What You Need To Know About Ending A Civil Partnership.

Couples looking to end a civil partnership must follow many of the same processes as applying for a divorce, but there are a few differences that our solicitors have outlined in this article.

If you are looking to dissolve your civil partnership, head to our divorce page or give us a call on 0203 007 5500.

What is a civil partnership?

The UK introduced civil partnerships in 2005 and they were originally intended for same-sex couples wishing to enter a legal union. The laws changed in 2013 to allow same-sex marriage and then changed again in 2019, allowing opposite-sex couples to also enter civil partnerships.

Couples wishing to unite must be over the age of 16 and not closely related – you must also ask for permission from a parent or guardian if you are under the age of 18. Moreover, you must also not be involved in any other marriage or civil partnership.

Marriage and civil partnerships are both legally recognised relationships that offer a number of benefits:

• If you or your partner dies without a will, the other person inherits everything
• Tax advantages (and disadvantages)
• If a partner and birth mother were in a civil partnership at the time of the child’s birth, that partner is a parent of the child
• For same-sex female couples, both birth and non-birth mothers can appear on the birth certificate

Couples living together who are not married or in a civil partnership do not have many rights to finances, property or children.

What is the difference between marriage and civil partnerships?

Modern-day civil partnerships and marriage are much the same in their legal recognition and practice, but with some differences:

• Marriage legally requires marriage vows, whereas all you need for a civil partnership is to sign the civil partnership schedule in front of a registrar and witnesses
• Married couples are legally called ‘husband and wife’, ‘wife and wife’, or ‘husband and husband’, while civilly partnered couples are simply called ‘civil partners’
• Internationally, marriages are widely recognised moreso than civil partnerships
• Divorce ends a marriage while dissolution ends a civil partnership
• Civil partnerships can be converted into a marriage, but marriages cannot be converted into civil partnerships

What is dissolution?

Dissolving is essentially the formal ending of a civil partnership. It is more or less the same process as divorce. As with a marriage, you must have been in your civil partnership for at least 1 year to apply for a dissolution.

Once a decision has been made to end your civil partnership, you will make an application to the court. By working with a specialist family law solicitors, you (the applicant) can ensure that your application has been made correctly.

No fault dissolution

Previously you had to state your grounds for a dissolution from 5 categories, but now you can apply without needing to give grounds or reasons for your decision. This has essentially removed the ‘blame game’ and made applying for dissolution much more straightforward. For more information, please head to our page on ‘no fault divorce’.

Applying for a conditional order.

You can apply for a conditional order once your partner has agreed to a dissolution of your civil partnership. A conditional order is a document that outlines the fact there is no legal reason why you and your partner cannot end the civil partnership. The next stage will be applying for a final order.

If your partner disagrees with ending your civil partnership at this stage, you will both need to attend court to discuss the case so that a judge can determine whether to grant you the conditional order or not.

Children and finances come under separate applications to the application for dissolution.

Obtaining the final order.

The final order is the legal document that ends your civil partnership. You can apply for it 6 weeks after you receive your conditional order.

You must finalise the split of your property and finances before you apply for the final order. However, you don’t need to finalise child arrangements at the same time.

You should apply for the final order within 12 months of receiving the conditional order. If not, the courts may question the delay.

How are child arrangements agreed after a civil partnership dissolution?

If the partners haven’t come to an agreement on who will have responsibility for the child (jointly or individually) on their own, then they can seek out a family mediation service that will help them to reach an agreement – though this agreement is not legally binding.

If partners have not agreed on where a child will live without legal assistance, civil partners can apply for child arrangement orders much like married couples can during divorce. However, both civil partners must have parental responsibility for that child in order to do so. When it comes to children, parental responsibility is largely dictated by a combination of whether a couple is married or civilly partnered and the sex of both parents.

Child maintenance is separate from child arrangements and will require a Financial Provision Order.

Ultimately, the judge will decide who is best suited to looking after a child based on the factors that are in the childs’ best interests. This might include the following:

• Who can meet the childs’ needs
• Who the child wishes to live with
• Where the child will be safe from harm
• The childs’ age, characteristics and background
• Who has parental responsibility for the child

What is parental responsibility?

Parental responsibility dictates who has legal authority over a child’s welfare, including key decisions such as where they live, where they go to school, what medical treatment they receive and what religious beliefs they follow. Parental responsibility is normally granted automatically at birth.

Usually, if a couple is married or civilly partnered and they decide to have a child together, both parents will be named on the child’s birth certificate and both will gain parental responsibility. However, parental responsibility is governed not only by marital status, it’s also governed by the gender of each person in a couple.

With many same-sex couples opting for civil partnerships, this can create confusion, particularly as the law is not applied equally to both men and women:

Legally, who has parental responsibility for a child at birth?

Relationship type	Who has parental responsibility at birth?
Married or civilly partnered opposite-sex couples	Both parents
Unmarried opposite-sex couples	Birth mother Father if named on birth certificate
Married or civilly partnered female same-sex couples	Birth mother Second mother if child was conceived through a fertility clinic
Unmarried female same-sex couples	Birth mother Second mother if both mothers jointly register the birth
Married or civilly partnered male same-sex couples	Birth mother Neither father has parental responsibility
Unmarried male same-sex couples	Birth mother Neither father has parental responsibility
Married or unmarried couples using a surrogate	Only the birth mother has automatic parental responsibility

Rights to property.

In the event of a dispute, you will initially divide up your rights to property through mediation. However, if you have not come to an agreement after this period then you can ask the court to decide via a financial remedy order. You must have attended a mediation meeting before you can apply, except in mitigating circumstances.

Financial orders will outline how you are going to divide such assets as:

• Investments
• Maintenance payments, including child maintenance
• Pensions
• Property
• Savings

You can apply for these financial orders as soon as you have started doing the appropriate paperwork for dissolution. There will be 3 stages:

1. The first appointment – a short hearing with the judge to discuss your application
2. Financial dispute resolution – to help you agree without the need for a final hearing
3. The final hearing – if you are not able to agree in the previous stages, the judge will decide for you

Hiring a solicitor in the event of a dispute over housing and finances could save you large amounts of legal costs.