According to the law of the United Kingdom, a man and a woman may marry if they are both 16 years or over and free to marry, that is, if they are single, widowed or divorced, or if they were in a civil partnership which has been dissolved.

In the United Kingdom people cannot marry if they are:-

• aged 16 or 17 who do not have parental consent - see below
• people of the same sex. However, a same-sex couple can register a civil partnership instead, which will give the partners many, if not all, the rights of married couples. For transsexual people, the relevant gender is the one on their current birth certificate – see below
• certain relatives - see below.

Young people

If you are 16 or 17 you cannot marry without parental consent. Each parent with parental responsibility is entitled to give parental consent. In some circumstances, other people may give parental consent. In Northern Ireland a young person under 18 cannot marry without the consent of certain people.

For more information about who can give parental consent, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau.

Transsexual people

A transsexual person who has applied for and has been granted a full gender recognition certificate by the Gender Recognition Panel can get a new birth certificate which reflects their acquired gender. They will then be able to marry someone of the opposite gender to their acquired gender. However, if a transsexual person does not have a gender recognition certificate, they are legally considered to be the gender that is on their original birth certificate. They will not be able to marry someone of the opposite gender to their acquired gender.

For more information about getting a gender recognition certificate, see Frequently asked questions about family matters.

Relatives who may not marry

• Grandmother
• Mother
• mother's sister
• mother's half sister
• father's sister
• father's half-sister
• adoptive mother
• Sister
• half-sister
• Daughter
• adoptive daughter
• sister's daughter
• half-sister's daughter
• brother's daughter
• half-brother's daughter
• Granddaughter

Women cannot marry:-

• Grandfather
• Father
• father's brother
• father's half brother
• mother's brother
• mother's half-brother
• apdoptive father
• Brother
• half-brother
• Son
• adpoted son
• sister's son
• half-sister's son
• brother's son
• half-brother's son
• Grandson