On 21/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 21/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 21/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 28/03/2013.
PART III
SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGES
9. A marriage solemnized in Singapore or elsewhere between persons either of whom is below the age of 18 years shall be void unless the solemnization of the marriage was authorised by a special marriage licence granted by the Minister under section 21.
[26/80]
10.
—(1) A marriage solemnized in Singapore or elsewhere between a man and any of the persons mentioned in the first column of the First Schedule, or between a woman and any of the persons mentioned in the second column of that Schedule, shall be void.
[9/67; 26/80]
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and the First Schedule, the Minister may, in his discretion, grant a licence under this section for a marriage to be solemnized, notwithstanding the kindred or affinity of the parties, if the Minister is satisfied that the marriage is valid under the law, religion, custom or usage which would have been applicable to the parties thereto if this Act had not been enacted.
[9/67; 30/96]
(3) A marriage solemnized under such a licence shall be valid.
[9/67; 30/96]
11. A marriage solemnized in Singapore or elsewhere between persons either of whom, at the date of the marriage, is married under any law, religion, custom or usage to any other person shall be void.
[26/80]
12.
—(1) A marriage solemnized in Singapore or elsewhere between persons who, at the date of the marriage, are not respectively male and female shall be void.
[30/96]
(2) It is hereby declared that, subject to sections 5, 9, 10, 11 and 22, a marriage solemnized in Singapore or elsewhere between a person who has undergone a sex re-assignment procedure and any person of the opposite sex is and shall be deemed always to have been a valid marriage.
[30/96]
(3) For the purpose of this section —
(a)
the sex of any party to a marriage as stated at the time of the marriage in his or her identity card issued under the National Registration Act (Cap. 201) shall be prima facie evidence of the sex of the party; and
(b)
a person who has undergone a sex re-assignment procedure shall be identified as being of the sex to which the person has been re-assigned.
[30/96]
(4) Nothing in subsection (2) shall validate any such marriage which had been declared by the High Court before 1st May 1997 to be null and void on the ground that the parties were of the same sex.
[30/96]
13.
—(1) Subject to this section, a marriage licence under section 17 or a special marriage licence under section 21 for the marriage of a minor shall not be issued or granted without the consent of a person mentioned in the Second Schedule who is authorised to give such consent.
[26/80]
(2) If the Registrar or, in the case of a proposed marriage by special marriage licence, the Minister is satisfied that the consent of any person whose consent is so required cannot be obtained by reason of absence or inaccessibility or by reason of his being under any disability —
(a)
the necessity for the consent of that person shall be dispensed with, if there is any other person whose consent is also required; and
(b)
if the consent of no other person is required, the Registrar or the Minister may dispense with the necessity of obtaining any consent, or the High Court may, on application being made, consent to the marriage, and the consent of the High Court so given shall have the same effect as if it had been given by the person whose consent cannot be so obtained.
[26/80]
(3) If any person whose consent is required refuses his consent, the High Court may, on application being made, consent to the marriage, and the consent of the High Court so given shall have the same effect as if it had been given by the person whose consent is so refused.
(4) An application to the High Court under this section shall be made to a judge in chambers.
(5) When an application is made to the High Court in consequence of a refusal to give consent, notice of the application shall be served upon the person who refused to give consent.
(6) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Part, consent to the marriage of a minor shall not be necessary if the minor has been previously married.
(7) There shall be no appeal from an order of a judge under this section.
14. Whenever any persons desire to marry in Singapore, one of the parties to the intended marriage shall sign and give to the Registrar a notice in the prescribed form.
[9/67]
15. If the person giving the notice under section 14 is unable to write or is insufficiently acquainted with the English language, or both, then it shall be sufficient if he places his mark or cross thereon in the presence of some literate person who shall attest the same, which attestation shall be in the prescribed form.
16.
—(1) Upon receipt of a notice under section 14, the Registrar shall cause the notice to be filed serially by electronic media or other means.
[30/96]
(2) The Registrar shall also cause a computer print-out or summary of all notices filed during the day to be displayed in an electronic terminal in a conspicuous place in his office and shall keep the same so displayed until he issues a marriage licence under section 17, or until 3 months have elapsed.
[30/96]
17.
—(1) The Registrar shall, at any time after the expiration of 21 days and before the expiration of 3 months from the date of the notice and upon payment of the prescribed fee, issue a marriage licence in the prescribed form.
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(2) The Registrar shall not issue a marriage licence until he has been satisfied by statutory declaration made by each of the parties to the proposed marriage —
(a)
that, where any party to the intended marriage is not a citizen or permanent resident of Singapore, at least one of the parties has been physically present in Singapore for a period of at least 15 days preceding the date of the notice;
(b)
that —
(i)
each of the parties is 21 years of age or above, or, if not, is divorced or is a widower or widow or has had his or her previous marriage declared null and void, as the case may be; or
(ii)
if either party is a minor who has not been previously married — the consent of the appropriate person mentioned in the Second Schedule has been given in writing, or has been dispensed with, or the consent of the High Court has been given in accordance with section 13;
(c)
that neither party is below the age of 18 years;
(d)
that there is no lawful impediment to the marriage;
(e)
that neither of the parties to the intended marriage is married under any law, religion, custom or usage to any person other than the person with whom such marriage is proposed to be contracted; and
(f)
that, where any party to the intended marriage is a person to whom section 17A applies, both parties have attended and completed a marriage preparation programme.
[9/67; 26/80]
(2A) Where one of the parties to the proposed marriage has been previously married but is divorced, the Registrar shall not issue a marriage licence unless that party also states, in the statutory declaration referred to in subsection (2), whether he owes any arrears in respect of any maintenance which is payable under a maintenance order.
(2B) The statutory declaration referred to in subsection (2) shall be made by each party to the proposed marriage in the presence of the other party.
(3) If any party giving a notice of marriage or making a statutory declaration does not understand the English language, the Registrar shall, before issuing the marriage licence, ascertain whether that party is cognizant of the purport of the notice or declaration and, if not, shall interpret or cause to be interpreted the notice or declaration to that party into some language which he understands.
[26/80]
(4) In this section —
“maintenance order” means —
(a)
an order for the payment of a monthly allowance made or deemed to be made by a court under Part VIII;
(b)
an order for the payment of periodical sums by way of maintenance or alimony to a wife or for the benefit of any child under Part X;
(c)
an order for maintenance made by the Syariah Court under the Administration of Muslim Law Act (Cap. 3); or
(d)
a maintenance order as defined in section 2 of the Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act (Cap. 168) or section 2 of the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act (Cap. 169);
“marriage preparation programme” has the same meaning as in section 17A(3);
“permanent resident of Singapore” means a person who holds an entry permit under section 10 of the Immigration Act (Cap. 133) or a re-entry permit under section 11 of that Act.
17A.
—(1) This section shall apply to a person within the class of persons prescribed by the Minister as persons who must attend a marriage preparation programme.
(2) A person to whom this section applies shall not be issued with a marriage licence under section 17 or a special marriage licence under section 21 unless the person satisfies the Registrar or the Minister, as the case may be, that the person, together with the other party to the proposed marriage, have attended and completed a marriage preparation programme.
(3) In this section and section 21, “marriage preparation programme” means a marriage preparation programme which satisfies the description specified in the rules made under section 180.
18. If the marriage does not take place within 3 months after the date of the notice, the notice and all proceedings consequent thereupon shall be void, and fresh notice shall be given before the parties can lawfully marry.
19.
—(1) Any person may, on payment of the prescribed fee, enter a caveat with the Registrar against the issue of a licence for the marriage of any person named in the caveat and notice of whose intended marriage has been given to the Registrar.
[26/80]
(2) A caveat entered under this section shall contain the name and place of residence of the person entering the caveat and the grounds of objection upon which the caveat is founded and shall be signed by the person entering the caveat.
20.
—(1) If a caveat is entered in accordance with section 19, the Registrar shall not issue a licence for the marriage against which the caveat has been entered unless —
(a)
after examining into the matter of the said objection, the Registrar is satisfied that it ought not to obstruct the issue of the licence for the marriage; or
(b)
the caveat is withdrawn by the person who entered it.
[26/80]
(2) In cases of doubt, it shall be lawful for the Registrar to refer the matter of any caveat referred to in subsection (1) to the High Court which shall decide upon the same.
(3) Where the Registrar has refused to issue the marriage licence, the person applying for the same shall have a right of appeal to the High Court which shall thereupon either confirm the refusal or direct the issue of the marriage licence.
[26/80]
(4) The High Court may examine the allegations contained in the caveat in a summary way and may hear evidence in support of and in opposition to the objection.
(5) The proceedings under this section shall be before a judge in chambers.
(6) There shall be no appeal from a decision of a judge under this section.
(7) If the Registrar or the High Court declares the grounds of objection to be frivolous and such as ought not to obstruct the issue of the marriage licence, the person entering the caveat shall be liable for the costs of all proceedings relating thereto and for damages to be recovered by suit by the party against whose marriage the caveat was entered.
[26/80]
21.
—(1) The Minister may, if he thinks fit, dispense with the giving of notice and with the issue of a marriage licence, and may grant a special marriage licence in the prescribed form authorising the solemnization of a marriage between the parties named —
(a)
upon proof being made to him by statutory declaration —
(i)
that there is no lawful impediment to the proposed marriage; and
(ii)
where any party to the proposed marriage is a person to whom section 17A applies, that both parties to the proposed marriage have attended and completed a marriage preparation programme;
(b)
where one party to the proposed marriage has been previously married but is divorced, upon a statutory declaration being furnished by the party as to whether that party owes any arrears in respect of any maintenance which is payable under a maintenance order; and
(c)
upon his being satisfied that the necessary consent, if any, to the marriage has been obtained, or that the consent has been dispensed with or given under section 13.
(2) The Minister may, in his discretion, grant a special marriage licence under this section authorising the solemnization of a marriage although any party to the marriage is below the age of 18 years.
[26/80]
(3) If the marriage authorised by a special marriage licence under this section is not solemnized within one month from the date of the licence, the licence shall become void.
[26/80]
(4) The Minister may delegate his powers under this section to any person, subject to such conditions as he may think fit to impose.
(5) In this section, “maintenance order” has the same meaning as in section 17(4).
22.
—(1) Every marriage solemnized in Singapore shall be void unless it is solemnized —
(a)
on the authority of a valid marriage licence issued by the Registrar or a valid special marriage licence granted by the Minister; and
(b)
by the Registrar or a person who has been granted a licence to solemnize marriages.
[26/80]
(2) Every marriage shall be solemnized in the presence of at least 2 credible witnesses.
(3) No marriage shall be solemnized unless the person solemnizing the marriage is satisfied that both the parties to the marriage freely consent to the marriage.
23. A marriage solemnized by the Registrar or any person licensed to solemnize marriages may be solemnized according to such form and ceremony as the Registrar or the person solemnizing the marriage sees fit to adopt and in some part of the ceremony he shall request each of the parties to the marriage to declare that he or she is willing to take the other party as his or her wedded wife or husband, as the case may be.
[26/80]
24.
—(1) If the parties to any marriage contracted and solemnized under this Act or under any previous written law relating to Christian or civil marriages shall desire to add to the marriage so contracted and solemnized the religious ceremony ordained or used by the church or temple of which the parties or one of them are members or is a member, it shall be competent for them to present themselves for that purpose to a clergyman, minister or priest of such church or temple, having given notice to that clergyman, minister or priest of their intention to do so; and that clergyman, minister or priest, upon the production of a certified copy of the certificate of the marriage, may, if he sees fit, read or celebrate the marriage service of the church or temple to which he belongs.
(2) Nothing in the reading or celebration of such service under subsection (1) shall be held to supersede or invalidate any marriage so previously contracted and solemnized, nor shall such reading or celebration be entered as a marriage in any register of marriages kept according to the provisions of this Act.
(3) Where a person is under expectation of death and desires to have a religious ceremony of marriage between himself and any person performed, it shall be lawful for the clergyman, minister or priest of the church or temple to which he belongs to read or celebrate the marriage service of that church or temple.
(4) The reading or celebration of such service under subsection (3) shall not be deemed to be a solemnization of marriage for the purposes of this Act and shall not be entered as a marriage in any register of marriages kept according to the provisions of this Act.