{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/marriage-act-1949/section-25",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/marriage-act-1949/section-25.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/Geo6/12-13-14/76",
  "legislation_title": "Marriage Act 1949",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/marriage-act-1949",
  "path": "section/25",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "25",
  "heading": "Void marriages.",
  "text": "(1) A marriage shall be void in any of the following cases.\n(2) Case A is where any persons knowingly and wilfully intermarry according to the rites of the Church of England (otherwise than by special licence)—\n(a) except in the case of a marriage in pursuance of section 26(1)(dd) of this Act, in any place other than a church or other building in which banns may be published;\n(b) without banns having been duly published, a common licence having been obtained, or a marriage schedule having been duly issued under Part III of this Act ...; or\n(c) on the authority of a publication of banns which is void by virtue of ... subsection (2) of section twelve of this Act, on the authority of a common licence which is void by virtue of subsection (3) of section sixteen of this Act, or on the authority of a marriage schedule which is void by virtue of subsection (2) of section thirty-three of this Act;\n(d) in the case of a marriage on the authority of a marriage schedule, in any place other than the church building or other place specified in the notices of marriage and (if so specified) in the marriage schedule as the place where the marriage is to be solemnized.\n(3) Case B is where any persons knowingly and wilfully consent to or acquiesce in the solemnization of a Church of England marriage between them by a person who is not in Holy Orders.\n(4) Case C is where any persons of the same sex consent to or acquiesce in the solemnization of a Church of England marriage between them.\n(5) In subsections (3) and (4) “Church of England marriage” means a marriage according to the rites of the Church of England.",
  "extent": "E+W",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "S. 25(1) inserted (13.3.2014) by Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30), s. 21(3), Sch. 7 para. 4(2); S.I. 2014/93, art. 3(k)(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Words in s. 25 renumbered as s. 25(2) (13.3.2014) by Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30), s. 21(3), Sch. 7 para. 4(3); S.I. 2014/93, art. 3(k)(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Words in s. 25(2) substituted (13.3.2014) by Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30), s. 21(3), Sch. 7 para. 4(3); S.I. 2014/93, art. 3(k)(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Words inserted by Marriage Act 1983 (c. 32, SIF 49:1), s. 1(7), Sch. 1 para. 3(a)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F5",
      "text": "Words in s. 25(2)(b) substituted (4.5.2021) by The Registration of Marriages Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/411), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 8(2)(a) (with Sch. 2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F6",
      "text": "Words in s. 25(2)(b) omitted (4.5.2021) by virtue of The Registration of Marriages Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/411), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 8(2)(b) (with Sch. 2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F7",
      "text": "Words in s. 25(2)(c) omitted (27.2.2023) by virtue of Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 (c. 28), s. 7(1), Sch. para. 1(3) (with s. 8); S.I. 2023/88, reg. 2 (with regs. 3-17)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F8",
      "text": "Words in s. 25(2)(c) substituted (4.5.2021) by The Registration of Marriages Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/411), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 8(3) (with Sch. 2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F9",
      "text": "Words in s. 25(2)(d) substituted (4.5.2021) by The Registration of Marriages Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/411), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 8(4)(a) (with Sch. 2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F10",
      "text": "Words substituted by Marriage Act 1983 (c. 32, SIF 49:1), s. 1(7), Sch. 1 para. 3(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F11",
      "text": "Words in s. 25(2)(d) substituted (1.1.2001) by 1999 c. 33, s. 169(1), Sch. 14 paras. 3, 7(c); S.I. 2000/2698, art. 2"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F12",
      "text": "Words in s. 25(2)(d) substituted (4.5.2021) by The Registration of Marriages Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/411), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 8(4)(b) (with Sch. 2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F13",
      "text": "S. 25(3)-(5) substituted for words in s. 25(2) (13.3.2014) by Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30), s. 21(3), Sch. 7 para. 4(4); S.I. 2014/93, art. 3(k)(i)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/12-13-14/76/section/25",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T11:20:09.980125+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}