Marriage certificates in England and Wales will now include the names of both parents, rather than just the name of the father.
The change comes as a new electronic system is brought in to modernise, simplify and speed up the process by which marriages are registered, helping to tackle a backlog that built up throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The Home Office said the reforms were “the biggest changes to the marriage registration system since 1837” and would “correct a historic anomaly” by allowing for the mothers’ details to appear on the marriage entry for the first time.
Marriages are currently registered by the couple signing a register book, which is held at each register office, in churches and chapels, and at religious premises registered for marriage.
The creation of a single electronic marriage register will save time and money and be more secure, as the new system eliminates the need for data to be extracted from hard copies.
