What is a civil partnership

Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom, granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, give same-sex couples rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage. While this sounds fairly dry and technical, it is to all intents and purposes a right of marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

Civil partners are entitled to the same property rights as married opposite-sex couples, the same exemption as married couples on inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to get parental responsibility for a partner's children] as well as responsibility for reasonable maintenance of one's partner and their children, tenancy rights, full life insurance recognition, next of kin rights in hospitals, and others. There is a formal process for dissolving partnerships akin to divorce.

A civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex, formed when they register as civil partners of each other, which ends only on death, dissolution or annulment.

Formation and registration

A civil partnership is formed once both individuals have signed the civil partnership document in the presence of a registrar and two witnesses.

Under the standard procedure, before registration, each party will usually have to give notice to the appropriate authority. Each party must have resided in the UK jurisdiction in which they intend to register, (England and Wales or Northern Ireland) for at least seven days immediately preceding the giving of notice and there will, in most cases, be a fifteen-day waiting period after notice is given.

Who can enter into a Civil Partnership?

Each party to the civil partnership must be of the same sex and be at least 16 years of age. Anyone below 18 years of age will usually need parental permission . Any party who is already in a marriage or a civil partnership is ineligible to register.

Recent developments

It is prohibited for civil partnerships to include religious readings, music or symbols and for the ceremonies to take place in religious venues. On 17 February 2011, the UK Government announced that, as the result of the passing of the Equalities Act 2010, it would bring forward the necessary measures to remove these restrictions in England and Wales, although religious venues would not be compelled to offer civil partnerships. On 26 September the Home Office published the following statement on its website:- "A public consultation to consider how to make civil marriage available to same-sex couples will begin in March 2012, the government announced today. As part of its commitment to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals the government announced in February this year its intention to look at how legislation could develop on equal civil marriage. Minister for Equalities Lynne Featherstone said: 'I am delighted to confirm that early next year, this government will begin a formal consultation on equal civil marriage for same-sex couples. This would allow us to make any legislative changes before the end of this Parliament. We will be working closely with all those who have an interest in the area to understand their views ahead of the formal consultation.' The consultation will only cover civil marriage for same sex couples — not religious marriage."

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows transsexual people to change their legal gender. Before doing so, any existing marriage must be dissolved in order to avoid potential problems for a married couple who wish to stay together after one party has changed gender. Under special provisions of the Civil Partnership Act, in such situations a couple may dissolve their marriage and enter into a civil partnership the same day.