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Civil partnership

From December 2005, same-sex couples in Scotland and the rest of the UK have been able to register a civil partnership, which gives the couple the same legal rights and obligations as marriage.

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 was passed by the Westminster Parliament in November 2004, and came into effect in the UK on 5 December 2005. The first registrations were in Northern Ireland on 19 December 2005, followed by Scotland on 20 December and then England and Wales on 21 December. Under the Act, same-sex couples can register a civil partnership, which has the same legal effects, rights and obligations as marriage does for mixed-sex couples. For that reason, civil partnership is often called 'gay marriage'.

• The registration process
• The effects of registration
• Ending a civil partnership
• For more information

The registration process

In Scotland, civil partnership is available to gay and lesbian couples, as long as both partners are over 16, and neither is already in a civil partnership or married. Like marriage, civil partnership is not available to close relatives.

Unlike in England and Wales, it is not necessary in Scotland to have parental permission to register a civil partnership if you are aged 16 or 17. You do not need to be living in Scotland to register a civil partnership here, although people from outwith the European Economic Area (the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein) and Switzerland need to obtain permission from the immigration authorities to register a civil partnership here.

To register a civil partnership, both partners submit a civil partnership notice to a district registrar. This can be done by post. A date for registration is arranged with the registrar - this must be at least 15 days after the date the notices are submitted. Registration involves a non-religious ceremony, which both the couple and two witnesses over 16 years of age must attend. Couples can arrange with the registrar to modify the ceremony to change the wording, non-religious readings etc. The legal effects of civil partnership start as soon as the civil partnership schedule is signed at the ceremony.

Registration can take place at a registration office, or at any other place agreed with the registrar - the General Register Office for Scotland  publishes a list of places approved for registering a civil marriage, and most of these places should also be available for registering a civil partnership. If the place you want to use is not on the approved list, speak to the district registrar for the relevant district, because registrars have the power to agree to conduct registration in most locations.

The main exception is religious premises: like civil marriage, a civil partnership is explicitly non-religious and can therefore not contain religious blessings or readings, and cannot be registered on religious premises. However, a couple can of course have a blessing of their relationship on religious premises immediately before or after signing the register at a nearby location.

The rules and arrangements for registering a civil partnership are explained here. Unlike marriage, a civil partnership cannot be conducted by a religious celebrant (minister, rabbi etc); any religious ceremony has no legal effect, and a civil registration ceremony must be held by the registrar as well.

If a couple has registered a legally effective civil partnership (domestic partnership, civil union, etc) in another country, or has registered a same-sex marriage in another country, they will usually be treated in this country as if they had registered a civil partnership here, and will not need to register again in this country.

The effects of registration

Once a couple have registered a civil partnership the legal effects are almost identical to marriage. Below are some of the main legal effects of registering a civil partnership:

• The obligation to support one another financially
• The right to inherit a substantial part of your partner's property, on their death, whether or not there is a will, and without having to pay inheritance tax 
• A survivor's pension is likely to be available from your partner's pension scheme after their death - check the details with the pension provider (depending on the pension scheme, this may be a smaller pension than a married partner would get, because civil partnership law is much newer than marriage law)
• Laws which provide protection from domestic abuse
• If a UK citizen registers a civil partnership with a citizen of a foreign country, the foreign partner will usually be permitted to reside in the UK with their partner
• Being able to inherit the tenancy of your partner's flat if they die, and you had been living there
• Hospitals etc should recognise you as your partner's next of kin
• The right to claim damages from a person causing the death of your partner by a wrongful act
• For assessing social security and other benefits, both partners' incomes are taken into account

Cohabiting couples (people who live together as a couple without registering a civil partnership) have some but not all of these legal rights and obligations.

Ending a civil partnership

Like a marriage, a civil partnership can be ended by applying to the sheriff court for dissolution. This works in the same way as divorce. Dissolution will only be granted if the civil partnership has irretrievably broken down (or if an interim gender recognition certificate has been issued to either partner, allowing that partner to legally change gender, although this does not automatically or necessarily lead to dissolution).

Irretrievable breakdown can be established by proving one of these circumstances:

• 'Unreasonable behaviour' - the partner applying for the dissolution shows that the other partner has behaved in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect the applicant partner to continue living with them. This behaviour could include domestic abuse for example, and depending on the circumstances could also include sexual infidelity
• The partners have lived apart for one year and they both agree to the dissolution
• The partners have lived apart for two years and only one of them wants the dissolution

These are the same rules as for divorce. For divorce, irretrievable breakdown of marriage can also be established by proving adultery, defined as heterosexual sexual intercourse with someone other than the spouse. For civil partnership dissolution, sexual infidelity would be included under the unreasonable behaviour ground for dissolution, as is the case for any sexual infidelity in marriage that is not heterosexual intercourse.

When the court grants dissolution of a civil partnership, it can rule on a division of property between the partners. The rules are the same as for property division in divorce: the basic rule is that any property obtained by either partner during the partnership (except gifts or bequests made to one or the other partner) is split equally between the partners. The court can also rule on residence and contact arrangements for any children who the couple have been parenting.

For more information…

If you want more details on registering a civil partnership, you can visit civil partnership section on the General Register Office for Scotland website, by clicking here.

For UK-wide information on civil partnership, please visit the Stonewall website by clicking here.