Civil Partnership Solicitors in London

Civil partnership FAQs

How do you end a civil partnership?

The process to end a civil partnership has become more straightforward since April 2022 when the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 came into effect. This introduced a number of changes which were intended to modernise and simplify divorce and civil partnership dissolution proceedings.

The civil partnership dissolution process is now as follows:

Making an application – One or both partners must complete an online application. This must include a ‘statement of irretrievable breakdown’ to confirm the relationship is over. If one partner applies alone, this is known as a ‘sole application’, if both partners apply together, this is known as a ‘joint application’.

The court issues the application – Once the court receives the application, it will be officially ‘issued’.

Service of the application (sole applications only) – Where one partner made the application alone, then the court will send a copy to the other partner (called ‘the respondent’).

Responding to the application (sole applications only) – The respondent must confirm receipt of the application within 14 days by completing and returning an ‘acknowledgement of service’ form to the court.

Conditional Order – A key interim step is to apply for a Conditional Order. This is a court order stating that there is no reason the dissolution cannot go ahead. An applicant can apply for the Conditional Order a minimum of 20 weeks after the initial application was issued by the court.

Final Order – Once the Conditional Order has been granted, applicants must wait a minimum of 6 weeks. They can then apply for the Final Order which legally ends their civil partnership. If a sole application was made and the applicant fails to apply for the Final Order within 3 months, the respondent can apply instead.

How long does a civil partnership dissolution take?

A civil partnership dissolution will take a minimum of 6 months, taking into account the two mandatory wait periods of 20 weeks and 6 weeks set out above. However, this is just the time for legally ending the relationship. Division of finances and arrangements for children can be resolved faster or take longer, depending on the circumstances.

What are the grounds for civil partnership dissolution?

There is only one ground for the dissolution of a civil partnership – that the relationship has irretrievably broken down. You will need to confirm this in the dissolution application by including a ‘statement of irretrievable breakdown’.

Prior to the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 coming into effect in April 2022, it was necessary to give one of four accepted reasons for the end of the relationship, however, this is no longer required.

The four accepted reasons were:

Unreasonable behaviour (which included infidelity)
Desertion (one partner leaving the other for at least 2 years out of the last 2.5 years without their consent or a good reason)
Separation for at least 2 years (with both partners’ consent)
Separation for at least 5 years

One of the key goals of removing the need to provide one of these reasons was to take away a potential source of conflict during the process, which could make things much more difficult, especially when it came to deciding the division of finances and arrangements for children.

How is a civil partnership different to marriage?

A civil partnership is, in most senses, the same as a marriage but with different terminology e.g. ‘civil partner’ instead of ‘spouse’. One of the main differences is that you enter into a civil partnership by signing the civil partnership documents, while a marriage is entered into by saying vows.

Civil partners have all of the same legal rights as married people, including with respect to each other’s property.