Civil partnerships

Recent changes announced by the Government will open the door for all couples to consider a Civil Partnership as an option to marriage.

The key differences in a civil partnership to a marriage are:

• Couples joined through a civil partnership cannot call themselves ‘married’ for legal purposes.  However they are treated as "married" for tax and legal matters.
• Civil partnerships must be dissolved through the courts but adultery is not recognised in civil partnerships and is therefore not considered as grounds for divorce. 
• Civil partnership certificates include names of the parents of both participants, whereas marriage certificates require only the names of the fathers of the couple