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Correcting a marriage or civil partnership registration

If you have discovered an error in a marriage or civil partnership certificate, it may be possible for the entry to be corrected.

Corrections to marriage or civil partnership registrations carry a £99 statutory fee.

Any correction to a marriage or civil partnership entry needs to be authorised by the General Register Office before it goes ahead.

Who can apply for a correction?

Either of the people who married each other or formed a civil partnership can apply for a correction.

If neither spouse or partner is alive, the Registrar General will not authorise a correction.

Provide evidence that there is an error

You need to show that the information in the register is wrong.

You will have to produce documents, valid or dated before the time of the marriage or civil partnership, that clearly show what the correct information should have been.

Documents from after the date of the marriage or civil partnership cannot be considered.

How to apply for a correction

You should email registrar@eastsusssex.gov.uk explaining the error you have found.

You may be asked to complete an application form and pay the applicable statutory fee.

What the correction will look like

The original information on the entry will not change but the corrected information will be written in the margin of the entry indicating what the information should have been and the date that it was changed.

You may need to witness and sign the correction.

Replacement certificates

  • You should surrender any original certificates to the registrar when the correction is made.
  • The correction application fee does not include replacement certificates.
  • New certificates, showing the updated registration are charged at the standard statutory fees.
  • Certificates issued after the correction will show the original information and  the marginal note detailing the correction to the entry.

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