The law in brief

Marriage in Scotland is governed by the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977, as amended by the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014, which extended marriage to same-sex couples. Civil partnership is governed by the Civil Partnership Act 2004, as amended by the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020, which extended civil partnership to mixed-sex couples.

A legal marriage or civil partnership in Scotland is conducted either by a registrar, in what is called a civil ceremony, or by an authorised celebrant of a religious or belief body, which is what you will be. A civil ceremony may not include religious content and takes place at a registration office or another place agreed with the registrar. A religious or belief ceremony can include whatever the couple wish, and can be held wherever the couple and the celebrant agree and the venue allows. Note that a civil ceremony is not the same thing as a civil partnership: the first is who conducts it, the second is what is being formed. The workshop goes into the differences in more detail.

OneSpirit is registered with National Records of Scotland (NRS) as a belief body and holds authorisation across all four of Scotland’s registers: mixed-sex marriage, same-sex marriage, mixed-sex civil partnership, and same-sex civil partnership. Authorisation is granted separately for each. As a OneSpirit minister you may be authorised for one category and not another, and this shapes the application process described in Gateway Three.

NRS’s operational policies, the Policy on Authorisation of Marriage Celebrants and the Policy on Authorisation of Civil Partnership Celebrants, set out how the Registrar General exercises these functions. Links are in the Resources section.

Legal Paperwork Process

For all marriages and civil partnerships in Scotland the legal process is the same.

About 10 – 12 weeks before the marriage the couple complete M10 forms or CP10 forms, one for each party to the marriage. See examples of the form in resources section.

These completed forms are taken or sent to the registration office in the local authority area where the couple will be married.

The registration office will process the forms to ensure the legality of the marriage, and will produce the Marriage Schedule or Civil Partnership Schedule.

M10 forms or CP10 forms must be with the registration office at least 29 days before the ceremony is to take place.

Sometime in the 7 days before the ceremony, the couple (at least one of the persons involved in the ceremony) must attend the registration office to collect the Marriage Schedule, and bring it to the ceremony.

If the Marriage Schedule or Civil Partnership Schedule is not present at the time of the ceremony – you CANNOT hold a legal ceremony.

The signed Schedule must be returned to the registration office within 3 days of the ceremony.

The couple’s forms name you as the celebrant, so they will need your full legal name and your designation, which for OneSpirit ministers is Minister, OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation. Use the same designation on every form and letter, and when you sign the Schedule.