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CIVIL PARTNERSHIP
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 has just celebrated its first anniversary having been introduced on 5th December 2005. By 31st March this year some 13,032 individuals had already entered into Civil Partnerships. It would seem an appropriate time for a brief reminder of the Act and its intentions, particularly because unfortunately some of the vanguard of civil partnership couples will have hit the proverbial rocks, and are already suffering a civil partnership breakdown, and this will lead to the new legal phenomenon of civil partnership dissolution. We can predict that round about now, some individuals unfortunate enough to find themselves in a relationship that has suffered civil partnership breakdown will need a solicitor for civil partnership dissolution.
The Legal Implications
Same-sex partners may register their civil partnership and obtain legal recognition for their relationship. The civil partnership is formed when two people of the same sex sign a civil partnership document in the presence of a Civil Partnership Registrar, each other, and two witnesses. Once the civil partnership agreement has been entered into, civil partners will be treated in the same way as spouses within a marriage. For instance, a civil partner may obtain parental responsibility for their partner’s child by agreement with the parent, and they can also apply for a contact or residence order for a child
Civil Partnership Breakdown and Dissolution
A civil partnership comes to an end only with the death of one of the partners, or by an order for dissolution of the partnership. As with marriages, civil partnerships may not always run smoothly and relationships will break down. Although it will not officially be called a gay divorce (except perhaps in the tabloids), the law relating to the dissolution of a civil partnership is similar to that for divorce, and as with marriages it is not possible to apply for a dissolution before the first anniversary of the formation of the civil partnership. However, unlike divorce proceedings, it is not possible to apply for a dissolution of the civil partnership on the basis of adultery.
Financial and Property Disputes
The Civil Partnership Act enables couples to resolve their property and financial arrangements on breakdown of the relationship and, as in divorce proceedings, a court can make orders for financial provision, property adjustment, sale of property, pension sharing and pension attachment, all of which mirror the provisions and financial relief available for married couples.
The Future and Court Proceedings
The Courts are briefed to give the same recognition to same sex civil partnerships as they do to different sex marriages, both when they are formed and when they dissolve. It is early days yet to see how this will pan out in reality. There are as yet no reported cases, so no helpful ‘case law’ but it should be borne in mind that the massive body of Divorce case law, built up since the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, should serve now as persuasive guidance and legal authority at least; if not directly applicable judicial precedent, when the courts are asked to intervene to resolve disputes. We are technically venturing into new territory but it should not look too different from what we’ve seen before.
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