You cannot conduct a valid marriage ceremony after 6pm – Legal practitioner

A private legal practitioner and Family Life counselor, Kweku Yamoah Paintsil has cautioned would-be couples to be mindful of the time at which they conduct their marriage ceremony/ rites.

He notes that any marriage ceremony conducted after 6 pm is not considered valid by the Law

“There are times within which you can conduct a marriage ceremony. You cant conduct a valid marriage after 6 pm. If the actual ceremony goes beyond 6 pm, the law will not recognize it”

Speaking on Home Affairs on Saturday, April 30, 2022, Lawyer Paintsil noted further that ordinance marriage is not necessarily what is held at the Church.

Rather, he said that there are requirements of the law that ought to be met in order for a type of marriage to be classified as customary.

Moreover, he revealed that there have been situations where marriages have been nullified because the priests and venues(churches) were not licensed by the Registrar General’s Department.

Speaking on custody of children he mentioned that they are part of the ancillary reliefs in divorce proceedings and added that the overriding interest of the court in granting custody is in the interest of the children.

Further to the above, the legal practitioner stated that depending on the age of the children, Ghana’s courts are known to usually favor the mothers in the granting of custody

Additionally, he noted that there have only been a few cases where the courts have granted custody to men.

He referred to the classic case of Beckley v Beckley and another where the High Court per Abban J held in granting custody of Edward to his father, Mr. Beckley, as follows;

” Learned counsel for the father and the grandmother informed the court that Edward has become used to the house of the grandmother where the father has placed him and that he has settled down nicely, and he now speaks Ewe, his father’s language. In my opinion, to take Edward from that house to another household will not only be hard but there will also be an inevitable wrench to him and this would be most injurious to his welfare. In the interest of Edward, things should be left where they are; and I trust that the harmonious and happy relations which have hitherto existed between Edward and the grandmother, will not in any way be disturbed by the present proceedings.”

 “For the above reasons, I will not grant custody of Edward to the wife. I order that Edward should remain with the husband, but I will give the wife generous access. That is, the husband should allow the wife to visit Edward at the weekends. This order is subject to review from time to time.”