Contraction of Marriage

In the hall, the solemnisation and contraction of marriage generally takes place on Fridays and Saturdays (except public holidays) unless otherwise agreed upon (e.g. Tuesday 22.02.2022 or 22.06.2022). The time of the contraction of marriage is agreed upon on the spot, when submitting the application. Generally, Peep Puis performs marriage ceremonies in the hall on Fridays and Kersti Aadusoo on Saturdays.

In addition to the state fee for marriage entry, a service fee must be paid for using the hall and conducting the ceremony in Tiigi 12:
30 min – EUR 50;
60 min – EUR 100 or
60 min with the small hall – EUR 150.

The service fee must be paid latest when the application for marriage is submitted.

You can pay on the spot using a bank card at the self-service checkout in the Population Facts Department (Tiigi tn 12) or in the Internet bank:

to the SEB bank account EE731010220027983019
to the Swedbank account EE392200221017287174
Reference number 0140107016000006
Recipient Tartu City Government
Please include the names of the prospective spouses in the explanation

The solemnisation and contraction of marriage will take place in the hall of the Population Facts Department of the Tartu City Government, Tiigi 12, Tartu.

We ask the bridal couple to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the solemnisation and contraction of marriage. Guests are also expected to be on time. Please turn off cell phones during the ceremony.

If you wish to use your own music, film or take pictures of the ceremony, please inform the organiser of the ceremony in advance, who will share recommendations for this. If you wish to use your own music during the ceremony, please let us know in advance when submitting the application.

The interval between two ceremonies is half an hour, which must allow for the gathering of guests in the hall, the conducting of the ceremony, offering of congratulations, the taking of pictures, the cleaning and airing of the hall, etc. In summer and when the weather is nice, it is also possible to offer congratulations and take pictures outdoors and in the adjacent Vanemuise Park. If you have chosen a one-hour ceremony, you can use the hall for approximately 45 minutes; including with a small hall, where you can offer your guests, for example, a welcome drink, which you have to organize yourself (including cups).

We ask guests not to scatter flowers on the floor, and we also ask not to bring food and drinks to the ceremony. Please let us know in advance if you wish to bring pets.

The contraction of marriage is performed in Estonian. You must order and agree on the translation service yourself, and we ask that you please notify the vital statistics official in advance of your wish to use an interpreter.

We recommend choosing a longer time if you wish to have the ceremony translated or have any other special wishes when conducting the ceremony, there are a large number of guests, you wish to receive congratulations in the hall, take group photos or organise a small concert, for example. Let us know about your special wishes when submitting the application.

In order to contract the marriage in the desired location of the prospective spouses, an application for marriage is submitted to vital statistics official Silver Priimäe, and the contraction of marriage takes place at the desired time and place only if an agreement is reached. Contraction of marriage services are not provided on Sundays or public holidays. The time and place of the contraction of marriage shall be agreed upon when the application for marriage is submitted.

To submit an application for marriage, please contact Silver Priimäe (tel: 736-1208, mobile: 557-9376 or e-mail [email protected]) or Peep Puis (mobile: 505-2255 or e-mail  [email protected]).

In addition to the state fee for the making of the marriage entry (EUR 30), a service fee must be paid for the contraction of marriage in the location desired by the prospective spouses:

• Tartu City Museum (Narva mnt 23) or Tartu Song Festival Museum (Jaama tn 14) – EUR 150;
• elsewhere in the city of Tartu – EUR 200;
• boat trip on river Emajõgi starting from Tartu up to 2 hours - EUR 300;
• in Tartu County – EUR 400;
• outside Tartu County – EUR 600.

The service fee must be paid before submitting the application for marriage:

to the SEB bank account EE731010220027983019
to the Swedbank account EE392200221017287174
Reference number 0140107016000006
Recipient Tartu City Government
Please include the names of the prospective spouses in the explanation

The service fee for contraction of marriage does not include agreements for the use of premises (including in the City Museum or the Song Celebration Museum) or the fee for the use of the premises. For this, you must contact the relevant service provider. The contraction of marriage is performed in Estonian. You must agree upon and order a possible translation service yourself. 

A person whose residence is in a foreign state or who has resided in Estonia less than six months immediately before the submission of an application for marriage is required to submit a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage

A person who has resided in Estonia at least six months immediately before the submission of an application for marriage and whose vital statistics data are recorded in the population register is not required to submit a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage In the absence of vital statistics data, a document reflecting or confirming the marital status data must be submitted. Additional information when submitting an application for marriage. The residence of a person is presumed to be the residence of the person as entered in the population register.

A certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage is a document issued by the country of residence or nationality of a prospective spouse by which a competent authority of his or her country of residence or nationality certifies that the person has no hindrances to the contraction of marriage pursuant to the law of his or her country of residence or nationality. The certificate is valid is valid until the term specified on the certificate but not longer than seven months from the issue thereof and must be valid at the time of contraction of the marriage.

Such a document, in which only the marital status of a person is reflected, or where for a certain period that the person is missing data regarding his or her marriage, or the written confirmation of the person regarding the absence of hindrances to entering into marriage, the authenticity of the signature of which has been confirmed by a consular official or a notary, shall not be considered as a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage.

NB! If a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage is not issued in a foreign country, the person wishing to marry has the right to go to court and request permission to marry without a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage. Permission is valid for six months.

If an Estonian citizen or a resident of Estonia wishes to contract marriage in a foreign state, they must follow the requirements of the country where they want to get married (i.e. which documents need to be submitted). For example, a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage may be required.

In Estonia, the certificate is issued by the county town local authority (e.g. Tartu City Government), the Tallinn Vital Statistics Office or the Estonian consular officer in the region where the marriage is to be contracted. The certificate shall be valid for 6 months from the date of its issuance, and the certificate shall set out the prerequisites for contraction of marriage arising from Estonian law. An authority shall not issue a certificate until it is convinced, on the basis of the documents required for the contraction of marriage, that there are no hindrances to the contraction of marriage pursuant to Estonian law.

To request a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage, an application must be submitted either on the spot (Tiigi 12), by post or digitally signed by e-mail [email protected]. The state fee must be paid on the spot using a bank card at the self-service checkout or in the Internet bank. Detailed information is available here.

As a general rule, foreign documents submitted in Estonia to prove a vital statistics event must be legalised or authenticated by a certificate (apostille), depending on the country. Documents from countries that have not joined the Hague Convention must be legalised.

List of countries that have joined the Convention

A document in a foreign language must be translated into Estonian, Russian, or English, unless the document is in Russian or English. The translation shall be done by a sworn translator.

Read more:
About the legalisation of a public document on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Detailed information on foreign documents is available from the website of the Ministry of the Interior

A prospective spouse whose birth data is missing from the population register must submit a birth certificate. In order to enter the data in the population register, it is necessary to submit a birth certificate that contains the data of the parents.

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as of 16 February 2019, several public documents no longer require an apostille when being submitted to other European Union countries.

When submitting to another European Union country, it is not necessary to authenticate with an apostille documents certifying the following circumstances: birth; death; name; marriage, including legal capacity to contract marriage and marital status; divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment, parentage; adoption; domicile and/or residence.

Estonian authorities accept the documents specified in the regulation in Estonian, Russian and English, so translation is not required for documents drawn up in these languages. If the document is drawn up in another language, the document must be translated, unless it is accompanied by a multilingual standard form.

A person who has been previously married must submit a document proving the termination or annulment of the marriage (divorce document, death certificate together with the marriage document), if the document reflecting the termination of the marriage has not been entered in the population register.

A foreign document reflecting the divorce must contain the personal data of the divorcing spouses, the data of the authority that issued the divorce, the time of the decision and the date on which it entered into force as well as, if possible, the time and place of the contraction of marriage that was dissolved.

NB! It is important that the extracts from the foreign court judgement contain all of the required data.

If it is a decree of divorce from a court of a Member State of the European Union, which was made after 01 March 2005, it must be accompanied by the certificate stipulated in EU Council Regulation 2201/2003EC (Appendix I). Adding the certificate ensures complete information about the divorce and that the judgment has entered into force. In this case, the judgment does not have to be certified by an apostille. A decree of divorce from a court of a Member State of the European Union, which was made before 01 March 2005, must include an apostille.

If the previous marriage ended with the death of the spouse, the death certificate of the spouse, as well as the marriage certificate, must be submitted.

The contraction of a marriage in a foreign country is considered valid in Estonia if it took place in accordance with the procedure for contraction of a marriage in the law of the country where the marriage was concluded and corresponded to the law of the country of residence of both spouses in terms of substantive requirements.

The document certifying contraction of marriage in a foreign country must be submitted to the vital statistics office in Estonia within one month after the marriage, so that the necessary changes can also be entered in the Estonian population register. See the requirements for foreign documents in more detail.

If you decide to not get married, please let us know in good time and submit a free form application, digitally signed by both parties, to the e-mail address [email protected].

If the prospective spouses fail to appear on the determined date to contract marriage without giving a reason for the failure to appear, they shall be deemed not to have submitted an application for contraction of marriage

In order to refund the state fee and/or service fee in case of withdrawal from contraction of marriage or its solemnisation and contraction, the payer shall submit a digitally signed application.

State fee refund application form (in case of withdrawal from contraction of marriage).

The claim to refund the state fee expires two years after the end of the year in which the state fee was paid. When refunding the state fee, the procedural costs involved in reviewing the application will be deducted.

Service fee refund application form (in case of withdrawal from the solemnisation and contraction of marriage either ceremonially or outside the vital statistics office).

The service fee will be refunded if the vital statistics office has been informed in writing via e-mail of the withdrawal from the solemnisation and contraction of marriage or the contraction of marriage outside the vital statistics office, or the wish to change the time, at least two working days prior to the date of contraction of marriage. The service fee will not be refunded in case of failure to inform or later notification.

Recognition/contraction of marriage in EU Member States on the Your Europe website
Proprietary relationship of the spouses 
Couples in Europe 
Divorce and legal separation of spouses
Divorce and termination of cohabitation