Civil Partnerships

What are civil partnerships?

A civil partnership is a recognised, legal union between two people of the same sex, which came into operation on 5 December 2005 with most of the rights, responsibilities and other consequences of marriage. Civil partnership registration in England and Wales is modelled on civil marriage and most provisions are similar or the same. Accordingly, gay or lesbian couples can now publicly register their relationship, showing their commitment to each other and both gain a number of rights and also acquire responsibility for each other.

Such rights and responsibilities extend, as in marriage to all aspects of the relationship, from finances to children. For example, where there are children in the family, civil partnerships enable the second partner to apply for parental responsibility; benefit applications will assess both partners; civil partners have next of kin rights and can now benefit from pension rights, inheritance tax provisions etc. in the same way as a married couple.

How is a civil partnership registered?

A civil partnership is a totally civil procedure performed by a registrar; in approved premises. In practice, the& procedure and ceremonies tend to be almost identical to civil marriage.

The main difference is that, although the option is available, there is no requirement for the exchange of vows in a civil partnership and registration takes place when both partners have signed the document. Whereas, with a civil marriage the marriage takes place upon the exchange of vows and the register is signed afterwards. In practice, both ceremonies often involve the exchange of vows followed by the signing of the register.

Signing the document can be private as it does not have to be part of a ceremony. 

To register a civil partnership, there are rules for eligibility and consent, you must give notice of your intentions and the details of each partner. The notice is published by the registration authority for a period of fifteen days. The registration can take place after this fifteen day period, and your notice is valid for twelve months. This procedure is almost identical to that for civil marriage.

What is a CETV?

A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is obtained from your pension trustees to assess the value of your pension. It is this figure which is taken into account for the purposes of calculating the assets available for division when considering a financial settlement following the breakdown of a marriage/civil partnership. The CETV of a pension is of particular importance when the pension is of a high value and/or the couple have been married/in a civil partnership for a substantial length of time. On occasion, it is necessary to obtain the advice of a pensions actuary to prepare various calculations in respect of the pension in order to determine the entitlement of the spouse/civil partner making a claim upon a pension.

What will happen to my pension when I get divorced?

Your pension should be taken into account in a financial settlement during a divorce/civil partnership dissolution. You can decide to balance the pension against another asset, such as a property (Pension Offsetting), arrange for some of the pension to be paid to your ex-spouse when you receive payment (Pension Attachment) or split the pension into two at the time of the Divorce/civil partnership (Pension Sharing).

It is important that both parties know the value of their pensions (but you need consent to know the other person's pension value - a pension can be the most valuable asset in a financial settlement, so speak to your Solicitor to ensure that you choose the best option for your circumstances.