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.

• The property that has been given to the wife i.e. “mahari” belongs to her since it was a gift before the marriage.
• Upon dissolution of the marriage, the wife retains the “mahari”

• Both the man and woman must be single at the time of the marriage. In other words, none of them should be any existing marriage which is recognised under the law.
• The man and woman must not have close blood relations with each other because they do, this will be incest which is a criminal offence punishable under the law.
• Both parties must be above 18 years of age. If they are below 21 but above 18 years, they must seek the consent of their parents or guardians to marry.