The Origin of Marriage and the Registration Body
The legal origin of marriage in Georgia depends on a clear formal act: under Article 48 of the Civil Code, the registration of the marriage by the body for the registration of civil acts is mandatory for the origin of the marriage. This means that a ceremony, a religious rite or a family tradition does not by itself create a legal marriage — only state registration gives the relationship legal force and all the consequences flowing from it. The act of state registration is at the same time a basis of public confidence: others, including state bodies and financial institutions, learn of the existence of the marriage precisely from the record of the registration of civil acts. Refusing or delaying the registration is therefore not merely a formal but a practical problem.