Civil Partnerships

The Civil Partnership Act came into effect in 2004, and for the first time gave same sex coules the right to formally register their relationship.  A civil partnership is very simlar to a heterosexual marriage – they give rise to the same legal rights in terms of tax law, employment law and inheritances.

What happens when a civil partnerships fails?  So far they have proved to be very resilient, with a far lower proportion of civil partnerships ending than marriages.  The law provides a very similar process to divorce, known as dissolution, to end a civil partnership, and almost identical financial claims can be made.  This is a developing area of law.  Much of the current divorce law has been created by judicial decisions over the years, and these might not apply to same sex couples as they do to heterosexual couples.  For example, a major consideration of the divorce courts is avoiding gender discrimination – this doesn’t apply in the same way for civil partners.

We at bbl have the knowledge and insiight to guide you thorugh the process.