disqualification, illness or temporary absence of an issuer, the Registrar may appoint an acting issuer who, during the period for which he or she is appointed, shall have and exercise all powers and authority vested by this Act in an issuer.
14(3)No action lies against an issuer or acting issuer for any act done or performed by him or her under the authority of the provisions of this Act or any regulation.
14(4)For the purposes of this Act and by virtue of his or her appointment, an issuer or acting issuer is a commissioner of oaths for taking affidavits to be read in The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.13; 1991, c.9, s.1; 1998, c.17, s.1; 2000, c.25, s.1; 2001, c.2, s.1
Administration respecting marriage licences
15(1)Every marriage licence shall be under the hand of the Registrar and be dated on the day on which it is issued, and shall authorize the solemnization of the intended marriage at any time within three months after that date.
15(2)No irregularity in the issue of a marriage licence obtained and acted on in good faith invalidates a marriage solemnized under the licence.
15(3)Every licence under the hand of the Registrar issued for the purpose of the solemnization of a marriage is and remains valid despite that the Registrar has ceased to hold office before the time of the issue of the licence.
15(4)All unissued licences are the property of the Crown, and, whenever requested to do so by the Registrar, every issuer or any other person having unissued licences in his or her possession, power, custody or control shall transmit them to the Registrar without delay.
15(5)Every issuer shall keep a record of every marriage licence issued by him or her in the form and containing the information that may be required by the Registrar.
15(6)The record is the property of the Crown, and, whenever requested to do so by the Registrar, the issuer or any person having the record in his or her possession, power, custody or control shall transmit the record to the Registrar without delay.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.14; 1979, c.39, s.6; 1983, c.50, s.6; 1991, c.9, s.2; 1992, c.54, s.1, s.2; 1995, c.10, s.7; 2000, c.25, s.2
Issuance of marriage licences
16On application in the manner prescribed by this Act, an issuer may issue to the persons desiring to marry, and who are lawfully entitled to marry, a licence authorizing the solemnization of the marriage in the Province by a cleric or a clerk of the Court under the authority of this Act.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.15; 1979, c.39, s.7; 1986, c.52, s.11; 1991, c.9, s.3; 2000, c.25, s.4
Application for marriage licence
17(1)An application for the issue of a marriage licence shall be made in the following manner: both parties to the intended marriage shall personally attend before the issuer and, being examined separately and apart from one another, each shall make an affidavit, on the form provided by the Registrar, that shall state the following:
(a) in what city, town, village or parish it is intended that the marriage is to be solemnized and the person before whom it is intended that the marriage is to be solemnized;
(b) that he or she believes there is no affinity, consanguinity, prior marriage or other lawful cause or legal impediment to bar or hinder the solemnization of the marriage;
(c) the age of the deponent and that the other contracting party is of the full age of 18 years, or the age of that contracting party if under the age of 18 years, as the case may be;
(d) the facts necessary to enable the issuer to judge if the required consent has been given in the case of a party under the age of 18 years, or if that consent is necessary;
(e) the marital status of the parties, being one of the following:
(i) never previously married;
(ii) previously married and divorced, stating the date of the final decree, judgment or order;
(iii) marriage declared a nullity, stating the date of the final decree; or
(iv) previously married and widowed, stating the date of death of the previous spouse; and
(f) any other or additional information that may be prescribed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.
17(2)The affidavits shall be taken and subscribed before the issuer to whom the application is made.
17(3)Before administering the oath to an applicant, the issuer shall see that the applicant is aware of what degrees of affinity and consanguinity are a bar to the solemnization of marriage.
17(4)The affidavits provided for in this Act shall be filed with the issuer to whom the application is made and, in case of a divorced person seeking to marry, proof of divorce, in accordance with the regulations, and in the case of a previously married and widowed person seeking to marry, proof of death, in accordance with the regulations, shall also be filed and the issuer shall transmit it to the Registrar.
17(5)When the proof of divorce or death required to be filed under subsection (4) or any part of that proof is not in the English or French language, it shall be accompanied by a translation of it satisfactory to the Registrar.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.16; 1983, c.50, s.7; 1986, c.52, s.12; 1991, c.9, s.4; 1995, c.10, s.8; 2000, c.13, s.4
When personal attendance of applicant excused
18When on an application for a marriage licence it is made to appear that one of the parties to the intended marriage cannot attend before the issuer without undue hardship and the issuer is satisfied as to the facts, he or she may excuse that party from attending before him or her, and the affidavit referred to in section 17 of that party may be made before any person authorized by law to take affidavits to be read in The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick and the affidavit shall state the reason relied on to excuse personal attendance before the issuer, but the issuer shall not issue the licence in the absence of that party’s personal attendance unless he or she is satisfied that the party cannot so attend without undue hardship.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.17; 1979, c.39, s.8
Caveats against issuance of marriage licence
19(1)Any person on payment of a fee prescribed by regulation may lodge with any issuer a caveat against the issuing of a licence for the marriage of any person named in the caveat, and if a caveat is lodged with the issuer and is duly signed by or on behalf of the person who lodges the caveat and states that person’s place of residence and the ground of objection on which that person’s caveat is founded, no marriage licence shall be issued by the issuer until either the issuer has examined into the matter of the caveat and is satisfied that it ought not to obstruct the issuing of the licence or the caveat is withdrawn by the person who lodged it.
19(2)The issuer may in case of doubt refer the matter of the caveat to the Registrar for his or her advice.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.18; 1979, c.39, s.9
Party to marriage under age of 18
20(1)In the case of an intended marriage, if either of the parties to it is under the age of 18 years and has not been previously married, the consent of the father and the mother of that party or, if either is dead or living apart and not contributing to the support of that person, the consent of the living or supporting parent or, if both are dead, the consent of a guardian if any has been duly appointed, shall be required before a licence is issued, which consent shall be verified by the affidavit as provided by the Registrar of the father, mother or guardian, as the case requires.
20(2)When consent is necessary under subsection (1), no licence shall be issued unless the consent is produced and the issuer is satisfied of its genuineness.
20(3)In the case of a party who is of the age of 16 years or over but under the age of 18 years and who has not been previously married, if both the father and mother are dead and there is no guardian of that party duly appointed, on the production and filing with the issuer of an affidavit of that party setting out the facts and of a duly authenticated certificate of birth of that party and on the issuer being satisfied as to the facts, the issuer may grant the licence.
20(4)When the person whose consent is required is mentally incompetent, or resides outside of the Province or unreasonably or arbitrarily refuses or withholds his or her consent to the marriage, the person in respect of whose marriage consent is required may apply by Notice of Application to a judge of The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick for a declaration under this section, and the judge applied to shall proceed on the Notice of Application in a summary manner and, if the marriage proposed appears on cause shown to be proper, the judge shall judicially declare it to be proper, and the judge’s judicial declaration shall be as effectual for all purposes as if the person whose consent is required had consented to the marriage.
20(5)Before a licence is issued authorizing the solemnization of a marriage, the consent required by subsection (1) or the declaration of a judge under subsection (4) shall be filed with the issuer.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.19; 1979, c.39, s.10; 1983, c.50, s.8; 1986, c.52, s.13; 1991, c.9, s.5; 1995, c.10, s.9
Party to marriage under age of 16
21(1)Except as provided in this section, no marriage of any person under the age of 16 years shall be solemnized and no licence shall be issued to a person under the age of 16 years.
21(2)Subject to subsection (3), if a party to an intended marriage is under the age of 16 years, that party may apply by Notice of Application to a judge of The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick for a declaration under this section, and the judge applied to shall proceed on the Notice of Application in a summary manner and, if the marriage proposed appears on cause shown to be proper, the judge shall judicially declare it to be proper.
21(3)A party who makes an application under subsection (2) shall file with The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick the consent or consents and affidavits required under subsection 20(1) or, if subsection 20(3) applies, the required affidavit under that subsection and, if the required consent or consents cannot be obtained for any of the reasons mentioned in subsection 20(4), the judge applied to may dispense with the required consent or consents and may make the declaration referred to in subsection (2).
21(4)The judge to whom an application has been made under subsection (2) may require the Minister to investigate whether the proposed marriage appears to be proper and to submit to the judge a report and recommendation.
21(5)Every declaration made under subsection (2) shall be filed in a manner similar to that provided in subsection 20(5).
1983, c.50, s.9; 1986, c.8, s.70; 1986, c.52, s.14; 1995, c.10, s.10
Affidavit of birth
22When the production of a birth certificate is required by this Act, the issuer, on being satisfied that the production of the certificate is impossible or impracticable, may accept instead of it an affidavit of some person having a personal knowledge of the facts.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.20; 1986, c.52, s.15; 2000, c.13, s.5
Power to require attendance of witnesses
23The issuer may require the production of witnesses to identify the persons intending to marry and may examine under oath or otherwise the persons intending to marry and other witnesses respecting any matter pertaining to the issue of the marriage licence as the issuer may consider necessary or advisable.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.21; 1986, c.52, s.16
Cancellation of appointment of issuer
24The Registrar may cancel the appointment of any issuer who violates any provision of this Act or who, in the opinion of the Registrar, provides service that is unsatisfactory.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.24; 1983, c.50, s.11; 1991, c.9, s.6; 2001, c.2, s.2
Solemnization of marriage
25(1)No marriage shall be solemnized under the authority of a licence unless the marriage takes place within three months after the day on which the licence was issued.
25(2)No marriage shall be solemnized without the presence of two or more credible witnesses who have attained the age of majority besides the person who performs the ceremony.
25(3)The licence to marry shall be left with the person who solemnized the marriage, and that person shall without delay after the solemnization endorse on the licence the date and place of the marriage and the names and descriptions of the witnesses and preserve the licence in the records of his or her church, congregation or court, as the case may be, as his or her authority for the solemnization of the marriage.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.26; 1986, c.52, s.18
Certificate of marriage
26Immediately following the ceremony, every person who solemnizes a marriage shall give to the contracting parties a certificate of the marriage under his or her hand on the form provided by the Registrar, specifying the names of the parties to the marriage, the date and place of the marriage, the names of at least two of the witnesses to the marriage and that the marriage was solemnized under a licence, and the parties and at least two of the witnesses to the marriage shall subscribe their names on the certificate.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.27; 1986, c.52, s.19; 1991, c.9, s.7; 1995, c.10, s.11
Validation of marriages
27(1)Every marriage previously solemnized in the Province in good faith before any cleric where the parties so married have cohabited in a conjugal relationship shall be deemed to be and is declared valid, despite any real or supposed want of legal authority in the cleric to solemnize the marriage, and despite the want of licence or publication of banns, if the publication was required, or the absence of witnesses under which the marriage was solemnized, or any other legal objection to it, but nothing in this section has the effect of confirming or rendering valid a marriage between parties who were not legally competent to enter into the marriage contract by reason of consanguinity, affinity or otherwise.
27(2)When it is made to appear to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council by affidavit that a marriage has been solemnized in the Province in good faith and in ignorance of the requirements of the law by a person who was not at the time duly authorized to solemnize marriage, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may by order ratify and confirm all marriages performed by that person during a period fixed by the order, or may ratify and confirm any particular marriage or marriages solemnized by that person, and on the order being made all marriages so ratified and confirmed shall be deemed to be valid from the time of the solemnization of them, but nothing in this section or in any such order has the effect of confirming or rendering valid a marriage between parties not legally competent to enter into the marriage contract by reason of consanguinity, affinity or otherwise.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.28, s.29; 1986, c.52, s.20, s.21; 1995, c.10, s.12; 2008, c.45, s.15
Statement required under Vital Statistics Act
28Every person who fails to prepare and transmit the statement required under the Vital Statistics Act is liable to have his or her registration cancelled and his or her authority to solemnize marriage in the Province thereby revoked.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.31; 1979, c.39, s.11; 1983, c.50, s.13
Offences and penalties
29(1)A person who violates or fails to comply with section 10, subsection 15(4), 15(5), 15(6), 17(4) or 25(3) or section 26 commits an offence punishable under Part 2 of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category C offence.
29(2)A person who violates or fails to comply with section 11 or 30 commits an offence punishable under Part 2 of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category E offence.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.32; 1983, c.50, s.14; 1990, c.61, s.75
Prohibition
30No person shall issue a licence for the solemnization of a marriage unless the person has been appointed as an issuer under this Act, and no person shall solemnize a marriage in this Province unless the person has been duly registered under this Act as a person authorized to solemnize marriage in the Province and unless a licence has been issued in respect of the marriage, as required by this Act.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.34; 1986, c.52, s.22
Administration
31(1)The Registrar is, under the direction of the Minister, responsible for the administration of this Act, and shall perform any other duties that may be prescribed by the regulations or by the Minister.
31(2)The Minister may appoint a person to act on behalf of the Registrar.
1979, c.39, s.2
Regulations
32The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) prescribing fees and the amount of them for purposes within the scope of this Act;
(b) prescribing forms for the purposes of this Act;
(c) prescribing criteria for the purposes of subsection 2(2);
(d) respecting proof of divorce or death for the purposes of subsection 17(4);
(e) generally for the better administration of this Act.
R.S.1973, c.M-3, s.35; 1979, c.39, s.12; 1983, c.50, s.15; 1986, c.52, s.23; 1991, c.9, s.8; 1992, c.54, s.3; 2000, c.25, s.5
Regulations may be retroactive
33Regulations made under section 32 may be made retroactive in their operation.
2000, c.25, s.6