Civil Partnerships came into being in December 2005, and Brighton was amongst the first places in the country to host a registration ceremony. Once you have registered your Civil Partnership, you become a family. There are rules about who can and cannot enter into a partnership, and these are broadly in line with the rules governing marriage, with the obvious gender exception.

The differences between civil partnership and marriage are few. Like a marriage, a Civil Partnership can only be ended by a court order, in the same way as a divorce. This is known as dissolution. The Act also recognises foreign sex marriages, but only as Civil Partnerships.

Financial Claims

In the same way as with a divorce, the dissolution will deal with any property division, capital, and maintenance issues, in some cases these can be long term liabilities.

Children

Sometimes, one of the partners will have children from a previous relationship. The new Civil Partner will not receive any automatic rights in relation to these children, and will have to apply for parental responsibility if he or she wants it. It is possible to obtain parental responsibility by agreement.

It is now possible for each partner to adopt the other’s child or children, so that each will be recognised as an equal parent. If neither has children, but you wish to adopt jointly, this is also now possible. In addition, in contrast to the position within a marriage, if a same sex couple has fertility treatment and a child is born, the non-biological parent will not automatically become a parent.

Wills and Death

Entering a Civil Partnership automatically invalidates and existing Will so it is important to ensure a new Will is made in contemplation, or shortly after registering the Partnership. A Civil Partners estate can pass free of Inheritance Tax to the surviving partner. Capital Gains Tax may be payable more frequently as it is not possible for Partners to claim more that one Principal Private Residence exemption.

In summary Civil Partnership has many rights and obligations which some may want and others may consider too daunting to take on. It will be extremely interesting for those of us in the family department to see how the dissolution cases are dealt with by the Courts in due course.

If you would like further information on Civil Partnerships please contact our Family Law Team on:

Brighton Tel: 01273 775533
Email: brighton@mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

Eastbourne Tel: 01323 730543
Email: eastbourne@mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

Lewes Tel: 01273 477071
Email: lewes@mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

Hailsham Tel: 01323 840616
Email: hailsham@mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

Seaford Tel: 01323 891412
Email: seaford@mayowynnebaxter.co.uk