Men to start being asked for marital status like women in notarial deeds

Men will be asked for their marital status in notarial deeds, a requisite currently imposed only on women, the parliamentary secretary for equality has announced.

A legal amendment to the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act will end the exemption that currently applies to men.

“Through this amendment, we will be strengthening our commitment towards a truly equal society,” Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar said.

Parliamentary Secretary Alex Muscat, under whose portfolio the public registry falls, said government had been working to fix this anomaly.
He said the public registry will be updated to make searches on individuals possible through the use of ID Card numbers rather than through civil status.

Equality Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar (left) and Alex Muscat, parliamentary secretary responsible for the public registry announcing the changes

Cutajar said the amendment will bring justice to Marie Therese Xuereb, a citizen who had challenged the law in court and won. 

In 2017, then Marie Therese Cuschieri filed a case before the First Hall of Civil Court, in its Constitutional Jurisdiction, against the Attorney General, objecting to a legal requirement in the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act that required her to list the name of her ex-husband when signing a promise of sale agreement despite having been divorced.

She had said that she felt intimidated and disgusted that her divorced marital status, and the name of her ex-husband, needed to feature in a promise of sale for the acquisition of a San Gwann property for her company.

Cuschieri had also claimed that the proviso which made the inclusion of her marital status necessary constituted undue interference in her private life.

Asked why the secretariat chose to retain the civil status prerequisite, Cutajar said removing the requirement would have meant that women would have had to spend more money in researching notarial archives for their documents.  

Muscat said government was looking to further address anomalies like the wider availability of surnames that would be allowed, and the allowance of Maltese letters in names.

READ ALSO: Woman wins right to private life as outdated law forced her to include ex-husband’s name