Things to know before getting officially married in Mauritius

One of the milestones in a person’s life is probably the wedding. For those Mauritians fellows who have not passed this milestone yet, it is good to know that when officially marrying someone, you still have a few critical decisions to take for the future of the couple.

The paper works

Once you have taken the firm decision of getting married, you need to start the necessary paper works at the civil status office (nearest to the future wife’s home). It consists of registering your application, which will then will get published on the notice boards of the following two civil status offices :

1. The one where you made the application and
2. The one nearest to the place of residence of the future husband.

To note that

• Recent birth certificates (issued under 3 months) and National Identity Cards are required.
• Both future spouses need to be (physically) present on the island at least 7 days before the application date.
• The wedding can take place 10 days as from the application date.
• During this period of time, people can officially object to your wedding.  Legal procedures will be followed and the wedding can be postponed if needed.
• Two witnesses will need to be present at the time of wedding
• You do not have any fee to pay.

Additionally, you can choose to get married at home or some other dream location instead of the civil status office. In this case, you will be required to pay a fee of approximately Rs1500 (+ transport for the civil status officer).

Choosing a matrimonial system

In very simple terms, the future couple needs to choose one matrimonial system among the three available. The matrimonial system allows the spouses to specify legally how their existing property (assets) as well as those acquired after the marriage will be divided upon legal separation(divorce) or when one of them passes away.

You might perhaps already start thinking about it. A self-explanatory pamphlet is freely handled over to the future couple upon application.

What’s In a Name?

Now, for girls, you can opt to officially

• use your husband’s surname along with your first name(s)
• keep your maiden name, together with the surname (family name) of your husband.
• keep your maiden name only

And as surprising as it can be, husbands can also choose to keep their future wife’s family name but this can be done only through additional legal means (an affidavit in court)

Remember, when you are committing yourself to a relationship, you need to take these decisions together with your partner,  as if the decision of getting married was not already critically high. I will end with a sarcastic (and hilarious) quote of a colleague :

“Souvent des fois lors d’une relation, le couple se retrouve au bord du precipice. Cependant avec le marriage, c’est un grand pas vers l’avant” (Hemant B, Septembre 2012)

Happy married life to all new couples 🙂

It might be possible that some of the information above might not be correct. Please seek official information from the Civil Status offices if needed.