6. Urgent marriages
Where one party is seriously ill and not expected to recover, a ceremony can take place using a Registrar General’s Licence from the Registration district where that person is located.
Where possible you should contact the relevant register office during office hours so the necessary arrangements can be made. If the ill person is in an Oldham hospital, the staff at the hospital should be able to help.
Ceremonies under Registrar General's Licence can take place at any location including people’s homes, hospitals and hospices.
A letter from the Doctor in medical attendance is required. We have provided two sample letters that doctors can use as a template. Please note that the marriage letter can only be used for marriages and the civil partnership letter for civil partnerships.
To arrange a Registrar General’s Licence please contact 0161 770 8963 during office hours. We are open Tuesday – Friday from 9am – 5pm and Saturday 9am – 12noon.
If you need to contact us at any other time please ring our emergency out of hours service (0161 770 2222) who will arrange for a member of the Registration Team to contact you
Template letters when applying for a Registrar Generals Licence
Please ask the doctor responsible for the care of the patient to use the templates provided to prepare their letter. The letter should be on headed paper. Please note that there are two templates, one for marriage and another for civil partnerships.