Five legal matters to consider before getting married

Getting married is a wonderful milestone to look forward to. Not everyone gets the chance to meet the love of their life so this is actually a privilege.

Most people would want to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience of picking a dress, choosing a cake, and that dreamy experience of walking down the aisle. There are also many great benefits that come with marriage like financial security and the overall advantage of having a stable family.

All this is great but you also need to think about the real details of how your life will change once you sign that certificate. You will be legally bound and that can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on your situation and how things turn out.

Before you choose to move forward with the wedding plans, consider how these five factors will impact your life.

Debt

Debt can be a really big problem for everyone whether single or married. It blocks you from progressing financially and it can also push you to the point of a breakdown because of stress.

For married couples specifically, simple things like daily survival can be a struggle if one of you has a big loan attached to their name. You might not even be able to afford future projects like building a house until that loan is cleared.

Name changing

These days, more women are deciding to keep their names and hyphenate the third new surname instead of dropping one name. There are many reasons why they choose to do that but mostly it's about maintaining a consistent identity even after marriage.

This can be a controversial issue because most men prefer their wives to have their last name. This is something you need to discuss because it will affect your legal identity when you get married.

Criminal records

They say that love is blind but that shouldn't be the case when it comes to criminal histories. This isn't something you should ignore because you will have some big regrets later on if you don't sort it out now.

You need to talk about this if there are any concerns so that you will have no concerns in the future. Lay it all on the table and if you realize there are red flags, understand what you're getting yourself into.

Marriage laws

There are different types of marriages and each of them has certain provisions and limitations when it comes to the law. In African cultures, there are also many come-we-stay and traditionally wedded couples that haven't been officially registered, and that exposes you to many legal loopholes.

If you're planning an unconventional ceremony, you need to think about how that might limit you on issues like inheritance and the like.

Religion

Your religious belief system is also tied to the law. It handles Christian, Islamic and Hindu marriages differently, just to name a few.

Also, religions like Islam has its own sovereign system of laws, which is why you need to think of how religion will change your relationship legally if you have different belief systems.