Complying With Legal Requirements

Lodging Your Notice

Before you marry, you need to complete a Notice of Intended Marriage. You may lodge your Notice with me as your chosen marriage celebrant.

Having lodged your Notice, your marriage can then be solemnised after one calendar month and within 18 months of that date.

• Only complete page 3 of the Notice.
• Write neatly in block letters using a black pen. Alternatively, you may type in all your information on the form and then print it out.
• This document will be sent to the registry of Births, Deaths and Marriage in Queensland (BDM).
• The names, birthplace and information about your parents must be exactly the same as on your birth certificates.
• If you have never been married before, choose ‘NEVER VALIDLY MARRIED’
• Please avoid abbreviations.
• Do not complete page 4 or sign the notice. This must be done in my presence (either in person or via FaceTime), or in the presence of one of the persons listed on page 4. You will need to have your Notice witnessed by one of the listed persons if you are sending your Notice by mail or electronically.

Proof of Identity

Before you marry, I need to establish your identity and evidence of date and place of birth. This is best done through photo ID by way of a driver’s licence or passport. Citizenship papers may also help. I must also sight your original birth certificates or extracts.

While a birth certificate is preferred, a passport can be accepted as proof of birth. Where a person born overseas has neither a birth certificate nor a passport issued by a government of an overseas country, a statutory declaration will be acceptable.

It is not essential but ideal to have these documents available when you lodge your Notice.

Previous Marriage



If either of you have been married before, I will need to sight original evidence of how that marriage ended, i.e. evidence of that person’s divorce or death of that person’s spouse, before you can marry.