e-StampNotary
The claim to dispose of first
There is no such thing as a notarised marriage. If anybody has told you that a couple can be married by swearing an affidavit on stamp paper before a notary, they are wrong, and a good many people have found that out at the worst possible moment — at a visa interview, at a pension office, or in a dispute about property.
A Hindu marriage is solemnised by ceremony under section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Registration is a separate act, done by the Registrar of Marriages. Under the Gujarat Registration of Marriages Act, 2006, the State Government appoints Registrars of Marriages (section 3), every marriage contracted in the State is to be registered (section 4), and a memorandum in duplicate is to be sent to the Registrar for the area where the marriage was contracted, within thirty days (section 5). A Notary has no role in any of that.
Note also the other side of the coin: non-registration does not invalidate a marriage. Section 8(5) of the Hindu Marriage Act says the validity of a marriage is not affected by the omission to make the entry. A marriage that was solemnised is a marriage, registered or not — though you will find it very hard to prove to a bank or a consulate without the certificate, which is why registration matters in practice.
Couples who have married without family support are sometimes sold a "notary marriage certificate" as a shortcut. It gives no status whatever. The protection you actually want is registration with the Registrar of Marriages, and the affidavit we draft is meant to help you get there — not to stand in its place.
What the joint affidavit is for
The Registrar's office commonly asks for a joint affidavit alongside the memorandum, setting out the particulars it needs to be satisfied of. Beyond registration, couples are asked for a joint affidavit by banks opening joint accounts, by employers recording a spouse as a dependant, by consulates in family visa applications, by insurers, and in property matters where both spouses are dealing with an asset.
Its content is factual and specific: full names of both spouses as they appear on their identity documents, ages and dates of birth, the date and place of the marriage, the form of ceremony performed, the addresses before and after marriage, the marital status of each before the marriage, that neither had a spouse living at the time, and that the parties are not within the prohibited degrees of relationship except where custom permits. Details of witnesses are usually included.
What gets these rejected
- The date or place of marriage stated loosely. Give the day, the venue and the town.
- The ceremony not described, where the Registrar's format asks for it.
- Names not matching the identity documents produced — one spouse's Aadhaar spelling against the wedding card spelling.
- Ages inconsistent with the school leaving certificates or birth certificates.
- A previous marriage not disclosed, or disclosed without the decree or death certificate.
- Only one spouse attending to swear. A joint affidavit means both deponents appear before the Notary. The oath is administered to people, not to paper.
- An affidavit produced to the Registrar in place of the memorandum under section 5.
Nothing obliges a wife to change her surname, and records in the maiden name remain valid. If you do choose to change it, the marriage certificate is the foundation and the route is set out on the name change after marriage page. Do not let anyone tell you at a bank counter that it is compulsory.
Practical points
Both spouses attend together with their identity documents. Stamp duty as currently prescribed under the Gujarat Stamp Act, 1958, confirmed at the counter and e-stamped here as a Government authorised centre. The oath is administered under section 8(1)(e) of the Notaries Act, 1952, under signature and official seal, and the act is entered in the Notarial Register in Form XV. Where the affidavit is going to a consulate or an authority outside India, tell us — an instrument to take effect outside India is within section 8(1)(g), and the fee ceiling for it is ₹200 under Rule 10(1).
What to bring
- Aadhaar and PAN of both husband and wife
- Birth certificates or school leaving certificates showing both dates of birth
- Wedding invitation card and photographs of the ceremony
- Marriage certificate if already registered
- Proof of address before and after the marriage
- Decree of divorce or death certificate, where either party was married before
- Identity details of the witnesses to the marriage