Civil Marriage: Everything You Need To Know To Plan Your

Civil marriage is summarized in the formal act in which the couple express, before the judge, their desire to establish a marital bond and he declares them married. That is, the entire bureaucratic stage of marriage focuses on the well-known moment when the bride and groom sign, together with their groomsmen, the document proving the union.

However, until you get to the dreamed? Yes ?, it is important to worry about some details so that the ceremony is performed without complications. Check out everything you need to know to organize your civil wedding:

How it works?

For civil marriage to take place, some essential organizational steps are needed that will facilitate and define their ceremony, such as choosing the property regime, seeking witnesses, and defining what the couple's new surname will look like.

1. Qualification for marriage

The first step is to file the marriage registration process to prove that both grooms are unimpeded for marriage. At this stage, it is already necessary to present the required documents for the marriage and, once the request has been processed, the couple will have 90 days to get married.

After that, you should decide the ideal date for the ceremony and also the type of wedding that will be held before the property regime and the chosen groomsmen.

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2. Property Regime

The property regime is an agreement that deals with the material property of the couple, thinking before, during and after marriage, divorce or widowhood. It must be set before the civil ceremony, according to four scheme options:

• Partial communion of goods: when the bride and groom decide to split all assets acquired after marriage and keep the former as personal.
• Universal communion of goods: Under this scheme both premarital property and property acquired during the marriage period belong to both spouses.
• Final participation in the proceedings: This type of regime is equivalent to the regime of partial communion of goods. Spouses keep the assets acquired prior to marriage separate, as well as those acquired during marriage, with freedom of administration and division of debt. However, in the case of divorce, property purchased during marriage will be halved for each.
• Separation of goods: In this case, the bride and groom choose to keep all premarital property as well as those acquired during marriage as personal and incommunicado.

If the couple has the need to change the regime after the marriage, it is possible to file a court order motivated by both grooms.

3. Change of surname

The act of marriage already marks the desire to consecrate the love of the bride and groom, but for those who feel the urge to take it to life even deeper, it is possible for one spouse to choose to add his surname to the other. For this to actually happen, you need to indicate the desire in the marriage enablement memorial.

4. Witnesses

One of the most important steps is the choice of godparents: one for each spouse, relatives or not and over 18 years. Ideally, these people should be close to the couple, able to declare the knowledge of the couple and also the non-impediment to the union.

5. Costs

Finally, knowing the step by step for civil marriage, one question remains: how much does it cost? Well, that is a factor that varies from region to region. However, normally the value of the ceremony is around R $ 400.00, plus expenses with documents, certified copies and notary and notary services. In addition, the value changes if the marriage is held at or outside the registry office.

Read also: Civil Wedding Dress: 80 passionate models for this special day

As you may have noticed, the steps are simple but interconnected, so keeping an eye on the deadlines for everything to go as planned.

What documents are required?

When you enter the marriage eligibility process you must provide a list of the bride and groom's updated documents. It is important to begin arranging papers at least 3 months in advance so that there is enough time to issue duplicate copies or change data in the originals if necessary. To avoid missing any details, check out everything you will need:

Single bride and groom

• Identity Card (RG), also being accepted the issued by the army and National Driver License (CNH) within the validity period;
• CPF;
• Proof of original residence in the name of the couple or their parents (water, electricity, telephone)? in case of rent, present a photocopy of the contract or statement from the property owner;
• Updated birth certificate (original duplicate, issued within the last 3 months);
• Under 18: present parental consent.

Divorced bride and groom

• Identity Card (RG), also being accepted the issued by the army and National Driver License (CNH) within the validity period;
• CPF;
• Proof of original residence in the name of the couple or their parents (water, electricity, telephone)? in case of rent, present a photocopy of the contract or statement from the property owner;
• Marriage certificate updated with divorce annotation (original duplicate, issued within the last 3 months);
• Certificate issued by the Family Court of the Forum of the city where the divorce was made, certifying whether or not there was any sharing of property of the previous marriage, or photocopy of the public deed of divorce, if it was made by notary

Widowed Bride and Groom

• Identity Card (RG), also being accepted the issued by the army and National Driver License (CNH) within the validity period;
• CPF;
• Proof of original residence in the name of the couple or their parents (water, electricity, telephone)? in case of rent, present a photocopy of the contract or statement from the property owner;
• Marriage certificate updated with the death note (original duplicate, issued in the last 3 months);
• Death certificate of deceased spouse;
• Certificate issued by the Family Court of the Forum of the city where the inventory was made, certifying whether or not the property of the previous marriage was lifted, or photocopy of the public deed of the inventory, if it was made by notary.

Foreign bride and groom resident in Brazil

• Permanent Alien Identity Card (RNE)
• CPF;
• Original birth certificate, legalized by the Brazilian Consulate in the Country of birth and translation, made by a sworn translator (the foreign language certificate and translation must be previously registered in the Civil Registry of Titles and Documents);
• Photocopy of passport;
• Proof of original residence in the name of the bride and groom or their parents; in case of rent, present a photocopy of the contract or statement from the property owner;
• Public statement made in Notary Public certifying that the fiancé is single.

Foreign bride and groom not resident in Brazil

• Original birth certificate, legalized by the Brazilian Consulate in the Country of birth and translation, made by a sworn translator (the foreign language certificate and translation must be previously registered in the Civil Registry of Titles and Documents);
• Photocopy of passport;
• Public statement attesting that the groom is single and his residence legalized by the Brazilian Consulate of the country of residence (if in another language, the statement must be translated by a sworn translator).

Now it's easy, right? By following this list of basic documents your marriage license will be ready without problems!

Ceremony Types

Civil marriage changes according to the wishes of the couple. It can be performed in the registry office or outside of it, in communion with the religious ceremony, or as an update of an existing stable union.

To find out exactly how each one works, check out the clarifications from lawyer Heloise Cella:

Read also: Wedding Checklist: What Should Be Ready By The Big Day?

1. Marriage in the registry office



This is the ceremony held in the registry office, before the justice of the peace, with marriage registration in the proper book with two witnesses and some guests. As the wedding space in this format is usually small, it is important to inquire about how many guests are allowed and whether to take the photographer to register the ceremony to avoid any embarrassment.

2. Marriage in diligence



This is the wedding held outside the registry, where the peace judge goes to his ceremony with the registrar to officialize the ceremony. In this case, it is common for the fees to be paid to change significantly and may even double in relation to the marriage in the notary. Due diligence marriage also allows, depending on the civil registry, that the couple have two witnesses each instead of one.

3. Religious Marriage with Civil Effect



Religious marriage is celebrated and recognized by a church authority, such as priest or pastor, rather than the judge. It is necessary to enter the process of qualification in the registry, as well as in other modalities. Prior to the ceremony, the Certificate of Qualification issued by the registry must be given to the religious celebrant.

It is also possible to register the wedding at the registry office after the religious ceremony. In this case, the bride and groom will receive a marriage term instead of the certificate, and have up to 90 days after the marriage to regularize the situation in the registry.

4. Conversion of stable marriage to marriage



This union is simple: it is enough for the couple to enter the process of qualification in a civil registry near their residence and no ceremony before the judge of peace or religious authority. As with conventional marriage, documents and two witnesses are required to enter the qualification process.

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These are the possible types of civil marriage, but nothing prevents the couple choose to make an event for the civil and another for the religious, for example.

What to wear?



Red tape settled! Now is the time to decide the ideal outfit for the civil wedding. One thing that will greatly influence the decision is whether your marriage will be at the notary's office, the religious office or the court. So it is worth considering a few things:

• For the wedding at the registry office: Civil registry unions call for slightly more casual dresses, allowing for shorts, overalls, midi models, among other options. It is also common to bet on colors that escape the traditional white and prints, such as floral and poá.
• For church ceremonies: Religious ceremonies call for the traditional, such as long light-colored dresses, with room for the bride to shine in lace-trimmed models, embroidery, veils, and everything else.
• For other diligent ceremonies: Here, many couples propose celebrations outdoors, at the beach or on the farm, for example. Thus, the bride's clothes will change depending on the location chosen, can be a short flower, a traditional white or even something unusual.

Inspiring Looks for Civil Wedding

Considering that the wedding in the registry office is the type of ceremony that most differs in the look of the bride, we have separated some inspirations to help you define what to wear if you are going to perform your ceremony in this mode:



The truth is that there are ceremonies for all tastes when it comes to civil marriage. And despite the bureaucracy, just get organized in advance that anything is possible!

How to Plan a Civil Ceremony (April 2024)