Inside

Getting Married in Luxembourg

Information on the marriage process for foreigners in Luxembourg- American, Australian, UK and other European Union citizens - wanting to have their wedding in Luxembourg. What to expect, where to go and the documents required for the legal process.

How to Get Married in Luxembourg

Luxembourg has specific laws concerning marriage. These must be followed by both Luxembourg citizens and foreign nationals. A marriage in Luxembourg is recognised as valid in most other countries.

The minimum age for marriage in Luxembourg is 16 years old for the bride and 18 years old for the groom. Minors need parental consent before they may marry.

Luxembourg law only recognises civil marriage. This must be performed by a Luxembourgish civil registrar (officier de l'état civil). Religious ceremonies are optional, have no legal status and may only be held after the civil ceremony has taken place (which can, but need not be, on the same day.)

One of the couple getting married must be a legal resident of Luxembourg. The civil marriage can only take place in the town (commune) where one (or both) of the future spouses is resident.

See AngloINFO INFOrmation page on the Partenariat also called PACS, a formalised contract for same-sex and opposite-sex couples living together but not married

Preliminary Formalities

Foreign residents of Luxembourg must begin the preliminary formalities at least three months before the marriage date. Residents with Luxembourgish nationality must begin the preliminary formalities at least two months before the planned date of marriage.

One of the couple getting married must go in person to the local municipality office (commune) where one of them is legally resident, with the passport or identity card of both parties. The documents required and the procedures will depend on the nationality of each of the future spouses.

The civil registrar will provide the necessary forms and explain which documents will be required. All documents must be in either English, French or German. If they are not in one of these languages, a translation by a sworn translator (traducteur assermenté) must be provided or a document from the relevant Consular office with a legalised signature or an Apostille.

For more information on how to prepare a marriage: Click here (in French)

Premarital Medical Examination (Examen médical prénuptial)

All persons wishing to get married in Luxembourg must undergo a number of blood tests. The tests must be carried out by a doctor in Luxembourg and the results are valid for two months. Before undergoing the tests, the couple must give the name and address of the doctor who will be in charge of establishing the medical certificate to the civil registrar.

The form for the premarital test (formulaire pour l’examen prénuptial) is provided and filled in by the commune where the marriage is to take place. This form, along with a passport or identity card must be taken to the Blood Transfusion Centre of the Luxembourg Red Cross (Croix Rouge Luxembourgeoise) where both partners have a blood test.

Croix-Rouge Luxembourgeoise
At: 42 boulevard Joseph II, L-1840 Luxembourg
Tel: 45 02 02-1
Website

They then need to go the local Centre Médico-Social for a tuberculin test to check whether they have ever had tuberculosis.

Centre Médico-Social (Ligue luxembourgeoise de Prévention et d'Action médico-sociales)
At: 2 rue George C. Marshall, L-2181 Luxembourg
Tel: 48 83 33-1
Website (in French)
For a list of other centres in Luxembourg: Click here

Results of the tests will be sent directly to the designated doctor within two weeks and will remain confidential. The doctor will deliver a certificate to the couple to be transmitted to the local commune.

Documents Required

These documents must be presented to the Town Hall at least one month before the marriage is to take place.

Passport or identity card
Premarital medical certificate established by a Luxembourg doctor
Full (unabridged) birth certificate (Acte de naissance intégral), less than three months old if supplied in Luxembourg, or less than six months old if supplied abroad
Residence certificate (certificat de résidence), established by the Town Hall in the place of residence
A certificate of single-status (certificat de célibat) less than three months old. This is obtained from the Town Hall of the place of residence for Luxembourg nationals. Foreign nationals will need to provide another document depending on their nationality (for example US citizens must provide an affidavit of eligibility and UK citizens a certificate of no impediment)
- For a list of documents required by nationals of other countries: Click here (in French)

If either of the couple has been divorced or widowed they should supply proof in the form of an Acte de mariage (certified copy of the final divorce decree) or an Acte de décès (in the case of widowhood).

If a child was born to the couple before the marriage, the father must recognise the child before the civil marriage, otherwise the child will not be considered legitimate. In this case it will be necessary to provide the birth certificate of the child.

Publication of Banns

Luxembourg law requires the Publication of Banns for at least ten days at the municipality office where the couple are resident (if the couple are not living together the banns will be published in both communes). The banns are published as soon as the commune has received the medical certificate. If either of the couple have moved within the last six months, the banns must be published in both communes.

The marriage must take place within 12 months following the publication.

The Civil Ceremony

The date and time of the marriage will be fixed by the civil registrar once all the documents have been provided. In Luxembourg City civil marriages may take place on any day from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays, however in exceptional circumstances and in some other Luxembourgish towns, wedding ceremonies may be organised on a Saturday. In some communes, the civil ceremony takes place on a particular day, for example in Mamer a civil ceremony may only take place on a Friday.

Witnesses are not required by law.

The wedding certificate issued after this ceremony is required for any subsequent religious service.

The livret de famille (family record book) is an official document issued after the ceremony. It is a record of the marriage and will include subsequent events including births, deaths, divorce or name changes. It is possible to obtain a marriage certificate (extrait d'acte de marriage) by writing to the Commune where the marriage took place (indicate the date and place of the marriage and the full names (including maiden name) of the two parties).

Marital Regimes

When getting married in Luxembourg, the default marital regime (régime légal) makes a distinction between property and goods acquired before the marriage and property and goods acquired following the marriage; only goods and property acquired after the marriage are communal. Pre-nuptial agreements can be drawn up by a notary (notaire) to alter this in any way.

There are basically three types of pre-nuptial agreements, however, each agreement can be personalised to suit the spouses.

"Acquired" community of property (La communauté réduite aux acquêts): This is the default marriage regime and does not require a signature at a notary. However, an agreement can be drawn up to alter this agreement slightly with regards to inheritance rights
Community of property (La communauté universelle): All property and goods brought to the marriage and acquired during the marriage are communal
Out of community of property (La séparation des biens): All property and goods brought to the marriage and acquired during the marriage remain the property of the spouse. Likewise, debts are the responsibility of the originator of the debt

During the marriage, the pre-nuptial agreement can be changed at any time.

For further information on marital regimes in Luxembourg, see the Notariat.lu website (in French)