Getting married quickly in hospital, a hospice or at home

In England and Wales you normally give notice at your local register office at least 29 days before the ceremony. When one of you is seriously ill, the wait and the choice of places can both be set aside.

The question that decides the route is whether the person can be moved. If a doctor says they are seriously ill, not expected to recover and cannot be moved to a venue, the licence route is open and you can marry where they are, usually the same day. If they are expected to stay where they are for months, for example living in a care home or at home after a stroke, the housebound route lets the registrar come to them, with the usual 28 days between notice and ceremony. If they can still travel but you cannot wait 28 days, you can ask the Registrar General to shorten the wait.

If you are organising this for someone else, a son or daughter arranging it for a parent who wants to marry their partner for example, you can make the phone calls, but the notice is given by the couple themselves, and the person who is ill must be able to say for themselves that they want to marry. If you are not sure whether a parent with dementia can make that decision, can someone with dementia get married explains how capacity to marry is judged.

The Registrar General can only grant the licence if satisfied that one of you is "seriously ill and is not expected to recover and cannot be moved" to a register office or licensed venue. The register office gives you a letter for the doctor to sign, and the doctor has to be the one treating the person. The letter confirms those three things, and it also confirms that the person understands the nature and purpose of the ceremony. Ask the nurse in charge who the right doctor is; at home it may be the GP.

Once the letter is signed, one of you gives notice to the registrar, usually the partner who is well. Councils describe how quickly it can then go: Islington says the licence "can be granted in minutes if the criteria is met" and the ceremony can take place straight away or on another date within one month. Bath and North East Somerset says it can happen "very quickly afterwards at any hour of the day". The notice is only good for the place where the person is when it is given, so if they move to a hospice or home before the ceremony, tell the registrar, because a new notice is needed.

The fees for this route are small compared with an ordinary wedding. The councils we checked list between about £25 and £30 for the notice and licence together, plus £12.50 for each marriage certificate, and Cambridgeshire gives its own fees and an urgent number on its page. The ceremony can be civil, or religious in any faith except the Church of England and Church in Wales, which have their own route described further down.

The housebound route comes from the Marriage Act 1983. A doctor signs a statement, no more than 14 days before notice is given, saying the person ought not to move or be moved because of illness or disability, and that this is likely to be the case for at least the next three months. The registrar then takes notice at the place where the person lives, which can be their own home, a hospital, a hospice or a care home. Both of you give notice, the usual 28 days must pass, and the ceremony must take place within three months. It can be civil or religious. If either of you is subject to immigration control, the waiting period can be longer, so mention it when you first ring.

So the answer to "can you get married in a care home" is yes. If your relative lives in a care home and cannot travel to a venue, the housebound route lets the wedding take place in the home, and if they meet the licence test it can happen sooner. Talk to the care home manager early, because they will want to plan the room and the staffing. If they are well enough for a day out instead, bringing a relative from a care home to a wedding covers how to arrange it.

Someone detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act, or in prison, can also marry where they are. The hospital or prison provides a statement, made within 21 days before notice, and the registrar takes notice there. Fees for these routes are higher than for the licence and vary by council. Cambridgeshire lists £341.50 in all for a housebound wedding, including one certificate.

If the person can still travel but you cannot wait 28 days, you can apply to the Registrar General to shorten the notice period. Both of you give notice, you explain the reason with evidence, and each of you pays a non-refundable fee. Bath and North East Somerset says to allow at least 24 hours for a decision and that it is not guaranteed.

In Scotland, NHS inform's guide to short notice marriage sets out what the registrar needs. The ceremony can be civil, with a registrar, or religious or belief, with an approved celebrant, and the person must be well enough to consent and take part.

In Northern Ireland, nidirect's page on giving notice says notice goes to the registrar for the council district where the marriage will take place. The Marriage (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 allows a civil marriage wherever a seriously ill person is, with a doctor's statement and the Registrar General's approval.

For a Church of England service, the Faculty Office issues special marriage licences on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Approach it through the chaplain or priest who would take the service, since they will need to agree to conduct it.

Tell the nurse in charge as early as you can, and ask whether there is a quiet room, a garden or a family room the person could be wheeled to, or whether the ceremony is best at the bedside. Ask the nurses which time of day the person tends to be most alert and comfortable, and plan around it. The registrar will go through the legal words with you. A hospice may also have a chaplain or spiritual care team who can help with readings or a blessing; what a hospice offers explains the wider support.

Capacity matters for every route. The doctor's letter for the licence confirms the person understands the ceremony, and in England and Wales the Mental Capacity Act 2005 says nothing in it permits anyone to consent to a marriage on someone else's behalf, so an attorney under a lasting power of attorney cannot agree for them. A diagnosis such as dementia does not settle the question by itself; how mental capacity is assessed explains the general test.

A bedside wedding can include more people than the couple. A grandparent who is frail themselves may want to be there, and the person who usually looks after them may be the one getting married, or a parent with their own worries that day. If nobody else can stay with that grandparent, you could book a wedding carer who stays with them all day, from the journey there to the journey home, so everyone else can be present for the ceremony. Who does what for an older relative on the day helps you share the jobs out in the family, and a wedding day care plan puts medicines, meals and contacts on one page for whoever is helping.

You could hold the legal ceremony quickly and plan a celebration or a blessing later, when more family can travel. If a grandparent will not be able to come to that later celebration, bringing the day to a grandparent who cannot come has ideas, from a visit in the wedding clothes to a video call.