Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom

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"Civil partnership" redirects here. For information on the concept as a whole and in countries outside the United Kingdom, see civil union.

Same-sex unions

Recognized nationwide in:

Denmark (1989) | Norway (1993)

Israel¹ (1994) | Sweden (1995)

Greenland (1996) | Hungary (1996)

Iceland (1996) | France (1999)

South Africa (1999) | Germany (2001)

Portugal (2001) | Finland (2002)

Croatia (2003) | Luxembourg (2004)

New Zealand (2005) | United Kingdom (2005)

Andorra (2005) | Czech Republic (2006)

Slovenia (2006) | Switzerland (starting 2007)

Was recognized before
legalization of same-sex marriage in:

Netherlands (nationwide) (1998)

Spain (12 of 14 communities) (1998)

Belgium (nationwide) (2000)

Canada (QC and NS)² (2000)

Recognized in some regions in:

Argentina (Buenos Aires, Rio Negro) (2003)

Australia (Tasmania, ACT) (2004)

Italy (10 regions) (2004)

Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) (2004)

United States(10 states) (1997)

Recognition debated in:

Austria

Chile

Greece

Ireland

Liechtenstein

Poland

Notes:

1 - In form of common-law marriage.

2 - Explicitly referred to as "civil unions" in Civil unions in Quebec>Quebec (2002), Nova Scotia (2001), and Manitoba (2002), common-law marriage extended to same-sex partners nationwide (2000).

Law and procedure under the Civil Partnership Act

A civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex, formed when they register as civil partners of each other, which ends only on death, dissolution, or annulment.

Formation

Registration

A civil partnership is formed when each partner has signed the civil partnership document in the presence of a registrar and in the presence of each other and two witnesses. There is to be no religious service during the registration and the registration cannot take place in any premises that are either designed for or are in use mainly or solely for religious purposes.

Some gay affirming Christians protested this point, claiming that same-sex couples should have the same right to manifest their religion in the creation of their civil status as a mixed-sex couple have, if they so choose. The Metropolitan Community Church of Edinburgh lodged a petition before the Scottish Parliament (which was at that time considering a Sewel Motion in respect of the Civil Partnerships Bill) seeking the right to create civil partnerships in Church and gave oral evidence to the Public Petitions Committee claiming that the Bill as drafted was contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. The Church was unsuccessful in its campaign. In Scotland, however, all of the mainstream churches (except the Catholic church) offer formal blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples to cement their registration.

Cover to Civil Partnership: Legal Recognition for Same-Sex Couples document, issued by the UK Government's Women and Equality Unit.

Before registration under the standard procedure, each party will usually have to give notice to the registration authority. Each party must have resided in their home state, (Scotland, Northern Ireland, England or Wales) for at least seven days immediately preceding the giving of notice and there will, in most cases, be a 15-day waiting period after notice is given. During the waiting period, the proposed partnership will be publicised and anyone may make a formal objection to the proposed civil partnership. If there is such an objection, the proposed civil partnership cannot be formed unless the objection is withdrawn or if the registration authority is satisfied that the objection ought not to prevent the formation of the civil partnership. Provided no objection has been recorded or any recorded objections have been cleared, the registration authority must issue a civil partnership schedule at the request of either party upon the expiration of the waiting period. The civil partnership must then be registered within 12 months of when the notice was first given. Scotland has a different waiting period from England and Wales.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

There are also specific registration procedures that apply to particular circumstances. Thus, clause 18 applies to persons who are house-bound while clause 19 applies to detained persons. A specific procedure also applies where one party to the proposed civil partnership is non-resident. The special procedure under clause 21 of the Act provides for persons who are seriously ill and are not expected to recover.

Eligibility

Each party to the civil partnership must be of the same sex and be at least 16 years old. Anyone below 18 years old will usually need parental consent except in Scotland where parental consent isn't needed for marriages. In addition, the parties to the proposed partnership must not be within the prohibited degrees of relationship specified in part 1 of schedule 1 of the Act. Any party who is already in a marriage or a civil partnership is also ineligible to register.

For overseas couples who want to register their partnership in the UK, they must reside in the UK 7 days prior to application for the partnership, and wait another 15 days before the ceremony can be performed.

Britons can register civil partnerships overseas at British consulates-general (where permitted - please check with the local consulate-general). For overseas civil partnership registration, at least one of the two must be a British citizen.

Gender Recognition Act

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows transsexual people to change their legal gender, but before doing so they have to dissolve any existing marriage, since marriage is legally defined as being between persons of opposite gender. This can have serious consequences for a married couple who wish to stay together after one or the other has changed gender. However under special provisions of the Civil Partnership Act they will be able from December to dissolve their marriage, and enter a civil partnership the next day.

Legal effect

Property and financial arrangements

In any dispute between civil partners as to title or possession of property, either partner may apply to the court. The court may then make any order in relation to the property as it thinks fit, including an order to sell the property. Contributions by either partner to property improvement are recognised if the contributions are substantial and in money or money's worth.

The position of civil partners in relation to financial arrangements will largely mirror that of spouses. For instance, Section 11 of the Married Women's Property Act 1882 will apply to civil partnerships. Thus, money payable to a partner under a policy of assurance effected by the other partner for his/her own life will no longer form part of the deceased partner's estate.

The laws governing wills, administration of estates and family provisions will also largely apply to civil partners as they would to spouses. Thus, provisions governing financial relief under Part 2 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA) and the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates' Court Act 1978 will also apply to civil partnerships.

Tax exemptions available to spouses under s.18 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 will be available to civil partners under the Civil Partnership Act.

Children

When the court is dealing with an application for dissolution, nullity or separation and there is a child of the family, it must consider if it should exercise its powers under the Children Act 1989. Clause 72 amends the definition of 'a child of the family' accordingly.

Other amendments were also made to equalize the position of civil partners with spouses. Thus civil partners will be able to acquire parental responsibilities as a step-parent under clause 72 of the Act. Civil partners will also be able to apply for residence or contact orders. Further, the rights to apply for financial provision for children under schedule 1 of the 1989 act is also extended to civil partners. Adoption provisions will also be amended so that civil partners will be treated in the same way as married couples.

Other provisions

Other areas of the law will also be amended by the Act in order to equalize the position of civil partners. Such areas include certain parts of the law relating to housing and tenancies and the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. Certain parts of the Family Law Act 1996 have also been amended.

Differences between civil partnerships and marriage

Other than the name of the institution and the way in which couples register, there are very few legal distinctions between civil partnerships and marriages in the U.K. These are as follows:

A marriage becomes legal when certain words (e.g. "I now pronounce you man and wife") are spoken. There are no set patterns for civil partnership ceremonies, and a civil partnership becomes legal on the signing of a register.
It is not possible to dissolve a civil partnership on the specific grounds of non-consummation or adultery, although both non-consummation and adultery can be grounds for dissolution of the partnership as they fall under the provision for unreasonable behavior.
Marriage is legally regarded as "lifelong" whereas the wording relating to civil partnerships is "long term" and "intended to be permanent".
Civil partners of Peers or knights are not entitled to the courtesy title to which a peer's wife would be entitled. The Palace, when asked about the situation, described it as 'interesting', but stated that further clarification would be the province of Parliament. "The queen herself knighted Sir Elton John, so his new bride would normally be called a lady. Would David Furnish be called Laddie? No chance, says the palace. It called the question "interesting," but passed the buck to the government."- http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/20/sbt.01.html

Name changing

There is no requirement that either party must change their surname upon entering a civil partnership. However, many couples wish to follow the traditions of a civil marriage and seek to change their surname to that of either partner, or combine their names to make a double-barrelled surname. This change can be made after the civil partnership is registered, and most official government offices will accept a certificate of civil partnership as evidence of change of name -- when applying for a passport or a driving licence, for example. However, change of name by deed poll may be required by some banks and utility companies, although this is expected to change over time. In Scotland, names need not be changed by deed poll to be considered valid, though some English-based companies may still ask for proof from an official such as a Justice of the Peace.

Ending the partnership

Clause 37(1) of the Act provides for the making of dissolution, nullity, separation and presumption of death orders. These provisions broadly mirror those governing marriage.

Under clause 37(2) of the Act, every dissolution, nullity and presumption of death order is initially conditional and that conditional order may not be made final until the end of a prescribed period of 6 weeks. At any time before a conditional order has been made final, the Queen's Proctor may, under certain circumstances, intervene. This will allow relevant matters to be argued fully before the court.

After the prescribed period has passed, the court may then either make the conditional order final, rescind the conditional order, require that there be further enquiry or otherwise deal with the case as the court thinks fit.

For dissolution and separation orders, the court may adjourn proceedings for any period that the court thinks fit if the court considers there to be a reasonable possibility of reconciliation between the parties.

Dissolution

No applications for dissolution may be made within 1 year of the formation of the civil partnership. Like marriage, irretrievable breakdown is the only ground on which a court may make a dissolution order. Also, clause 44 provides that the court may not make a dissolution order unless the applicant satisfies the court as to certain facts. These facts are similar to those under the MCA. Adultery is, however, not included in the Civil Partnership Act. If the applicant satisfies the court as to any of the facts, the court must make a dissolution order unless satisfied on all the evidence that the partnership has not broken down irretrievably. The MCA section 5 defence is also available here.

Nullity, separation and presumption of death orders

A nullity order is an order which annuls a void or voidable civil partnership. Clause 49 of the Act provides that a civil partnership is void on grounds of ineligibility to register, if the parties disregarded certain requirements as to the formation of the partnership, or in the case where any party is a child, if the person whose consent is required has forbidden the formation of the partnership and the court has not given its consent.

According to clause 50 of the CPB, a civil partnership is voidable if any of the following is shown:

there was no valid consent to its formation;
at the time of its formation, either party was unfit for civil partnership due to mental disorder;
applicant was pregnant by someone other than the respondent at the time of its formation;
either party has been issued with an interim gender recognition certificate after the time of its formation;
either party has acquired a new gender under the law at the time of its formation.

Where a civil partnership is voidable, applications for nullity orders are subject to the bars of time, knowledge of defect and approbation. A presumption of death order dissolves the partnership on the grounds that one of the partners is presumed to be dead, while a separation order provides for the separation of the parties. These orders are governed by clauses 55 and 56 of the Act and they largely mirror the position for married couples.

Opposition

The first few civil partnership ceremonies saw some protests by religious groups opposed to them, for example from the Free Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland. "[Out of the ceremony, into history]", BBC News, 19 December 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2006. Although local authorities have a statutory duty to perform the registrations, the registrars at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles council), Scotland, have indicated that their staff will not be forced to perform actual ceremonies if they feel they cannot do so; "[Couples in partnership ceremonies]", BBC News, 20 December 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2006. as of 13 May 2006, none had refused to do so. (It should be added that the advice from the General Register Office in Scotland is that no individual registrar should be made to perform a ceremony if their personal beliefs prevented them from doing so. Only the legal registration falls within the Act.) The Western Isles Council announced on 5 June 2006 that they would withdraw their opposition to Civil Partnerships. "[link]"

The Roman Catholic Church issued a number of documents and statements about Civil Partnerships, arguing that in mirroring marriage, they attacked and undermined it, obscured the true nature of it, and that that would have long term, negative consequences for marriage, the family, children, and the common good. http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/citizenship/mfl/civilpartnerships/cp030900.htm

According to opinion polls, a majority supports recognition of same-sex unions. "[On God and sex there is a moral divide between Britain and US]", Times Online, 10 November 2004. Retrieved 14 May 2006.

Numbers

Seven civil partnerships took place in Scotland on the first day (20 December) and nearly 700 civil partnerships were formalized on first day they came into force in England/Wales. According to the Office for National Statistics, 6,516 partnerships were formalized between 5 December, 2005 and 31 March, 2006 - 4,311 were male couples and 2,205 were female couples. 238 ceremonies took place in Westminster, 236 took place in Brighton and Hove, while 192 took place in Kensington and Chelsea. "[6,216 Civil Partnerships Formed in England & Wales by 31 March]", General Register Office for England & Wales Official Press Release 23/6/06.

Notable partnerships

One notable early partnership was that between singer Elton John and his partner David Furnish. Another notable partnership registered then was that between the Reverend Christopher Wardale, a Church of England vicar from Darlington, and retired Northumbria University lecturer Malcolm Macourt; their ceremony prompted Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham to announce to the press that clergy entering into, or simply blessing, civil partnerships would face disciplinary action. "[Gay vicar flouts partnership rule]", BBC News, 21 December 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2006.

Other notable public figure registrants include Liberal Democrat politician Margaret Smith, who registered her relationship with Suzanne Main in March 2006. "[Canadian Tories Threaten Same-sex Marriage]", San Francisco Bay Times, 13 April 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2006. Labour MP Ben Bradshaw announced in March 2006 that he would register with BBC Newsnight journalist Neal Dalgleish in June of that year. "[Minister announces gay 'wedding']", BBC News, 8 March 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2006. Former EastEnders star and Labour Euro-MP Michael Cashman registered with Paul Cottingham on 11 March 2006. "[EastEnders star turned MEP weds in civil union]", The Observer, 12 March 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2006. Former Boyzone singer Stephen Gately registered with Andy Cowles on 19 March 2006. "[Ex-Boyzone singer Gately 'weds']", BBC News, 20 March 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2006. Guy Black, former chief executive of the Press Complaints Commission and now director of corporate affairs at the Telegraph Group registered with Mark Bolland, former Deputy Private Secretary to Prince Charles, on 11 February, 2006. "[Stephen Glover On The Press: A civil partnership breaks out between the 'Mail' and 'Telegraph']", The Indepedent, 14 May 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2006. Labour MP David Borrow registered with John Garland on 6 May 2006. "[MP celebrates gay marriage]", This Is Lancashire, 11 May 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2006.

References

External links

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