Marriage Celebrants E-bulltin September 2005 New Certificate of Divorce
Notice to all marriage celebrants
New format for Certificate of Divorce
The Marriage Celebrants Section confirmed on 28 September 2005 that a new Certificate of Divorce containing slightly different wording is now being issued by the Federal Magistrates Court and the Family Court in cases of divorce. This new Certificate came into effect on 3 August 2005.
The Certificate is headed 'Certificate of Divorce'. The wording now is (roughly) - 'In relation to the marriage solemnised on the [date] I certify that the divorce order made by the Court on the [date] takes effect from the [date].'
This new Certificate follows amendments to the Family Law Act 1975. The terms 'decree nisi' and 'decree absolute' are replaced by the term 'divorce order'.
The date after which a new marriage can take place is the date from which the divorce order 'takes effect' and that is the date marriage celebrants should focus on.
You can rely on this new Certificate of Divorce as evidence of the end of a previous marriage for the purposes of section 42(10) of the Marriage Act 1961.
The previous Certificate of Divorce will still be relevant for those marriages that were dissolved between 1 July 2002 and 3 August 2005. In the case of divorces that occurred earlier than 1 July 2002 it is the decree absolute that is required.
Deborah Nance
Registrar of Marriage Celebrants