How to end a civil partnership
The dissolution of a civil partnership is very similar to a divorce. You must have been in the civil partnership for a minimum of 1 year before you can apply for a dissolution. Once this time has passed, then either party or a joint application can be made to the court.
If there are no objections to ending the civil partnership and all is legally in order, the Court will, 5 months from the date of the dissolution application, grant a Conditional Order. This is the first of two stages to getting the civil partnership dissolved.
Thereafter, 6 weeks and 1 day from the date of the Conditional Order, the original applicant/s within the proceedings can apply to the Court for a Final Order, and upon the granting of that order, the civil partnership is dissolved.
If the original applicant or other joint applicant does not apply for a final order, then the other party to the partnership can make the application 3 months and 6 weeks after the date of the conditional order.
If no application for a final order is made within 12 months of the conditional order being granted, then an additional application must be made in order to explain to the Court the reasons for the delay. The final order can sometimes be delayed if the couple have not resolved the financial issues that may arise upon separation.
How do you dissolve a civil partnership?
A civil partnership can be successfully dissolved by making an application to the court, asking for permission to end the relationship. The application can be made online via the Gov.UK HM Courts & Tribunals Service website. A copy of the Civil Partnership Certificate must also be provided to the Court together with the requisite Court fee
If you are unable to locate your Civil Partnership Certificate, you can apply to the General Register Office to obtain a certified copy.
In your application, you must provide a statement that sets out that the partnership has irretrievably broken down. The traditional ‘facts’ that used to be relied on in order to prove this are no longer applicable, in the same way that they have been removed in the no-fault divorce process. Following the Divorce Dissolution and Separation Act (DDSA) 2020, there is just one basis for ending a civil partnership: that the partnership itself has irretrievably broken down.
It is best to wait until financial issues have been resolved before completely dissolving the civil partnership. The advice of a specialist civil partnership dissolution solicitor will help guide you through the process.
Before applying for a dissolution of civil partnership
Before you can apply to dissolve your civil partnership in England and Wales you must have been in the civil partnership for at least a year.
You will need to complete the dissolution petition which needs to be sent to the court with your civil partnership certificate or a certified copy of it. Without this the process cannot start. If you have lost your civil partnership certificate, a duplicate copy can be obtained from the General Register Office.
Civil partnership dissolution financial settlement and child arrangements
It is a good idea to sort out child arrangements (if you have children), the division of finances, and your housing situation beforehand. By getting these issues resolved before dissolving the civil partnership will ensure that the process smoother. We can advise you on sorting out child arrangements and a financial settlement.
Civil Partnership Dissolution FAQs
Aside from completing the dissolution application and making sure you have your civil partnership certificate, it is important to start pulling together your financial documents – such as bank statements, pay slips, mortgage information, property valuations, pension valuations, so that you can start to think about how your finances will be split between the two of you.
The time it takes for the dissolution of a civil partnership will vary on the complexity of the case, including resolving any financial disputes. There is a minimum time limit of just over six months from application to final order and the process will typically take between six to eight months.
It is important to seek specialist legal advice and therefore the overall cost of a civil partnership dissolution will vary depending on the associated costs of your legal representation. There are also standard fees to plan for:
- The current fee for submitting an application for dissolution of a civil partnership is £593. This is payable when you submit your application to the Court. It covers the cost of processing your application and issuing a conditional order.
- You may also need to apply to the Court for a financial order or child arrangement order if you cannot agree on these arrangements. If this is the case, there will be additional fees for these applications which range from £232 to £365.
Either one of you can complete a dissolution application online, providing the civil partnership certificate to the nearest Court dealing with civil partnership dissolution with the relevant Court fee.
The Acknowledgement of Service is the form that the respondent to the dissolution completes to let the court know that they have seen the dissolution application. In it they are asked to confirm if they agree to the dissolution proceeding or if they intend to defend it (known as contested proceedings), whether there are any other court cases concerning the civil partnership that the court should know about, and whether they are willing to contribute towards or pay all of the costs relating to the dissolution.
An uncontested civil partnership dissolution is where the respondent to the dissolution agrees to the ending of the civil partnership and doesn’t defend it.
A contested civil partnership dissolution is where the respondent defends or doesn’t agree to the civil partnership dissolution. A dissolution application can only be defended in limited circumstances including on the basis of jurisdiction, that the civil partnership has already been legally ended or the validity of the civil partnership is being challenged.
A conditional order of dissolution is an order from the court that states that the court doesn’t see any reason why the civil partnership can’t be dissolved. You can apply for a conditional order of dissolution if the respondent to the dissolution petition doesn’t defend under any of the available limited grounds.
A final dissolution order is the document that legally ends a civil partnership. You can apply for a final dissolution order 6 weeks and 1 day after the date that the conditional order of dissolution was granted.
Why Hawkins Family Law?
Find out where you stand with tailored civil partnership dissolution guidance. We are a specialist law firm, focusing solely on family law matters, committed to producing rounded outcomes for our clients, offering expertise in whatever forum works best for you, always aiming to bring matters to a swift solution with the minimum pain.
We can provide legal advice and assistance relating to your separation, civil partnership dissolution, financial settlements, and child arrangements.
The way in which you approach the dissolution of your civil partnership is your choice but with Hawkins Family Law you can be assured of our consistently high levels of support and guidance.