Photocopies of the certificate are not normally accepted for legal, financial and insurance companies and are a breach of copyright.

You need to register on the General Register Office ( GRO ) website to get a copy of a birth, adoption, death, marriage or civil partnership certificate in England and Wales. You can use this service to research your family tree. Order with the GRO index reference number.

If you got married outside the UK and cannot reasonably obtain your marriage certificate or were never issued with one for whatever reason, you should instead provide a sworn affidavit or other legal document that can demonstrate your marital status.

Certify a document as a true copy of the original by getting it signed and dated by a professional person, like a solicitor.

You need to register on the General Register Office ( GRO ) website to get a copy of a birth, adoption, death, marriage or civil partnership certificate in England and Wales. You can use this service to research your family tree. Order with the GRO index reference number.

A marriage abroad will be legally recognised in the UK providing it was contracted ing to the law of the country in which it took place. There is no requirement, or facility, to register the marriage in England afterwards.

It is an offence to make a copy of a certificate and pass it off as the original certificate. The layout of these certificates is protected by Crown copyright, but the Crown does not assert any rights of ownership of the contents of the forms.