A marriage application can be submitted in the e-population register if the birth and marital status of both spouses has been entered into the population register and the Estonian residence data of the spouses has been entered into the population register at least six months before the application is submitted.

If the application is submitted in the e-population register, one of the parties to the marriage shall enter the details of both spouses, the post-marriage surname and property relationship, and other circumstances related to the conclusion of the marriage, such as the preferred time and place of the marriage. The applicant also pays a state fee. The application is then sent to the second spouse, who can confirm it in the e-population register. The data cannot be changed by the person confirming the application.

If the second spouse has approved the application, the joint marriage application of the spouses is forwarded to the local government.

If the data of both spouses are available in the population register and they have lived in Estonia for at least six months before submitting the marriage application, no additional documents need to be submitted for marriage. A valid identity document must be brought with you if you submit a marriage application on the spot and for concluding the marriage.

If the data of the person getting married is not entered in the population register, his/her place of residence is in a foreign country, or he/she has lived in Estonia for less than six months before submitting the marriage application, the following documents must be submitted in addition to the marriage application:

1. birth document;
2. a document certifying the end of a previous marriage (for example, a divorce certificate or a spouse’s death certificate) if the person’s marital status is not single;
3. a certificate of citizenship or country of residence confirming that according to the law of that country there are no obstacles to marriage (certificate of marital capacity), or court permission to marry without a certificate of marital capacity;

The marriage certificate must be in Estonian, English or Russian, or translated into one of these languages and legalised or certified with an apostille. The marital capacity certificate is valid until the deadline indicated on it. If the certificate does not have a deadline, the certificate is valid for seven months from the date of issue.

If the country of citizenship or residence of the person getting married does not issue a marital capacity certificate in accordance with Estonian requirements, the person getting married must apply to the Estonian court and request the court’s permission to marry without a marital capacity certificate.

When submitting a marriage application, you can also apply for identity documents with a new surname in the pre-application environment.

If the application for new identity documents is submitted when the marriage application is filed, please note that the application will be processed only after the surname has been changed. Until then, the application remains pending.

If you do not submit an application for new identity documents when filing the marriage application, you can submit it within 30 days after the marriage is concluded through the self-service portal of the police and border guard board or on the spot.

Persons of legal age and legal capacity can marry. An adult with limited legal capacity can get married if the court has found that he/she is capable of understanding the legal consequences of entering into a marriage when establishing guardianship.

A person who is already married cannot get married. A person who is in registered cohabitation can only enter into marriage with a registered partner.

Persons who are not directly relatives in ascending or descending line (for example, parent and child), brothers and sisters (children of the same parents), half-brothers and half-sisters (children with one common parent) can marry each other. Persons whose aforementioned close relationship has arisen through adoption cannot marry.

A clergyman of a church, parish or union of congregations may refuse to solemnize a marriage if the person getting married does not meet the conditions for solemnizing a marriage according to the religious confession, which are in force in that church, parish or union of congregations.

You can get married if one month has passed since the day of submitting the marriage application. The application is considered to have been submitted in the e-population register if the other spouse has confirmed the marriage application. You can also get married later, but you must not wait more than six months after submitting the marriage application.

When getting married, one of the spouses can change their surname in the following way:

• replacing their current surname with the spouse’s surname or
• adding the spouse’s surname with a hyphen to their existing surname.

When taking the spouse’s surname, the markings of gender, marital status or other characteristics can be added or omitted from it. For example, if Mr. Ivanov gets married and his wife wants to take the man’s last name, she can add a feminine marking to it, i.e. Ivanova.

No other surname can be chosen. Also, both spouses cannot change their surname.

When submitting a marriage application, the spouses must choose the type of property relationship between them. You can choose between joint property, separation of property and offsetting of property growth. The chosen property relationship comes into effect when the marriage is concluded.

Joint property - property acquired during marriage belongs to the spouses jointly. Transactions can be made with it, for example, property can be sold or put to use, only by the joint decision of the spouses. Property acquired before marriage, as well as property received during marriage, for example by gift or inheritance, personal items and property acquired as separate property, is the separate property of one spouse, and the decisions concerning that property are done by the spouse him/herself.

Separation of property - no joint property is created. Spouses are financially independent of each other.

Offsetting of property growth - no common property is created. In case of divorce, the added part of each spouse's property will be offset.

You can read more about the types of property relationships on the website of the Chamber of Notaries and the Ministry of Justice.

The property relationship stated in the marriage application can be changed until the marriage is concluded. The parties who are getting married must jointly notify the local government, notary or clergyman to whom the marriage application was submitted in writing of their desire to change the property relationship, by going to the place in person or by sending a digitally signed application by e-mail. The change application cannot be submitted in the e-population register.

After marriage, the chosen property relationship can be changed by signing a marital property agreement.

If you want to get married by a clergyman, it is important to note that:

• not every clergyman has the right to solemnize marriages. Before submitting the marriage application, check whether the clergyman of your choice has this right;
• it is not possible to submit a marriage application to a clergyman in the e-population register;
• the clergyman has the right to refuse to enter into a marriage if the person to be married does not meet the conditions for entering into a marriage according to the confession of faith valid in the church, parish or association of congregations.

If the marriage application is submitted to the local government or clergy, a state fee must be paid. The state fee is 70 euros. If the marriage is concluded by a notary, a notary’s fee is paid for the conclusion of the marriage. The local government, notary and clergy may additionally ask for a fee for the use of the premises, for conducting the ceremony outside the official premises or after normal working hours, etc. To find out about such fees, you should contact the local authority, the clergy or the notary who will conclude the marriage.

If you want to get married in a foreign country, you must be guided by the requirements for concluding a marriage in this country. For example, you may need to present a marital capacity certificate. The marital capacity certificate confirms that according to the law of your country of citizenship or residence, i.e. Estonia, there are no obstacles for you to enter into marriage. These certificates are issued by the local governments of the county centres and Estonian consular officials outside Estonia in the region where you want to get married. The marital capacity certificate is valid for six months from the date of its issuance.

After getting married in a foreign country, the document certifying the marriage must be submitted within one month to the local government of the county centre in Estonia or to the foreign mission of Estonia in a foreign country, so that the necessary changes can also be made in the population register.

If you have submitted the application, but the partner has not yet given his/her consent to it, you can cancel the application yourself by logging into the e-population register. However, if the partner has also given his/her consent, you can still withdraw the application by notifying the authority who will conclude the marriage of your choice by phone or e-mail.

When withdrawing the application, you have the right to request a refund of the state fee you paid for concluding a marriage. For this, the application must be submitted to the authority to which you submitted the marriage application. For more detailed information about this you can also contact the aforementioned authority.