Metropolitan Community Church vicar Debbie Gaston (right) with partner Elaine celebrating their Civil Partnership outside Brighton Town Hall on 21 December 2005

Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom, granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, give same-sex couples rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage. Civil Partners are entitled to the same property rights as married opposite-sex couples, the same exemption as married couples on inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to get parental responsibility for a partner's children,^[1] as well as responsibility for reasonable maintenance of one's partner and their children, tenancy rights, full life insurance recognition, next-of-kin rights in hospitals, and others. There is a formal process for dissolving partnerships akin to divorce. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 grants legal status to gay and lesbian couples in the United Kingdom. ... This is a list of legal consequences of forming a civil partnership or marriage in the United Kingdom. ... “Spouse” redirects here. ... This page deals with property as ownership rights. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare service concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In the states of the European Union and elsewhere, parental responsibility refers to the rights and privilieges which underpin the relationship between a child and either its parents or those adults who have a significant role in its life. ... A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. ... Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the policy owners death. ... Next of kin is the term used to describe a persons closest living blood relative or relatives. ... For the record label, see Divorce Records. ...

Law and procedure

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. Part 2 of the Act relates to England and Wales, Part 3 to Scotland and Part 4 to Northern Ireland.

Formation and Registration

A civil partnership is formed when the second individual signs 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. In Scotland, however, all of the mainstream churches, except the Catholic church, offer blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. This article is about the country. ... The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland describes the organisation of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church in the geographic area of Scotland, distinct from the Catholic Church in England & Wales and the Catholic Church in Ireland. ...

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 country, (England, Northern Ireland, or Wales) for at least seven days immediately preceding the giving of notice and there will, in most cases, be a fifteen-day waiting period after notice is given. (In Scotland there is no minimum residence requirement as this is not required to contract a valid marriage.) During the waiting period, the proposed partnership will be publicised and anyone may make a formal objection. 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. Constituent countries is a phrase used, often by official institutions, in contexts in which a number of countries make up a larger entity or grouping; thus the OECD has used the phrase in reference to the former Yugoslavia[1], the Soviet Union and European institutions such as the Council of... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Monarch Queen Elizabeth II... Northern Ireland (Irish: ) is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... This article is about the country. ... This article is about the country. ...

There are also specific registration procedures that apply to particular circumstances. Section 18 applies to persons who are house-bound while Section 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 Section 21 of the Act provides for persons who are seriously ill and are not expected to recover.

A civil partnership in Wales (Welsh: Partneriaeth Sifil) may be conducted either in English or Welsh provided that both registering parties, the registrar and witnesses are able to understand and write in the Welsh Language. All Civil Partnership documents issued in Wales (irrespective of the registering language) follow a standardised bilingual English and Welsh format. This article is about the country. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ...

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 is not required for marriages. Furthermore, 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.

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

Overseas couples wanting to register their partnership in the UK, must reside in the UK for seven days prior to application for the partnership, and wait a further fifteen days before the civil partnership is formed.

Gender Recognition Act

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows transsexual people to change their legal gender, but before doing so they must dissolve any existing marriage. This can have serious consequences for a married couple who wish to stay together after one party has changed gender. However, under special provisions of the Civil Partnership Act such couples will be able to dissolve their marriage, and enter a civil partnership the following day. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is an Act of Parliament of the British Parliament which allows transsexual people to change their legal gender. ... Look up Transsexuality in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Overseas relationships

Where a same-sex couple has registered an overseas relationship which is specified in Schedule 20 of the Civil Partnership Act, or meet certain general conditions, they will be treated as having formed a civil partnership. The requirements can be found in section 212 and sections 215 to 218 of the Act. This article, image, template or category should belong in one or more categories. ...

In order for an overseas relationship to meet the general conditions it must, under the law of the country or territory in which it was formed;

• Be exclusive in nature (in other words the law must prevent a person from registering a relationship where they are already in a relationship of that kind or are lawfully married);
• Be indeterminate in duration (this would exclude an arrangement whereby the parties agreed to live together for a fixed period of time); and
• Result in the parties being treated as a couple or treated as married (this would exclude schemes like some local registers which have no legal effects under the law of that country or territory).

Legal effect

Property and financial arrangements

The position of civil partners in relation to financial arrangements mirrors 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. In Scotland the centuries old system of minimum legal rights to a deceased estate for a widowed spouse have been expressly extended to civil partners by section 131 of the Civil Partnership Act.

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.

Children

When dealing with an application for dissolution, nullity or separation where there is a child in the family, the court must consider if should exercise its powers under the Children Act 1989. Section 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 are able to acquire parental responsibilities as a step-parent under Section 72 of the Act. Civil partners may also apply for residence or contact orders. Further, the right to apply for financial provision for children under schedule 1 of the 1989 act is also extended to civil partners. Adoption provisions have been amended so that civil partners are 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.

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 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. In Scotland, names need not be changed to be considered valid (deed polls do not exist under Scots law), though some English-based companies may still ask for proof from an official such as a Justice of the Peace. Civil partners of male peers or knights do not receive a courtesy title to which a peer's or knight's wife would be entitled. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A deed poll is a legal document binding only to a single person or several person acted jointly to express an active intention. ... A justice of the peace (JP) is a puisne judicial officer appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. ... For other uses, see Peerage (disambiguation). ... A courtesy title is a form of address in the British peerage system used for wives, children, and other close relatives of a peer. ...

Ending the partnership

Section 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.

Dissolution

No applications for dissolution may be made within 1 year of the formation of the civil partnership, except in Scotland. Like marriage, irretrievable breakdown is the only ground on which a court may make a dissolution order. Also, Section 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. 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. While infidelity is by itself insufficient for dissolving a civil partnership, it may be a contributing factor for dissolution in a court of law under the provision for unreasonable behaviour. This mirrors the situation with divorce law for marriages where homosexual infidelity only constitutes unreasonable behaviour.

Nullity, separation and presumption of death orders

A nullity order is an order which annuls a void or voidable civil partnership. Section 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. 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 Sections 55 and 56 of the Act and they largely mirror the position for married couples.

Sir Elton John and David Furnish celebrate after their Civil Partnership on Dec 21, 2005

Image File history File links EltonJohnWedding. ... Image File history File links EltonJohnWedding. ... Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE[2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a five-time Grammy and one-time Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... David Furnish (born October 25, 1962) is a Canadian filmmaker who is the civil partner of British entertainer Elton John. ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Civil partnerships in practice

The first civil partnerships

The first civil partnership formed under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 took place at 11:00 GMT 5 December 2005 between Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp at St Barnabas Hospice, Worthing, West Sussex. The usual 14 day waiting period was waived as Roche was suffering from a terminal illness: he died the next day.^[2] The first partnership registered after the usual waiting period was held in Belfast on 19 December 2005 between Grainne Close and Shannon Sickles. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 grants legal status to gay and lesbian couples in the United Kingdom. ... December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Worthing is a large town and a local government district in West Sussex, England. ... West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex (with Brighton and Hove), Hampshire and Surrey. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Northern Ireland County: District: Belfast UK Parliament: Belfast North Belfast South Belfast East Belfast West European Parliament: Northern Ireland Dialling Code: 028, +44 28 posttown = Belfast Postal District(s): BT1-BT17, BT29 (part of), BT58 Area: 115 km² Population (2001) Website: www. ... is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The first partnerships formed in Great Britain (after the normal waiting period) should have occurred on 21 December, but due to a misinterpretation of the waiting period, the first in Scotland were held on 20 December. The first civil partnerships in England and Wales were formed on 21 December 2005, with Westminster, Hampshire, Hammersmith and Fulham and Brighton & Hove conducting the largest numbers.^[3] December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the country. ... is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status, situated to the west of the City of London and north of the River Thames. ... Hampshire, sometimes historically Southamptonshire or Hamptonshire, (abbr. ... The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is a London borough in West London and forms part of Inner London. ... Brighton & Hove (or Brighton and Hove) is a unitary authority and city on the south coast of England. ...

Numbers

According to the Office for National Statistics, 18,059 couples, or 36,118 individuals, entered into an officially recognised civil partnership in the UK between December 2005 and the end of December 2006. ^{[citation needed]} This total far exceeded the Government estimate, surpassing in one year the number of partnerships which were estimated would take place by 2010. ^{[citation needed]} Office for National Statistics logo The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the United Kingdom government executive agency charged with the collection and publication of statistics related to the economy, population and society of the United Kingdom at national and local levels. ...

In the first nine months, the majority of partnerships taken out were between men: 62% in England, 57% in Scotland, 56% in Northern Ireland and 51% in Wales. ^{[citation needed]} The Office for National Statistics said that it appears the gap between male and female same-sex couples forming partnerships is narrowing over time.^{[citation needed]} Office for National Statistics logo The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the United Kingdom government executive agency charged with the collection and publication of statistics related to the economy, population and society of the United Kingdom at national and local levels. ...

See also

• Civil Partnership Act 2004
• Legal consequences of marriage and civil partnership in the United Kingdom
• LGBT rights in the United Kingdom
• Same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom
• Marriage in the United Kingdom
• Nullity of Marriage Act 1971
• Timeline of LGBT history
• LGBT rights by country

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 grants legal status to gay and lesbian couples in the United Kingdom. ... This is a list of legal consequences of forming a civil partnership or marriage in the United Kingdom. ... LGBT rights Around the world · By country History · Groups · Activists Declaration of Montreal Same-sex relationships Marriage · Adoption Opposition · Discrimination Violence This box:      Attitudes to homosexuality in the United Kingdom have liberalised considerably in recent years, with equal ages of consent for heterosexual and homosexuals, civil partnerships and large gay... The United Kingdom does not currently offer same-sex marriage, though it does provide civil partnerships to same-sex couples that provide all the rights and responsibilities of marriage. ... Lining up for a traditional wedding photograph Marriage in the United Kingdom has different sets of rules, for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. ... The Nullity of Marriage Act 1971 was the first time in British law that marriage was defined as being between a male and a female. ... LGBT rights Around the world · By country History · Groups · Activists Declaration of Montreal Same-sex relationships Marriage · Adoption Opposition · Discrimination Violence This box:      This timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history details notable events in the Common Era West. ...

Footnotes

BBC News is the department within the BBC responsible for the corporations news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... BBC News is the department within the BBC responsible for the corporations news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 6 is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Rayson, Jane; Paul Mallender (2005). The Civil Partnership Act 2004: A Practical Guide. Cambridge University Press, 354 pages. ISBN 0521617928. 

Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Complete text of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, HMSO
• Women & Equality Unit - Civil Partnership Site (specimen documents, background and general information)
• Comprehensive list of related parliamentary debates
• Information for couples considering Civil Partnership
• Gay couples to get joint rights, BBC
• Coverage of the first registration, BBC