Ghana recognises three kinds of marriage, and they are not interchangeable. Which one you are in decides how property is held, what happens on divorce, what happens on death, and whether a foreign embassy will accept your certificate.

A great many Ghanaian couples are married under one system and assume the consequences of another.

The three systems

Marriage under the Ordinance — the statutory, monogamous marriage, under the Marriages Act (CAP 127). Celebrated before a Registrar or in a licensed place of worship. Produces a marriage certificate that every institution and every embassy recognises.

Customary marriage — contracted according to the customary law of the parties, through the families. It is a valid marriage in Ghanaian law and is potentially polygamous. It is what most Ghanaian couples actually do, and it can and should be registered with the district assembly.

Marriage under the Marriage of Mohammedans Ordinance — Islamic marriage, registered with a licensed Registrar of Mohammedan marriages.

The knocking is not the marriage, and the church is not always the marriage

knocking is the introduction, not the wedding. And a church ceremony only creates an Ordinance marriage if the place of worship is licensed for marriages and a registrar’s certificate or licence was obtained. If it was not, you had a blessing, and your legal marriage is the customary one that happened at the family house.

Marrying under the Ordinance

Both parties must be at least 18 — Children’s Act 1998 (Act 560), s.14, no exceptions — and neither may be in a subsisting marriage to someone else.

  1. Give notice at the Registrar’s office in the district where one of you has lived for the required period. The notice is posted publicly for 21 days, so that anyone with an objection can raise one.
  2. Obtain the Registrar’s certificate once the notice period passes, or a special licence where the waiting period is dispensed with.
  3. Marry within 3 months, before the Registrar or in a licensed place of worship, with two witnesses.
  4. Collect the certificate. Check every detail before you leave.

What to bring: Ghana Cards or passports for both parties and both witnesses, and, where either party was married before, the decree absolute or the death certificate of the former spouse.

Registering a customary marriage

Registration does not create the marriage — the customary rites did that. It creates the proof, and the proof is what you will need.

It is done at the district assembly, with a statutory declaration by the couple and by the heads of both families, witnesses to the rites, and the parties’ Ghana Cards.

Register it, even if it feels unnecessary

An unregistered customary marriage is real and is nearly impossible to prove to a bank, an embassy, an insurer or a probate court once one spouse has died. Registration costs very little now and prevents a very expensive argument later.

If one of you is not Ghanaian

A foreign national marrying in Ghana will generally be asked for a passport, a valid immigration status, and a certificate of no impediment or single status from their own country’s mission — which itself usually needs authentication.

Marriage does not by itself confer Ghanaian citizenship, and it does not by itself confer a right to remain. Both are separate applications.

Why this shapes what happens later

  • Property. Ordinance marriage carries a statutory framework for matrimonial property; customary marriage is governed differently, and the courts have moved considerably on the rights of a spouse who contributed without holding title.
  • Death. Under the Intestate Succession Act 1985 (PNDCL 111), a surviving spouse’s entitlement depends on being able to prove the marriage.
  • Divorce. Ordinance marriages are dissolved by the courts under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1971 (Act 367). Customary marriages are dissolved customarily, and that dissolution is also worth documenting.

If either of you owns property or a business, take advice before you marry rather than after. — Lawyers and professional services

Changing your name after marriage

Ghanaian law does not require a spouse to change their name, and many do not. If you choose to, the marriage certificate is the supporting document, and you then update each institution individually.

Changing your name