I continued to receive back-to-back feedback from my articles in the past two weeks. It warmed my heart to see that readers are very much interested in matters of matrimony as it forms the genesis of human relationships. I will attempt to explain as much as I can the types of marriage, complexities, punishments and resolutions.
What A Civil Marriage Means
In simple terms, it is a marriage that is legally recognised and approved by the government and performed according to the laws of a country. It is a statutory marriage or in common parlance, a registry marriage, or court marriage. The marriage is conducted by a government official or registrar.
A civil marriage must be performed at the registry or a licensed church, and it requires documentation:
A Notice of Marriage. A Marriage Certificate. Witnesses.
In civil marriages, you cannot perform another marriage without first dissolving the first marriage. Separation does not dissolve it. Only a High Court is vested with the powers to dissolve it.
Common Law Marriage
A common law marriage is one where a couple present themselves as husband and wife without formally registering the marriage. While it is recognised in some countries, it is not legally recognised in Nigeria. The proof is based on cohabitation and public presentation as spouses.
It is, however, important for Nigerians who are relocating abroad to know that if you are living in Nigeria without performing a registry or customary marriage, you are not legally married, no matter how long you live together.
However, if you relocate abroad, some countries may treat long cohabitation differently, and that can affect property rights, inheritance, and separation.
When a couple goes through customary, church, and registry marriages, which takes precedence?
Let’s Break It Down
A traditional or customary marriage is valid and legally binding. If the same couple decides to go to a church that is not licensed to perform a civil marriage, it remains a customary marriage. All the couple gets is a church blessing.
Therefore, in case of divorce, the divorce process will go through the customary way or a church annulment depending on the church. But a church annulment does not have a statutory backing.
However, if after the customary marriage, a couple decided to go to the registry or a church licensed to issue a marriage certificate, the civil marriage takes precedence over the traditional one.
In case of divorce, the marriage must be dissolved in court. Even if the couple returns the bride price under customary marriage, they still remain legally bound to the civil marriage until it is dissolved in court.
For couples in Nigeria, if you perform all these marriages, you must obtain a divorce in court before you are legally free to remarry. However, after a court divorce, a couple may seek customary dissolution for traditional closure.
When a person in a Customary Law Marriage enters into a Civil Marriage with another person
This is common among many people who erroneously enter into civil law marriages with a new person despite being married under customary law to another person. Such an act is a crime under the Criminal Code Act, called Bigamy.
Sounds familiar, right?
Yes. Customary law is legally recognised under the Nigerian law. Once you are married under customary law, the law considers you married, even if you didn’t do a registry marriage.
Many people make the mistake of assuming that a civil marriage overrides a customary marriage. It does not. The law sees you as married, so any attempt to remarry without a proper divorce is illegal.
Therefore, a person still married under customary law who performs a civil marriage with another without first legally ending the previous marriage commits a crime of Bigamy.
The crime of Bigamy can be prosecuted, and the offender faces imprisonment for up to seven years.
I am aware that many “marriages” come under this category of possible Bigamy. This may sound uncomfortable to many. But it is what it is. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
The only marriage that permits polygamy is marriage under customary law. This means a person married under customary law can be polygamous under native law and custom but cannot marry another spouse under the Act unless the first marriage is properly dissolved.
Another important question is the status of a couple’s separation without a proper divorce and why many couples don’t like to finalise their marriages?
Join me next week!
