Public Defender at the Legal Aid Commission, Lawyer Ernestina Obboh Botchwey, widely known as Lawyer Tina, has cautioned that civil or court marriages entered into primarily to obtain residency permits or citizenship—commonly referred to as “paper marriages”—are legally valid marriages under the law.
According to her, such unions cannot simply be dismissed or ignored, even if the couple never lived together or the marriage was entered into for immigration purposes. Proper legal procedures must be followed to dissolve them.
Speaking on her YouTube channel, Ghana Law and More, Lawyer Tina explained that a civil marriage remains valid until it is formally dissolved by a court, regardless of the intentions behind it. She referenced the 2021 Supreme Court case of Ernestina Beateng vs. Phyllis Serwah and Others, where the Court ruled that a civil marriage remains in force until it is legally terminated.
“You cannot say you only married for papers and therefore it wasn’t a real marriage. No. Once you have gone through a civil marriage, it is recognized as a valid marriage in law,” she emphasized in Twi. “You must officially dissolve that marriage before entering into another one.”
She warned that individuals who enter new marriages without ending their previous “paper marriages” may face serious legal consequences, as their earlier unions are still valid in the eyes of the law.
Paper marriages are particularly common in countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Germany, where marriage to a citizen can be a pathway to citizenship or permanent residency.
Lawyer Tina therefore advised individuals engaged in such arrangements to seek proper legal guidance and follow due process to avoid complications in the future, especially regarding issues of bigamy, property rights, or inheritance.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
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