Marriage is the voluntary union for life of a man and a woman to the exclusion of others.

The constitution of Uganda provides that men and women of the age of 18 years and above have a right to marry and form a family and are entitled to equal rights before, during and after the marriage has been dissolved.

It is important to know that only those who are married have rights to inherit each other’s’ property. Those who do not fall under the categories of marriage recognised by the laws of Uganda do not benefit from the estate of a deceased person as a wife (widow) or husband (widower) unless specially written in a will.

• This marriage can only be converted into a church marriage where there are only one wife and one husband.
• Where a man has more than one wife, he cannot convert this marriage into a church or even a civil marriage. The man must first divorce the other wives in order to convert the customary marriage into civil or church marriage.

• Both parties must be above 18 years of age
• The couple must not have close blood relations.
• The woman must be single but the man may already be married. However, the man must not be married under church or civil marriage. The subsisting marriage should be customary
• The marriage here is between and therefore, the consent of the parents to the marriage is required
• Bride price is paid as a form of acceptance of the marriage. However, this may be waved and a letter waving the payment of bride price written by the woman’s family.