Civil Partnership Dissolution

Until very recently same sex couples could not be legally “married”. However, this has now changed and a civil partnership is a legally-registered relationship between two people of the same sex.

If a party is seeking to bring the civil partnership to an end, just like in “traditional” marriages, the party must wait one year from the date of the marriage. There are different ways in which you can ask a Court to end your civil partnership however just like a traditional divorce the matter is generally dealt with through the post. You can ask the Court to grant:

1. A dissolution order.
2. A separation order. This is an exemption to the rule; you can apply for a separation order at any time and do not have to wait one year before applying.
3. An annulment.

1. Dissolution Orders

Just like in a “traditional” divorce, you must prove to the Court that the civil partnership has “irretrievably” broken down and you must be able to prove at least one of the following things:

1. Your partner has behaved unreasonably.
2. You and your partner have lived apart for two years, and you both agreed to the dissolution.
3. You and your partner have lived apart for at least five years.
4. Your partner deserted you at least two years ago.

If you are seeking to dissolve the civil partnership, you must complete a Dissolution Petition and submit it to the Court. If your partner agrees to the dissolution of your civil partnership, the Court will look at the papers and make a conditional order of dissolution. The dissolution will be made final six weeks from the date of the conditional order. The whole process should take between 3 to 6 months.

If your partner does not agree, the Court will need to hear evidence which can be costly and take time.

2. Separation Orders

If you want to separate from your civil partner but do not want to dissolve the civil partnership (or it has been less than a year since you registered your civil partnership), you can apply to for a Separation Order. You will not be free to register another civil partnership (or to marry) unless you obtain a Dissolution order.

If you have children, the Court will not make a Separation Order unless it is satisfied about the arrangements for the children.

The Court will grant you a Separation Order if you are able to prove at least one of the same grounds as a Dissolution Order.

3. Annulment

For a civil partnership to be valid, it must meet certain conditions. For example, you and your partner must both be over 16 when you register it and you must not already be a civil partner or married to someone else. If your civil partnership does not meet one of these conditions, you can apply to the Court to end the partnership by granting an annulment.

When the Court grants an annulment, it may say your civil partnership is:

1. Void. This means, in effect, the civil partnership never existed; or
2. Voidable. This means the civil partnership was legal at the time it was registered but it is not legal any longer.

If you want to apply for an annulment, you must usually do it within three years of the date you registered your civil partnership. There are some exceptions to this rule.

4. Children at the End of a Civil Partnership

When a civil partnership ends, everyone with parental responsibility will need to decide who will care for the children on a day-to-day basis.

Having parental responsibility means you share with your partner in the responsibility for your child's health, education and welfare.

If you are in a civil partnership, you have no automatic Parental Responsibility for your partners' children. However, you may have obtained Parental Responsibility by obtaining a Court order.

It is of course best if everyone with Parental Responsibility can come to a friendly arrangement about the care of your children. If you are finding it difficult to come to an arrangement, we can refer the matter to mediation however any decision you make through mediation will not be legally binding.

If you cannot come to a friendly agreement about the care of your children and/or do not want to use mediation, you can ask the Courts to make decisions for you. The details relating to his are outlined under the heading of Children.