Registering A Civil Partnership And Dissolution

                                                                                         

What arrangements can I make for my civil partnership?

If you want to register a civil partnership, you will be able to give formal notice of your of intention to do so from 5 December 2005. Before this date, you should contact your local register office to find out what provisional arrangements you can make.
Some local authorities, such as Brighton and Liverpool, are already taking provisional bookings whereas others are taking expressions of interest from couples. It is up to local authorities to decide what arrangements to make with couples at this stage, however over the next few months it is expected that more and more places will start to take provisional bookings as more details of the procedures for registration become known.

Where can I register my civil partnership?

The range of places you can register your civil partnership will be broadly similar to those available for civil marriage.

Every local authority will be required to provide a facility for the registration of a civil partnership. It will also be possible to register a civil partnership at a venue elsewhere, for example at a hotel. Any premises that are presently approved for marriage will, with effect from 5 December, be deemed to also be approved for the purposes of civil partnership registrations until the current approval is renewed or expires. After 5 December, premises will be approved for hosting both civil partnerships and marriages.

What formal requirements have to be met before registration can take place?

You and your partner will need to each give notice in the area(s) where you have resided for at least seven days. When you give notice, you will be asked to state where you wish the civil partnership registration to take place

If a civil partnership is to be registered outside of the area of residence, you and your partner will still need to give notice in the area(s) where you live. When you each give notice, you will be asked to give the date and place where the civil partnership registration is to take place so these details will need to have been first agreed with the local authority where the registration is going to take place.
Example:

If you live in Brighton and your partner lives in Eastbourne, but you want to register a civil partnership in a country house hotel in Kent, you will have to give notice to your local register office in Brighton and your partner at Eastbourne register office. When you give this notice, you will both have to be able to give the date and the place where the civil partnership is to be registered, which means that you will have to have arranged this already with the venue and the Kent registration authority.

What is the waiting period for civil partnership?

There will be a 15-day waiting period once each person has given notice of intention to register, before the civil partnership can be registered. There will be procedures in place to reduce the 15-day waiting period in exceptional circumstances where there are compelling reasons to do so.

It will also be possible for a civil partnership to be registered at the residence of someone who is housebound, detained or seriously ill and not expected to recover.

There will also be procedures to allow couples to form a civil partnership quickly in the cases of former spouses, one of whom has changed gender under the provisions of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

What time of day can a civil partnership be registered?

Civil partnerships can only be registered between 8am and 6pm (as is the case for marriage). However, where one of the couple is seriously ill and not expected to recover, then the civil partnership may be formed at any time.

What information will be made public about my civil partnership?

When you give notice of your intention to register a civil partnership, details from the notice will be available in a register office for public inspection (as for marriage) but the details will not include the address of you or your partner.

It is important that these details are publicly available during the 15 day waiting period, to allow for objections to be made, just as is the case for marriage.

What happens at a civil partnership registration?

A civil partnership will be registered once the couple has signed the civil partnership document in the presence of a registrar and two witnesses.

There are words printed on the document which the couple will be able to say at the time of signing the document, Civil partnership registration is an entirely secular process, and the Civil Partnership Act prevents any religious service from taking place during the statutory steps leading to the formation of a civil partnership.

Can we have a ceremony?

Yes, you will be able to arrange a ceremony in addition to the signing of the legal documentation if you wish, but a ceremony is not required under the Act. It is up to you to decide. Local authorities might offer a ceremony but there are other organisations who also offer ceremonies too.

Can I use Welsh?

Yes, all forms used in Wales in connection with civil partnerships will be printed in Welsh and English. It will be possible for these forms to be completed in English or in Welsh as for marriage.

Can we change our names after registering a civil partnership?

After registering a civil partnership, some people might want to change their surname to that of their partner’s, or a couple may choose to hyphenate their names. Government departments and agencies such as the Passport Agency and the DVLA will accept civil partnership certificates in the same way that they accept marriage certificates as evidence for changing names.

Dissolving A Civil Partnership

How will dissolution proceedings work?

Registering as civil partners is a serious commitment, because a civil partnership ends only on formal dissolution or annulment, or on the death of one of the parties.

The process for dissolution will be court-based. The person applying for the partnership to be dissolved will have to provide evidence that the civil partnership has broken down irretrievably.

The dissolution process will begin with an application to the court in the form required by the court rules for civil partnership proceedings.

In order to prove irretrievable breakdown it will be necessary to provide evidence of one or more of the following facts to support the application for dissolution:

Unreasonable behaviour, that is behaviour such that the applicant cannot reasonably be expected to live with their civil partner:

Separation for two years, where the other civil partner consents to a dissolution order being made;

Separation for five years, where the other civil partner does not consent to a dissolution order being made;

That the other civil partner has deserted the applicant for a period of two years prior to the application.

The court will be required to inquire as far as is possible into the facts alleged by the applicant and into any facts alleged by their civil partner. If the court is satisfied on the evidence that the civil partnership has broken down irretrievably, a dissolution order can be granted.

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