Hartnell Chanot: Divorce/Family Law Solicitors Exeter, Devon

Civil Partnerships

A civil partnership ends only on formal dissolution or annulment.

The grounds for ending a civil partnership (where same-sex couples have obtained legal recognition of their relationship) are similar to those available to married couples, with the exception of adultery.

Civil Partners will be treated in the same way as spouses in legal matters including finances, property rights, inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to get parental responsibility for a partner's children. If you have chosen to live with one another, but not enter into a civil partnership, then you will be treated, in law, in the same way as a heterosexual cohabiting couple, see unmarried couples.

Ending a Civil Partnership

Dissolution is the term used to describe the termination of a civil partnership, and is a procedure similar to divorce.

You are eligible if:

• You have been civil partner for at least one year.
• You can prove that your civil partnership has irretrievably broken down.

To prove that your civil partnership has irretrievably broken down you have to prove one of the following:

• Your civil partner has behaved in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect you to go on living together.
• Your civil partner has deserted you for a continuous period of two years.
• You and your civil partner have lived apart for two years or more and your partner consents.
• You and your civil partner have lived apart for five years or more whether or not your partner consents.