The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on the 5 December 2005.
A civil partnership is formed when two people of the same sex sign a partnership document before two witnesses and a registrar. The registration must take place in England and Wales. Notice of the proposed partnership must be given to the local registration authority. Both parties need to have been physically present in England and Wales for at least 7 days prior to giving notice of the intended registration.
Civil partners and former civil partners will be able to make an application for financial provision for children of the family and amendments have also been made to the Children Act 1989 by the Adoption and Children Act 2002. Section 112 inserts section 4A into the Act to enable a step-parent to acquire parental responsibility for a child of his spouse or civil partner other than through a residence order. This can be achieved by agreement or order of court.
As with marriage, a civil partnership can be terminated on the grounds of nullity or by either party making an application for the partnership to be dissolved, a legal separation order or upon death of one of the parties.
As long as a civil partnership has been in existence for a period of one year an application can be made to dissolve the civil partnership on the grounds that the partnership has irretrievably broken down. Any one of four facts can be relied on as evidence of irretrievable breakdown, these are:
- Where one party has behaved in such a way that the other party cannot reasonably be expected to live with him/her;
- That the partners have lived apart for a continuous period of 2 years and at the end of that period both parties consent to the dissolution;
- Where the parties have lived apart for 5 years;
- Where one party has deserted the other party.
Where the financial arrangements cannot be agreed upon following the break down of the relationship, either party can make an application to the court for the financial matters to be decided. The court can make similar orders to those available to divorcing couples. The type of orders the Court can make can include:
- Periodical payment orders for the payment of maintenance.
- Lump sum orders.
- Property adjustment orders (orders transferring property from one civil partner to another or to a child of the family or to another person for the child’s benefit). The court can order the sale of property owned by either civil partner or owned by them jointly and can order that the proceeds of sale be shared in a specific way. Directions can also be given as to the timing of the sale.
- Pension sharing orders.
For further information please contact members of our Family team.
