Wrong maiden name on my marriage certificate , is My marriage legal?

[Sallysal]

After recently applying for a copy of my birth certificate, to my devastation i actually found out that my birth name is actually different to what i had always been brought up as n thought to be (I.e my birth certificate has that i took my moms surname rather than my fathers and that my father wasn't actually registered on the certificate and had Unknown ). I then realised that when i got married i used my dads surname on the certificate as i didn't know any differently. Does this mean legally i am not married by law? I also now do not have my parents to ask all these questions to or find out why . So i would appreciate if somebody could shed any light?

[craft1948]

Your name is what you are known by, so I assume your marriage is legal. Good first question..............

[Flyhalf]

Are you in the UK? (Answer could depend on which jurisdiction is involved).

[ummmm]

Didn't Jeza and Micmak have a similar problem?

[Sallysal]

Yes Big Jack I'm in the UK?

[rockyracoon]

Don't you have to produce your birth certificate before you get married, I'm sure I did. Are you in the UK?

[McMouse]

When we registered the death of MIL we found the name on birth cert differed from wedding cert and differed again from passport. Registrar laughed and said it happened all the time!

[Sallysal]

I've been married 30 years and the difference in my name has only just come to light, and back then i didn't have to

[rockyracoon]

Wow, so you've got to middle agedom and only just seen your birth cert?

[chrissa1]

I've never seen my birth certificate and I'm 62.

[rockyracoon]

Really chrissa?, have you never needed it?

[Sallysal]

Yes i had not got the original so i went and got a copy however they had trouble finding it with my last name that i always used and asked what my mother last name was to find it that way. I think the women behind the counter realised i didn't have a clue about it by the way she handed it me and the look on my face, but now obviously its opened a lot of questions in my mind to if my marriage is actually void after all these years.

[Flyhalf]

You are legally married.
The dry official instruction is at 4.8 of
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/ips/general-ips-publications/guide-authorised-persons?view=Binary

A more informal take is at
http://www.dixons.clara.co.uk/Certificates/marriages.htm#COL2

[boxtops]

This might help ? http://www.livestrong.com/article/226482-how-to-amend-an-incorrect-name-on-a-marriage-license/

[jackthehat]

My Dad suddenly realised (after 40 years of marriage) that their Wedding Certificate shows the wrong date........his attempts to convince my Mum that she has been living in sin for all that time fell on deaf ears. :o)

I'm afraid a simple 'admin' error will not invalidate your marriage.

[chrissa1]

I don't think so rr. Should I have done?

[rockyracoon]

I recently found out my dad had been married before my mum and had a son, I don't know why folk have to lie to their kids, it always comes and and causes more problems.

I reckon you'll be fine Sally, you're still you no matter what name you call yourself, and if not, use it as an excuse to retake your vows and have a party. Good luck.

[rockyracoon]

Chrissa, passport?

[chrissa1]

Oh. Well I got my first passport when I was 16?? That's a lonnng time ago. I guess I must have done. Lol.

[Sallysal]

Thanks for all your replies. My mind has now been slightly put at rest

[atalanta]

In the UK you can lawfully call yourself anything you like ( except for the purposes of fraud). So, if you call yourself Rumpelstiltskin, everybody knows you as Rumpelstiltskin, and you put Rumpelstiltskin on the record, that's who you are, and the record is legal, so the marriage is legal.
Getting a passport may be a different matter, since you have to prove your name somehow - usually by providing a birth certificate. It is a bit more complicated if you want a passport in a name not on a birth certificate, but it can still be done.