Urgent marriage and civil partnerships (death bed wedding)

The Registrar General can authorise marriages/civil partnerships to take place at short notice in circumstances where one of the parties is seriously ill, not expected to recover and cannot be moved to a place where a marriage or civil partnership could normally take place. This is known as a marriage/civil partnership by Registrar Generals Licence.

A service is available for urgent arrangements to be made for marriages or civil partnerships by Registrar General's Licence. The service can be accessed by contacting us or, if outside of normal opening hours, by telephoning Wakefield Council Contact Centre on 0345 8 506 506 between 08.30hrs and 17.00hrs, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays excluding Christmas Day.