eesti.ee : Marriage Registration Procedure Estonia

Organization : EESTi, Gateway to e-Estonia
Facility : Marriage Registration Procedure
Country : Estonia

Website : https://www.eesti.ee/eng/topics/citizen/perekond/abielu/abiellumine

EESTI Marriage Registration

** In Estonia, a marriage is formalized between a man and a woman of adulthood, that is reached at age 18 in Estonia.

Related : Gateway to e-Estonia Registration of Cohabitation Estonia : www.statusin.org/27561.html

At the age 15-17 it is allowed to get married with the permission from a court. Adult with the restricted active capacity may marry if the person understands legal consequences of the marriage.

** Marriage is not formalized if one of the prospective spouses is already married, if the prospective spouses are direct blood ascendants or descendants, if the prospective spouses are brothers and sisters and half-brothers and half-sisters.

Adoptive parents may not marry adoptees, nor may adoptees adopted by one person marry each other.

** In addition to the above, a minister of religion from a church, congregation or association of congregations has the right to refuse to marry prospective spouses if either of them does not conform to the terms and conditions for entering into marriage in accordance with the religious confession applicable in the church, congregation or association of congregations.

** If citizens of two different countries marry in Estonia, Estonian law is followed. To enter into the contact of marriage, the couple must submit a written application to a Vital Statistics Office, notary or minister of religion with the right to marry couples.

Registration of a marriage at a Vital Statistics Office costs and by minister of religion has a State Fee or when choosing the notary for contraction of marriage a fee plus VAT needs to be paid.

Documents to formalize a marriage :
To formalize a marriage, the following documents must be submitted
** Joint written application.
** Personal identification documents.
** Birth documents if the data is not listed in the Population Register.

** A person who has previously been married shall submit either a divorce certificate, a court decision on divorce, the death certificate for the spouse, or a court decision annulling the marriage.

** The inhabitant of another country must submit a certificate regarding lack of impediment to marriage.
** A document confirming payment of the state fee.

When entering into a marriage, a person either selects a new surname or keeps their existing one. The new surname :
** may be the same as that of the spouse, which shall be the surname last used by one spouse prior to the marriage;

** may consist of the last surname used prior to marriage followed by the family name of the spouse. Submitting an application, it is needed to choose what will be the property relations between spouses.

A marriage shall generally be registered no earlier than one month and no more than three months of the submission of application by the prospective spouses to the Vital Statistics Office.

In case of good reason, the Vital Statistics Office may shorten or extend deadlines. The deadline may be extended to as much as six months.

The marriage shall be considered formalized as soon as “I do” is uttered. Marriage is registered in the Register of Population and by the request of the spouses certificate of the marriage is issued.