The Ratification of Religious Marriage after the Reform of the Civil Marriage Law by Law No. 21.676

Abstract

Law No. 21.676 amended article 20 of the Civil Marriage Act, extending the deadline for ratifying a religious marriage at the Civil Registry and requesting the registration of the respective marriage certificate. The legal amendment also allows the ratification and the application for registration of the marriage certificate to be carried out by a specially authorised agent. However, the legal amendment did not alter the moment from which the marriage produces civil effects, nor did it clarify whether it is possible to ratify it in the event of the death or incapacity of one of the contracting parties, and in the same case, whether the mandate can be understood to be in force or extinguished.