Witness for Marriage Registrar In a Hotel

sugarbaker01

Hi folks,
Just wanted to ask on here and see if anyone can help me.

Last year I was asked to be a witness and "Stand" for my cousin who is to be groom in a ceremony taking place in late may 2012 in a hotel in Kildare and will be performed by a registrar.
Of course I was delighted to be asked and recently put a deposit on a lovely suit for the wedding.
A few days ago he told me that when he gave my name and date of Birth to the registrar, putting me forward as a potential witness, he was told that "That person cannot be a witness because this is a legal document"
And now im gone from best man to spare tool for this wedding.

I was not aware of any specific conditions to be a witness to a civil partnership/Marriage and had always thought that anyone could do it.

Is he fobbing me off for other reasons?

This is wrecking my head , can anyone shed any light on this for me please?

SteppingStone

To my knowledge anybody can stand as witness once they are over the age of 18.

sugarbaker01

Thats what everyone else had said
Thanks

Peregrinus

Assuming you are over 18, there is no reason why you cannot be a witness.

Your cousin has misunderstood the position, or else he has changed his mind about having you stand for him, and is trying to spare your feelings by not telling you the reason for his change of mind.

Gatica

agreed. At the registrar's meeting, the ONLY thing you give about your witnesses is names and dates of birth. They mark the identification of the witnesses as "confirmed" by the couple, without requiring anything else on their part.

smcgiff

Erm...

tinkerbell

Assuming you're over 18 (that's the only requirement to be a witness), then your cousin has decided he doesn't want you as a best man anymore but doesn't have the guts to say it to you.