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Civil partnership dissolution article

03 October 2008

Civil partnership dissolution article

Regular readers of our column will remember our article in March 2007 about civil partnerships and how they can be dissolved.  With Matt Lucas, co-star of Little Britain, set to dissolve his civil partnership, it is now an opportune time to review the law in this area.

Matt Lucas married his partner of six years Kevin McGee on 17th December 2006 in an extravagant pantomime-themed civil partnership ceremony in which Lucas wore an Aladdin outfit and McGee was dressed as Prince Charming.  However, in June this year it was announced that the couple were to split and their solicitors issued a joint statement saying that their separation was amicable but that they would be dissolving their civil partnership.

Civil partnerships are dissolved in a very similar way to the way in which marriages end through divorce.  In both civil partnerships and marriages, the parties must apply to the court to dissolve their relationship by showing that their relationship has “irretrievably broken down.”  A civil partner must show this by relying on one of four “facts” which are:

1. their partner’s unreasonable behaviour
2. their separation for two years and their partner’s consent to dissolution
3. their separation for five years
4. that their partner has deserted them.   

Civil partners cannot rely on the fact of adultery as spouses can to show that the relationship has broken down, but adultery demonstrates their partner’s unreasonable behaviour.

As is often the case with married couples, while the divorce is relatively straightforward, the main difficulties lie in sorting out the finances on a relationship breakdown. 

In this area too, civil partnerships are similar to marriages in that on the dissolution of a civil partnership the court will have power to order certain actions to settle the finances.  The court could order that one partner pay a lump sum of money to the other, or that their pensions are shared, or that property is transferred between them, or that maintenance is paid, or any combination of these.  In deciding what orders to make, just as for divorce, the court will consider factors such as the welfare of any child under eighteen, the needs and resources of the parties, their contributions, any disability either party has, the age of the parties and the duration of their civil partnership, their standard of living during the partnership and any relevant conduct of the parties. 

42 civil partnerships were dissolved in 2007 out of a total of 26,786 civil partnerships made between 5th December 2005 when the Civil Partnership Act came into force and summer this year.  As can bee seen the legal implications of entering a civil partnership are considerable and legal advice should be sought before entering into a civil partnership and upon the breakdown of a civil partnership.

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