Civil unions in the United Kingdom
|
|
| Civil union |
| Recognised nationwide in: |
| Denmark (1989) |
| Norway (1993) |
| Sweden (1995) |
| Greenland (1996) |
| Hungary (1996) |
| Iceland (1996) |
| Netherlands1 (1998) |
| France (1999) |
| South Africa (1999) |
| Belgium1 (2000) |
| Canada (federal)2 (2000) |
| Germany (2001) |
| Portugal (2001) |
| Finland (2002) |
| Liechtenstein (2002) |
| Croatia (2003) |
| Israel (2004) |
| Switzerland (federal) (2004) |
| Luxembourg (2004) |
| New Zealand (2005) |
| United Kingdom (2005) |
| Andorra (2005) |
| Switzerland (Approved 2005; Expected implemented 2007) |
| Recognised in some regions in: |
| Argentina (Buenos Aires, Rio Negro) (2003) |
| Australia (Tasmania) (2004) |
| Spain (Catalonia and 10 other regions) (1998) |
| Italy (Toscania, Umbria, Emilia Romagna) (2004) |
| Brazil (Rio Grande de Sul) (2004) |
| United States: CA (1999), CT (2005), DC (2002), |
| Other countries: |
| Austria |
| Czech Republic |
| Greece |
| Ireland |
| Poland |
| Slovenia |
| Taiwan |
| Notes: |
| 1 - Country subsequently legalized same-sex marriage. |
| 2 - Explicitly referred to as "civil unions" in Quebec and Nova Scotia, common-law marriage extended to same-sex partners nationwide. |
| See also |
| Same-sex marriage |
| Domestic partnership |
| Edit this box (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Template:Civil_union&action=edit) |
There are currently no plans to introduce same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom.
However, a bill to introduce civil partnerships virtually identical to marriage was announced in the 2003 Queen's Speech and introduced into Parliament. On November 17, 2004 the bill was passed by the House of Lords, its final legislative hurdle, and received Royal Assent on November 18 to become the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
Civil partnerships are available only to same-sex couples. Couples may register their partnership without being required to live together for a minimum length of time, and there is a formal process for dissolving partnerships. Partnerships will entitle same-sex couples to "a range of property rights, 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" (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3584285.stm), as well as responsibility for reasonable maintenance of one's partner and their children, tenancy rights, full life insurance recognition, and visiting rights in hospitals.
| Contents |
|
|
Law and procedure under the Civil Partnership Act
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
Registration
A civil partnership is formed when each partner has signed the civil partnership document in the presence of a civil partnership registrar and in the presence of each other and two witnesses. There is to be no religious service during the registration and the registration must not take place in any premises that is either designed for or is in use mainly or solely for religious purposes.
Before registration under the standard procedure, each party will usually have to give notice to the registration authority. Each party must have resided in England or Wales for at least seven days immediately preceding the giving of notice and there will, in most cases, be a 15-day waiting period after notice is given. During the waiting period, the proposed partnership will be publicised and anyone may make a formal objection to the proposed civil partnership. If there is such an objection, the proposed civil partnership cannot be formed unless the objection is withdrawn or if the registration authority is satisfied that the objection ought not to prevent the formation of the civil partnership. Provided no objection has been recorded or any recorded objections have been cleared, the registration authority must issue a civil partnership schedule at the request of either party upon the expiration of the waiting period. The civil partnership must then be registered within 12 months of when the notice was first given.
There are also specific registration procedures that apply to particular circumstances. Thus, clause 18 applies to persons who are house-bound while clause 19 applies to detained persons. A specific procedure also applies where one party to the proposed civil partnership is non-resident. The special procedure under clause 21 of the Act provides for persons who are seriously ill and are not expected to recover.
Eligibility
Each party to the civil partnership must be of the same sex and be at least 16 years old. Anyone below 18 years old will usually need parental consent except in Scotland where parental consent isn't needed for marriages either. In addition, the parties to the proposed partnership must not be within the prohibited degrees of relationship specified in part 1 of schedule 1 of the Act. Any party who is already in a marriage or a civil partnership is also ineligible to register.
Legal effect
Property and financial arrangements
In any dispute between civil partners as to title or possession of property, either partner may apply to the court. The court may then make any order in relation to the property as it thinks fit, including an order to sell the property. Contributions by either partner to property improvement are recognised if the contributions are substantial and in money or money's worth.
The position of civil partners in relation to financial arrangements will largely mirror that of spouses. For instance, Section 11 of the Married Women's Property Act 1882 will apply to civil partnerships. Thus, money payable to a partner under a policy of assurance effected by the other partner for his/her own life will no longer form part of the deceased partner's estate.
The laws governing wills, administration of estates and family provisions will also largely apply to civil partners as they would to spouses. Thus, provisions governing financial relief under Part 2 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA) and the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates' Court Act 1978 will also apply to civil partnerships.
It is important to note at this point that the Act does not amend any tax legislation; tax exemptions available to spouses under s.18 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 will not be available to civil partners under the Civil Partnership Act.
Children
When the court is dealing with an application for dissolution, nullity or separation and there is a child of the family, it must consider if it should exercise its powers under the Children Act 1989. Clause 72 amends the definition of 'a child of the family' accordingly.
Other amendments were also made to equalize the position of civil partners with spouses. Thus civil partners will be able to acquire parental responsibilities as a step-parent under clause 72 of the Act. Civil partners will also be able to apply for residence or contact orders. Further, the rights to apply for financial provision for children under schedule 1 of the 1989 act is also extended to civil partners. Adoption provisions will also be amended so that civil partners will be treated in the same way as married couples.
Other provisions
Other areas of the law will also be amended by the Act in order to equalize the position of civil partners. Such areas include certain parts of the law relating to housing and tenancies and the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. Certain parts of the Family Law Act 1996 have also been amended.
Ending the partnership
Clause 37(1) of the Act provides for the making of dissolution, nullity, separation and presumption of death orders. These provisions broadly mirror those governing marriage.
Under clause 37(2) of the Act, every dissolution, nullity and presumption of death order is initially conditional and that conditional order may not be made final until the end of a prescribed period of 6 weeks. At any time before a conditional order has been made final, the Queen's Proctor may, under certain circumstances, intervene. This will allow relevant matters to be argued fully before the court.
After the prescribed period has passed, the court may then either make the conditional order final, rescind the conditional order, require that there be further enquiry or otherwise deal with the case as the court thinks fit.
For dissolution and separation orders, the court may adjourn proceedings for any period that the court thinks fit if the court considers there to be a reasonable possibility of reconciliation between the parties.
Dissolution
No applications for dissolution may be made within 1 year of the formation of the civil partnership. Like marriage, irretrievable breakdown is the only ground on which a court may make a dissolution order. Also, clause 44 provides that the court may not make a dissolution order unless the applicant satisfies the court as to certain facts. These facts are similar to those under the MCA. Adultery is, however, not included in the Civil Partnership Act. If the applicant satisfies the court as to any of the facts, the court must make a dissolution order unless satisfied on all the evidence that the partnership has not broken down irretrievably. The MCA section 5 defence is also available here.
Nullity, separation and presumption of death orders
A nullity order is an order which annuls a void or voidable civil partnership. Clause 49 of the Act provides that a civil partnership is void on grounds of ineligibility to register, if the parties disregarded certain requirements as to the formation of the partnership, or in the case where any party is a child, if the person whose consent is required has forbidden the formation of the partnership and the court has not given its consent.
According to clause 50 of the CPB, a civil partnership is voidable if any of the following is shown:
- there was no valid consent to its formation;
- at the time of its formation, either party was unfit for civil partnership due to mental disorder;
- applicant was pregnant by someone other than the respondent at the time of its formation;
- either party has been issued with an interim gender recognition certificate after the time of its formation;
- either party has acquired a new gender under the law at the time of its formation.
Where a civil partnership is voidable, applications for nullity orders are subject to the bars of time, knowledge of defect and approbation.
A presumption of death order dissolves the partnership on the grounds that one of the partners is presumed to be dead, while a separation order provides for the separation of the parties. These orders are governed by clauses 55 and 56 of the Act and they largely mirror the position for married couples.
See also
Legal consequences of marriage in the United Kingdom
External links
- UK Gay Unions Bill Passes Final Hurdle (http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/11/111704LordsPartner.htm), 365gay.com
- Gay couples to get joint rights (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3584285.stm), BBC