Civil Partnership vs Marriage | The Law Explained

Are your legal rights the same in a civil partnership as in a marriage? London-based family solicitor, Joanne Green, explains the differences between a civil partnership and marriage. For legal advice with a specialist family law solicitor, call Slater and Gordon Lawyers today on 0808 175 7783, or contact us online https://www.slatergordon.co.uk/contac... Transcript: A civil partnership is a legally recognised union between a couple of the same sex. It follows a different regime to marriage, and it's dealt with under the Civil Partnership Act 2004. So a civil partnership commences when both parties sign the civil partnership document. Whereas a marriage can only be entered into when parties say their vows - so spoken words to each other. So civil partnership and marriage tend to have very similar rights. There are a few differences one is in relation to pension schemes. So if one of the parties that's part of the civil partnership passes away the other civil partner may not receive the full entitlement in terms of survivor benefits, from the pension scheme, that they would if they were married. There are also differences in terms of travel provisions, so some countries don't recognise civil partnerships. So if couples live abroad, they may have different rights in the country they are living in- to the rights they have in England as civil partners. So the dissolution of a civil partnership is very similar to divorce proceedings, other that we use slightly different words. So we say we are dissolving the civil partnership, rather than referring to divorce proceedings. One of the main differences is that a civil partner can't use adultery as one of the reasons for the dissolution. Whereas that can be used in divorce proceedings. So in order to dissolve the civil partnership, again, there's one ground which is the same as divorce that the civil partnership has broken down irretrievably. And to prove that ground the civil partners would need to rely on one of four facts. One would be unreasonable behaviour. Two years' separation and consent. Five years' separation or desertion.