Family
Common-law marriage and divorce with statutory cohabitation rights
Marriage and divorce follow the Marriage Act and the Matrimonial Causes Act, with divorce available on fault and separation grounds. The Family Dependants (Provision) Act and the Married Persons (Property) Act govern financial relief, and the Civil Law Act recognises certain rights for common-law unions. Same-sex marriage is not recognised.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National, heard by the High Court and magistrates' courts
- Deadline — Divorce on separation grounds: statutory separation period under the Matrimonial Causes Act
- Deadline — Protection orders under the Family and Domestic Violence Act: applied for urgently
Governing law
- Marriage ActCap 45:01
- Matrimonial Causes ActCap 45:02
- Family and Domestic Violence Act 2024
In practice
The Family and Domestic Violence Act 2024 replaced the 1996 legislation and broadened protection to a wider range of relationships with strengthened police duties and emergency orders. Guyana retains colonial-era provisions criminalising same-sex conduct between men, though the CCJ struck down a related cross-dressing law in McEwan v Attorney General (2018) as unconstitutionally vague and discriminatory.