There are only three types of marriages in Nigeria, they are:
- Statutory marriage (Marriage under the Act),
- Customary law marriage and
- Islamic law marriage.
All three are valid and none is not more important than the other.
So the question of the day is why do you want to conduct a Statutory marriage? Why are Nigerians keen on going to the Federal Ministry of Interior to conduct their marriage and get the certificate? It is almost like they value it more than any other one. I mean couples conduct their customary law marriage and still run to the Registry for the Statutory marriage, literally repeating their marriage.
It is like they all want the marriage certificate (Form E) issued to them. Most do not even know why they want it or if they need it, talk less of the implications of a Statutory marriage on both parties.
Apart from the fact this marriage is relatively cheap and very affordable, there are other fundamental reasons certain persons consider this, and maybe you should be in the know too.
Okay, apart from those who intend to present a marriage certificate to Embassies, the Marriage Certificate can do a lot more.
1. Bigamy
First, did you know that as an individual when you conduct a Statutory marriage, you are saying that you cannot marry any other person as long as that Marriage persists? This would not be so under Customary law marriage. This is because Statutory marriage is against Customary law and Islamic law Marriage is monogamous in nature, and as such both parties to the marriage can only be married to each other at a time. This very well means that marriage outside of your original marriage is null and void. That is non-existent in the eyes of the law, that is, it never happened. Actually, it is quite criminal to marry someone else when your initial marriage under the Act is still persistent. The crime is known as “BIGAMY”. If your spouse decides to carry out an action against you, you would likely spend 7 years in prison if found guilty. Yes, you read that right, 7 years.
This means:
- If you marry Chidinma under the Marriage Act in Nigeria, you cannot marry Anita without fully divorcing Chidinma. And yes, you will go for 7 years imprisonment if Chidinma should report you.
- That your marriage to Anita will be invalid. Anita can never be seen as your wife.
- Also, if you married Chidinma under customary law marriage, you can only marry Anita under customary law marriage as a second wife or, you would have to nullify your marriage with Chidinma before conducting a Statutory marriage with Anita. If you should conduct a Statutory marriage with Anita while still customarily married to Chidinma, the marriage would be null and void; because Statutory marriage can only happen between two unmarried people, ie, between two parties that are not married to someone else.
2. Letter of Administration
Secondly, a statutory marriage makes your spouse your first administrator after your demise (death). Regardless of how much we try to persuade people to write their last Will and Testament, certain individuals remain adamant. Well, when an individual who is married under the Act dies intestate (without writing a Will), his/her estate is governed by the Administration of Estate Law (NB: Different State with its own Administration of Estate laws). According to this law, if the Intestate (the deceased who died without writing a Will) leaves a spouse behind, without children on any other relative, the estate (simply put, the property) will be given to the spouse.
If, however, the deceased left behind a spouse and children, and no other relative, one-third of the estate will be given to the spouse, while two-thirds would go to the children of the deceased. If the deceased’s parents are still alive, one-quarter of his estate will be given to his wife, one quarter to his parents (which will go to the deceased’s children after their own death) and the other to his children.
Technically, by virtue of this Law, when one dies, his/her spouse becomes the one person that the Probate Registry is likely to recognize as the first Administrator. So, the first person that the Court usually calls upon is the spouse, then the children.
Please note, that this is for only people who married under the Act.
