In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation (in particular, paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the RF IC), an official marriage is recognized as a voluntary union between a man and a woman, based on monogamy, and registered with the state civil registry office (ZAGS). Marriage registration is confirmed by the issuance of a “Marriage Certificate” of the established form.
It is worth noting that, undoubtedly, in the modern world the institution of marriage has completely changed
— individual freedom of a person is the most important value, which, accordingly, entails a significant decrease in the number of registered marriages, an increase in the permissible age for marriage, an increase in the number of claims for divorce in the courts, and a significant reduction in the number of children born in marriage.
Society has also changed its attitude towards marriage - if a couple of decades ago it was very important that the relationship between a man and a woman be officially registered, today the so-called civil marriage is considered the norm.
Invalid marriage
The conclusion of a marriage union may be declared invalid by the court in the following cases:
- registering a marriage without the intention of starting a family, that is, a fictitious marriage;
- concealment of sexually transmitted diseases or HIV infection;
- lack of consent to marriage by one of the parties;
- the presence of a previously concluded and undivorced marriage.
In a marriage that has been declared invalid by a court, the rights and obligations of the spouses cannot arise.
A spouse who did not know about the presence of any obstacles to registering a marriage has the right to retain the surname chosen at the conclusion of the marriage. If one of the spouses conceals the fact of a previously concluded and undivorced marriage, based on the norms of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the other party has the right to demand the division of property on more favorable terms. Let us note that the recognition of a marriage as invalid in no way affects the rights of children born in this marriage.
Possibility of inheritance after a spouse
Inheritance by law is only permissible if there is a marriage certificate. In this case, the husband or wife of the deceased owner inherits the property by law in the first place, along with the children and parents.
If the couple has not been married, then the cohabitant is not recognized as an heir - the property will be received by the parents and children, and in the absence of them, by other relatives. Often blood relatives even challenge a will drawn up in favor of a cohabitant, leaving him with nothing.
The most unpleasant thing about this is that it is no longer possible to change the situation. Going to court is usually useless, since the courts are on the side of the legal heirs, guided by the provisions of Article 1142 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which contains a list of heirs of the first order of kinship. And the claims of persons who do not belong to the category of relatives are categorically rejected.
Personal rights and obligations of spouses
In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 10 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the rights and obligations of spouses arise from the moment of state registration of marriage in the registry office.
A man and woman who register a marriage with state civil registry authorities acquire personal, property and non-property rights and obligations. The personal rights of spouses include:
- voluntary choice of the surname of one of the spouses as a common one, preservation of the premarital surname or choice of a double surname (combining the surnames of both spouses);
- freedom to make decisions regarding the choice of profession and type of activity, place of residence.
Personal non-property rights and obligations of spouses include:
- making joint decisions regarding issues about family life;
- making a decision and providing consent to the adoption of a child by one of the spouses;
- decision on divorce;
- the duty not to interfere with the choice of profession and occupation.
The property rights and obligations of spouses include:
- relations in matters of property, movable and immovable property;
- alimony relations (that is, relations for the mutual maintenance of spouses and children born in marriage).
In Russian legislation, family law involves two types of property:
- premarital property, that is, owned by one of the spouses before marriage;
- property that was acquired during cohabitation.
Visits in prison
If something bad happens to one of the participants in the relationship and he ends up in a pre-trial detention center or receives a prison sentence, then only relatives will be allowed to visit him.
Relationship will need to be proven documented by presenting a marriage certificate. If this document is not available, visits will not be allowed until the couple signs.
Property relations in marriage
Common joint property is property that was acquired during a family marriage at the expense of the joint income of both spouses (Clause 2 of Article 34 of the RF IC). Jointly acquired property is considered joint property regardless of whose name it was acquired in.
O is not the basis for creating joint ownership of property.
Joint ownership does not imply the determination of shares; all participants jointly own and use common property, and dispose of it by common consent. Participants in joint ownership do not have the right to alienate or donate their share without first determining it. Only after the allocation of his share, the common joint property passes into common shared property, where each participant acquires the right to independently dispose of his share of the property: give as a gift, transfer to other persons, pledge.
A different regime for property ownership may be determined by a marriage contract, the content of which includes the rights and obligations of spouses regarding the maintenance of property and the procedure for managing family expenses. A marriage contract can be concluded not only before the marriage is registered with state authorities, but also at any time during its validity; it can be terminated or changed at any time by mutual consent of the spouses. The document must be drawn up in writing and must be certified by a notary. The validity of the marriage contract is terminated simultaneously with the termination of the existence of the marriage union.
The content of the marriage contract should not contain conditions to limit legal capacity and violate the principles of equality of men and women in an official marriage.
In addition to common property, legally married persons may have personal property, in particular:
- property that belonged to the spouse before marriage;
- property that was received during marriage as a gift or as an inheritance;
- personal items (except for luxury items and jewelry).
The spouse has the right to own, use and dispose of this property at his own discretion. However, we note that Russian legislation also provides for the fact that the other spouse invests funds in personal property, which can significantly affect the increase in its value, which, in turn, provides grounds for the court to recognize it as common joint property.
Example. One of the spouses owned an apartment before marriage; the other party invested funds for its complete overhaul. Accordingly, this property becomes the common joint property of both spouses.
Conclusion
Precisely based on the fact that marriage is, in essence, an agreement between persons of different (for now, and, we hope, always in Russia) different sexes to maintain a common joint household for the purpose of having children, as well as mutual assistance to each other. In marriage, both spouses must support each other (not only morally, but also financially - Article 89 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, before you sign a lifelong (hopefully) agreement on mutual assistance, think about whether the assistance will be mutual and whether there is treacherous self-deception behind betrayed feelings.
Alimony relations
In addition to property and non-property rights, after marriage, spouses acquire a mutual obligation to provide material support to each other, which has a legal nature. In case of evasion of alimony payment, the spouse in need of financial support has the right to apply to the judicial authorities to collect it. Alimony is collected from the spouse who has the necessary means for this in the following cases:
- disability of the needy spouse;
- pregnancy and birth of a common child (within 3 years from the date of birth);
- when one of the spouses cares for a common disabled child of the 1st group since childhood.
Alimony is payable monthly in a certain amount of money. You can read about how to collect alimony in the article “Ex-husband does not pay alimony.”
Tax benefits for spouses
The family budget can be maintained by saving on taxes. For example, when registering real estate transactions with a notary. When completing a transaction, a tax of 0.6% of the value of the property is paid. Spouses pay 0.3%, which is half as much.
Re-registration of real estate through a gift exempts spouses from paying tax, which is 13% of the cadastral value of housing.
And if, when purchasing a home, one of the spouses has exhausted their right to a property deduction, the second has the right to re-issue the tax refund to themselves.
Forms
There are various forms of marriage in the modern world. The most common of them include:
- ecclesiastical, concluded by the church. Such marriages were widespread in the Middle Ages. Such unions are still recognized as legal in many countries, for example, Great Britain and Poland;
- actual, called civil in Russia. In some countries, such as Ecuador and Germany, it is considered legal;
- When listing the forms of marriage, it is necessary to mention temporary, practiced in Muslim countries. Its terms and validity period are specified in the contract, upon the expiration of which any legal relationship between the spouses ceases to operate. Why is a marriage of this form necessary? It is practiced with the aim of producing heirs and is due to the reluctance to live together for more time than necessary in order to acquire offspring;
- fictitious. This form of marriage is the official registration of a relationship without the real goal of starting a family. In some countries, such an act is punishable by law;
- morganatic. A union of people having unequal social status. A common phenomenon that was officially prohibited at the beginning of the last century and earlier in many countries, including German-speaking countries;
- same-sex. It is not allowed in Russia, but is practiced and has legal force in many Western European countries. Such couples even have the right to take adopted children into the family;
- in terms of the number of spouses, a family can be monogamous (husband and wife) or polygamous (one wife and several husbands or vice versa). The first form is the most common in the world. Speaking about families with more than two spouses, the “Swedish family” should be mentioned. Despite its name, it is not recognized as legal by Swedish authorities.
Marriage in Russian Family Law is only an official civil union. It may be morganatic or fictitious, but must be formalized. The Marriage Code states that the relationship is registered by an authorized person. Discussions are currently underway to amend the marriage code. The main idea of the discussion is to legitimize cases of actual cohabitation. But such marriages and its forms are still not regulated at the legislative level. The initiative has not been transferred from the discussion plane to the practical one.
Turning to history, you can see that initially in our country the function of civil registry office employees was performed by the church. Now such marriage and its forms are also common, but those getting married must contact both the registry office and the church (the sequence does not matter).
Many people wonder why register a marriage, since you can lead a family life without a stamp in your passport? Therefore, there are hundreds of thousands of such families in Russia.
Procedure for registering a marriage with a foreigner in Russia
This kind of marriage is not recognized in Russia, as are the following types, practiced mainly by young people:
- guest. The main characteristic of a marriage of this type is separation when there is an officially registered relationship in the registry office;
- open form. The legal signs of a marriage of this type are obvious, but the marriage contract stipulates the possibility of relationships on the side;
- trial. There are no legal signs of marriage. In essence, this is living together without legitimizing the relationship.
Russia is actively adopting the experience of foreign countries, but the type of marriage with registration of relations in the registry office is the only form regulated at the legislative level. The concept of marriage under Family Law is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Overseas experience
The institution of marriage in eastern countries is especially interesting.
China
In China, family relationships are regulated by the Marriage Law. They provide for equal rights and obligations of the parties. The Chinese do not recognize polygamy, so being in several unions at the same time is prohibited.
Before marriage, a medical examination procedure is mandatory for the bride and groom. Violation of the prohibition on entering into an alliance with a relative may result in criminal penalties.
The conditions for concluding and dissolving a marriage are similar to the norms in other countries of the world. Registration is carried out at the marriage bureau with the issuance of a certificate. Foreign citizens also have the right to marry in China.
Homosexual relations are prohibited. A wedding may not take place for several reasons:
- the bride is under 20 years old, the groom is 22;
- serious illness;
- relationship between the parties;
- the presence of a valid marriage on one of the parties.
For traditional Chinese society, the process of divorce itself is anomalous; the trend is condemned by society. However, statistics on divorce proceedings are only growing - they have already reached 39%.
Egypt
In Egypt, marriage is concluded according to Sharia law if the head of the family is Muslim.
The minimum age for starting a family is 16 years for a woman and 18 for a man.
Egyptians practice polygamy, but in reality there are few such marriages - only 5%, because an Egyptian achieves financial solvency only by the age of 35.
Only wealthy citizens can afford a second wife.
A husband must treat all his wives equally, without singling anyone out, including providing equal financial support.
By law, an Egyptian husband must notify his first wife of his intention to start a second family. In this case, the woman's consent is not required. The first spouse can file for divorce within one year if she objects to expanding the family. In this case, the man will be considered the initiator of the divorce.
Islam allows divorce. In Egypt, divorce statistics are quite high for Arab countries - 40%. If there are children, the spouses' relatives will do everything to prevent the breakdown of the family. To get a divorce, a Muslim man only needs to say “divorce” three times. After the first two words, reconciliation is still possible, after the third, the marriage is considered annulled unless it turns out within three months that the woman is pregnant.
If the wife wants to divorce, the process is more complicated and can last for years. At the same time, she does not receive compensation from her husband, and this is a lot of money.
Among Egyptian Christians, divorce is prohibited with rare exceptions. In any case, it will be impossible to obtain permission for a second wedding. And all marriages are concluded exclusively in church rites.
There can be no talk of same-sex marriage in an Arab country
Religious understanding
The concept and signs of marriage have been clarified, but for the majority of residents of our country, the religious aspects of such relationships between members of society are no less important. Today, the two most widespread religions in Russia are Orthodox Christianity and Islam. From the perspective of these faiths, the definition of marriage and its understanding should be considered.
What circumstances may prevent marriage?
A church wedding, also called a wedding, is a Christian Orthodox marital union of a woman and a man, concluded in a religious community through a sacred rite. According to Christian doctrine, the wife must submit to her husband, and he, in turn, must love her as Christ the Church. Husband and wife become one flesh and bear mutual responsibility for any actions. Adultery (adultery) in Christianity is a serious sin.
Muslims call marriage “Nikah”. For a process to be considered valid, several conditions must be met:
- the spouse must be an adult and not fall under the category of “Mahram” (a man who is a close relative);
- the bride can be Muslim, Christian or Jewish;
- actions must be voluntary;
- Witnesses must be present during the marriage;
- the man must pay the bride price.
The number of wives in Islam is limited to four. Temporary marriage and its forms are not permitted among Sunnis, but are legal among Shiites.
