• Notice of 21 days should be given in the form of wedding banns which are read in church for three consecutive weeks before the marriage takes place. The purpose of these banns is to enable whoever may have any reason preventing the two to get married to give it before the marriage takes place.
• The church must be licensed by the minister of public service.
• The priest or pastor must be licensed to wed
• The ceremony must take place between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm
• The church doors should be open for all to see the ceremony
• The marriage must be recorded in the register kept by the minister of the church.
• A marriage certificate must be issued and signed by the priest or minister, the bride, groom and two witnesses who may be the matron and best man.

A customary marriage is potentially polygamous. This means that a man can marry as many wives as he wishes under the customary norms and practices of his area. However, he must fulfil each woman’s customary requirements.

• Cohabitation is not recognised as a form of marriage in Uganda regardless of the duration of the time the two have lived together.
• The fact that the man and woman have produced children does not make them husband and wife.
• They, therefore, do not enjoy privileges that accrue to parties who are married. Thus, the provisions relating to spouses in the sharing of property and succession do not apply to people living in cohabitation.
• A person who qualifies in law as a husband or wife is the only one who can benefit from the deceased spouse’s estate/property.
• A cohabiting can, however, benefit from the property only if it was registered in both their names as joint owners. However, the connotation should not be that of a wife (i.e. Mr And Mrs...), but simply two people having joint ownership over a piece of land.