Melbourne's Phony Marriage Celebrant Impacts Five Couples

Whilst unnerved by the notion that someone would ever seek to impact a couple's wedding day by playing out their fantasies for selfish reasons, let alone undertaking fake advertising, qualifications and an entire charade, I found myself wondering about the legal fallout for the poor families who have found themselves in the spider web of this troubled individual.

The answer lies in Section 48(3) of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth), which provides that:-

A marriage is not invalid by reason that the person solemnising it was not authorised by this Act to do so, if either party to the marriage, at the time the marriage was solemnised, believed that that person was lawfully authorised to solemnise it, and in such a case the form and ceremony of the marriage shall be deemed to have been sufficient if they were such as to show an intention on the part of each of the parties to become thereby the lawfully wedded spouse of the other.

Hopefully the office of the Commonwealth DPP can offer the couples some soothing advice whilst proofing the evidence.

It would be a good idea for the couples to move to confirm early on, if they were a victim of the fraudster, that they each had the requisite belief for Section 48(3)'s purposes, and record their intentions in writing and have some prompt dealings with the Victorian Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.