To think MN will steam at its collective ears about this?

[Andrewofgg]

There’s a campaign afoot to put mothers’ as well as fathers’ names on marriage certificates.

Our all-wise government is now allowing civil partners to convert their CPs into marriages. Well and good and for an opening spell there will be an introductory offer: no fee. After that it will be £45, still good value.

But . . . the draft regulations have been published and they provide that the parties must give their fathers’, but not their mothers’ names. If father is dead or divorced and mother remarried they can give step-father’s name instead (gee, thanks) but not the other way round.

WTAF? I can see why there might be problems with changing the rules on marriage, although a clause in the next Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill could solve them, but this is a new procedure, ffs, I can see no reason why the names of both parents should not be recorded. Which Ministerial head is up which Ministerial arse?

Cross-posted again . . . this is getting confusing. So NI include mothers and we hope somebody can tell us about the Republic.

I did not want either of my parents names on my certificate.

It's ridiculous, I hope it changes.

We could select from a series of wordings for the registrar to read out at our wedding.

The option we chose re: giving away was something along the lines of "heebies father is not here to give her away, for she is not his property, rather he is here to celebrate her new union" or somesuch.

Several people listened interpreted the wording as saying that he was not my real dad?!

true to have your stepfather on and not your mother is utterly odd. family trees will be tough in 500 years.

yes this post promted me, my sister hadnt realised any parents were on it - glad i had good news!

So what's the deal then if your parents never married, your father isn't on your birth certificate and you only met him via Skype four years ago don't know his name?

Sorry, when I say "not my real Dad" that was their wording, not mine! They thought the only reason he couldn't own me was if he was may be not my bio dad?!

'unknown' or left blank.

you can also do that if you dont want a parent listed

It doesn't bother me that much TBH. I agree it's outdated, but it won't keep me awake at night.

They never told me that at the registry office. I told them I did not want my father's name on the certificate and they said I had to put it down.

I may tippex over it now and put unknown.

So a step-father counts where a biological mother does not?

Makes sense, I suppose he is the new owner of the woman being given away.....

FFS.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that because there is such a surplus supply of wedding certificates they didn't think it was economical to replace them all with new forms including new details. I suppose that's why civil partnerships/same sex marriages could include them as they're entirely new forms.
I think mothers should absolutely be included.

DC " At the moment they require details of the couples' fathers but not their mothers. This clearly doesn't reflect modern Britain – and it's high time the system was updated. So I have asked the Home Office to look at how we can address this too."

I wonder how many people and months, how many reports, briefings, meetings, amendments, votes, questions, and congratulatory self-serving press releases it will take to come up with "Add a line saying MOTHER on the page"?

Would I get a big fat consultants fee for writing in on the back of a post card to suggest it?

Just looked at mine. Here in the US it's your name, spouse name, and then two witnesses of your choosing.

Ah, OK, Peacelove, cross posted. I think the suggestion should be "re-cycle the old forms and print new ones with MOTHER'S DETAILS printed in a line above Father's Details."

That should cover all bases.

I got married this year in NI and I remember having to fill in our mothers details. I am away to check if they ended up on the actual cert...

Yep, our mothers names and occupations are on the certificate.

Must be a very recent change here in NI then.

I agree Cadmium!

If the political will were there the means could be found. The necessary drafting must have been done for NI and it will copy across - usually that happens in the other direction but what the hell.

Bulbasaur Which State? I'd be sorry to see parents left off altogether - for the sake of family historians of the future I'd like to see both, not neither.

What if you have no Father? I don't, who would I put?

Jammy - I knew it had been changed here, I've been married for so long, it's not on mine.

Sometimes "the Law is an ass" !! This is insulting and makes our legislation look poor to say the least.

Sometimes "The law is an ass" - this type of thing makes our legislature look poor

sorry about the double post - the first one disappeared!

Feels odd that we are ahead on this, given our outdated stance on abortion.