Civil partnership in the United Kingdom
Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by the Labour government. The Act initially permitted only same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but the law was expanded to include opposite-sex couples in 2019.
This article is about the UK relationship status. For Irish status of the same name, see Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010.History[edit]
Civil partnerships were introduced for same-sex couples under the terms of the Civil Partnership Act 2004.[1] Before this, an informal London Partnership Register had been set up in 2001 by then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone but without any legal recognition.[2]
In February 2018, the United Kingdom and Scottish governments began reviewing civil partnerships, potentially to expand them to include opposite-sex couples.[3] In June 2018, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that restricting civil partnerships to same-sex couples was incompatible with the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights as enacted in Schedule 1 to the Human Rights Act 1998. The UK Government was obliged to change the law to allow opposite-sex couples in England and Wales to enter into civil partnerships.[4][5] This change was unsuccessfully opposed by the Church of England and many Christian denominations.[6][7]
Opposite-sex couples have been able to enter into civil partnerships in England and Wales since 2 December 2019.[8][9][10] Similar reforms have been in place in Northern Ireland since 13 January 2020.[11] In Scotland, legislation to allow opposite-sex civil partnerships passed the Scottish Parliament on 23 June 2020.[12] These changes extend the legal recognition of relationships granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, allowing couples irrespective of sex to obtain essentially the same rights and responsibilities as civil marriage.[13]
Civil partners are entitled to the same property rights as married couples, the same exemption as married couples on inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to obtain parental responsibility for a partner's children,[14] 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.
When the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales in March 2014, civil partnerships remained available to same-sex couples and granted those couples in a civil partnership the ability to convert their civil partnership into a marriage. The equivalent Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 does not grant that ability to couples in Scotland, but includes provisions for its later introduction, and does permit those already in civil partnership to marry without first dissolving the mutual civil partnership; it is not possible to have both. When same-sex marriage became legal in Northern Ireland on 13 January 2020, couples married elsewhere were legally recognised as married in Northern Ireland.[15][16] Couples in Northern Ireland have been allowed to convert their civil partnerships into marriages since 7 December 2020.[17]
Differences from marriage[edit]
The contracts of marriage and civil partnerships are very similar though there are some technical differences: venereal disease is a ground for annulment of marriage, but not civil partnership; adultery is a ground for divorce, but not dissolution of civil union; and titles may not be inherited or passed to partners of a civil partnership. Where laws differ for wife and husband, both partners are generally treated like opposite-sex couples. Otherwise, the rules for pensions, survivor benefits, annulment and dissolution are very similar.[36]
The first same-sex civil partnerships[edit]
The first civil partnership formed under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 took place at 11:00 GMT on 5 December 2005 between Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp at St Barnabas Hospice, Worthing, West Sussex. The statutory 15-day waiting period was waived as Roche was suffering from a terminal illness: he died the following day.[37] The first partnership registered after the normal waiting period was held in Belfast on 19 December 2005.[38]
The first partnerships formed in Great Britain, after the waiting period, should have occurred on 21 December, but due to a misinterpretation of the rules, the first in Scotland were held on 20 December. The first civil partnerships in England and Wales were formed on 21 December 2005, with Westminster, Hampshire, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Brighton & Hove conducting the largest numbers.[39]
In the Crown dependencies and British overseas territories[edit]
Most of the overseas territories have not indicated plans to introduce civil partnerships. The British Crown dependency of Jersey has civil partnerships available, but only for same sex couples; a law to allow for opposite-sex civil partnerships was passed by the States Assembly on 3 March 2022 and, following approval by the Privy Council, will take effect by the end of 2022.[65] Both opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples within the Falkland Islands, Isle of Man and Gibraltar have civil marriage and civil partnerships available as of 2016.[66][67][68]
Civil partnerships are legal within the Cayman Islands following enactment of the Civil Partnership Law on 4 September 2020.[69]
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