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Couples of any gender can now get married or enter into a civil partnership in the UK as of December 2019. After you register a civil relationship, your relationship is recognised by the law, and you have the same rights and duties as if you were married.
Either one of the people in the civil relationship has to die or you have to ask the court to end it formally. If you haven’t been together for at least a year, though, you can’t ask the court to end the relationship. UK Immigration Solicitors can help you understand your rights and duties at all stages of your civil partnership, from making plans to ending it. Please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to talk about your legal issues and give you a free consultation.
In this blog, we will talk about
- What is a civil partnership UK? Or civil partnership definition UK
- Advantages and disadvantages of civil partnership.
- Who can apply for a civil partnership?
Let’s get started!
What is a Civil Partnership UK?
A civil partnership is a legal partnership between two people who have registered as civil partners. It gives them the same legal rights as a married couple. Since the bond is legal, couples can use it as an alternative to marriage in the UK.
At first, civil unions were made so that same-sex couples could get married. On the other hand, any pair can now become a civil partner. People who are in a relationship should know that a civil partnership is not the same as a marriage. Each way of officially registering a relationship has its own pros and cons.
In 2005, civil partnerships were created to give same-sex couples legal recognition and protection. The rule also made it possible for same-sex couples to get married. But before 2019, only same-sex couples could have a civil partnership or a marriage. Opposite-sex couples could only get married. But since the law changed in 2019, opposite-sex couples can also have a civil union.
Read more about Civil Partnership Visa.
What are pre-registration agreements?
When you register a civil partnership, your relationship is recognised by the law. The relationship will also grant you legal rights and duties. Before you get married, you can write down an agreement that spells out your rights and responsibilities to each other and what will happen if you decide to end the partnership.
Both you and your partner must sign civil partnership documents in front of the registrar and two witnesses to register the partnership. In the UK, you and your partner must be at least 16 years old, have lived together for at least seven days, not be married or in another civil relationship, and not be related by blood. Only then can you sign a civil partnership paperwork.
If you are 16 or 17, you will need permission from your parents or legal guardian to go ahead with the civil partnership. It’s possible to ask a court to let you file your civil partnership even if they don’t agree with it or you don’t know where they are.
Pros & Cons of Civil Partnership UK
The first benefit of a civil partnership is that it is recognised by the law. Couples of the same or different sexes can get formal recognition of their relationship through a civil partnership. When two people are in a civil partnership, they have almost all the same rights as when they are married, and each person is also protected by the law. These protect certain things, like property rights, assets, partner benefits, and even if one partner dies or gets divorced.
Flexibility is another good thing about civil unions. A civil union is not the same as marriage from a religious perspective, and the partners do not make vows when they enter into the relationship.
Cons
As for the cons, the main one is that it is not recognised when travelling abroad. This might not be a big deal for partners who want to visit other countries, but if they decide to live together in a different country, they might have more problems. In some countries, civil partnerships are not as accepted as they are in the UK. This means that a couple may not have the same rights and benefits as married couples in those countries.
Many people are confused about this type of relationship, which is another reason why picking a civil partnership might not be the best choice. Although most people in the UK have a general understanding of what a civil partnership is, couples may find it hard to explain their relationship to people in countries that only recognise the marriage.
Which benefits does a civil partnership offer?
Getting married in a civil partnership has a lot of benefits. Here are the main ones:
Allowance for marriage
A civil partnership, despite its name, entitles its members to claim marriage allowance if one of them was born on April 6, 1935, if one of them pays taxes at a rate lower than the basic rate in the UK, and if one of them does not spend their entire personal allowance. The idea behind this allowance is that the civil partner with the lower taxable income should give up 10% of their personal allowance. This way, the partner who gets the money will have to pay taxes, which will lower the amount of tax they have to pay. However, this claim will not raise the recipient partner’s personal allowance.
Benefit for a married couple
This allowance is not only for married couples, as the name suggests; it is also accessible to civil partners as long as at least one of them was born before April 6, 1935. In this case, the person who uses the allowance gets a 10% tax break. Starting in 2021, the highest amount you can get is £8,915, but it drops to £3,450 if your income is too high.
Moving the blind person’s allowance
People who are married or in a civil partnership and have been registered as blind or whose eyesight is so bad that they can’t do any work that requires eyesight can get this income. If you want to claim it, you should live in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The allowance is an extra amount that is added to your personal budget. This makes your income higher before you pay income tax.
Moving assets without having to pay capital gains or estate tax:
It is possible to give assets to your civil partner without having to pay capital gains tax or inheritance tax if you are in a civil relationship.
Difference between a marriage and a civil partnership.
In a civil partnership, the legal relationship begins in a different way than in a marriage. Couples who choose to enter a civil partnership instead of a marriage simply sign the appropriate paperwork instead of exchanging marital vows.
There are no religious rituals or other religious meanings in the ceremony, which could be seen as a good or bad thing by both partners, based on their beliefs.
When the relationships ended, there was another set of differences. The end result is the same as in marriage: the couple ends their relationship and their shared assets are split between them. However, the process for ending the relationship and how the assets are split is a little different in civil partnerships.
For more details read this guide on the difference between civil partnership and marriage in the UK.
Who is eligible for a civil partnership UK?
If two people want to get married, they only need to meet a few simple conditions. In England and Wales, both people getting married must be at least eighteen years old before the process can begin.
Besides that, the partners can’t be in a legal relationship at the time they sign up for a civil partnership. To put it another way, they can’t be married or legally linked to someone else. Because a civil partnership is for people who are not related, a civil union cannot be made between people who are related by blood.
People who are getting married in Scotland have to follow some different and extra rules. Couples who live in Scotland should look into these rules before they start the process.
How do get register for a UK Civil Partnership?
To register a civil partnership, you need to do two major things. The process is quite simple to understand. Both people will have to give formal notice before they can plan the ceremony and choose a date for it.
Giving Notice
The couple must legally tell the local record office that they are going to become married once they are engaged. The purpose of this process is to let the record office know that you want to start a relationship by having you sign the necessary legal papers.
The formal notice has to be given at least 29 days before the ceremony, so the times are very important in this step. After giving legal notice, the ceremony has to happen within twelve months. This means that the couple has to arrange the ceremony within this time limit. If a couple doesn’t have a ceremony by this date, they will have to start the process over and give the court a new warning.
The notice is given at a nearby register office, and the couple must have stayed in the area for at least a week before they filed the papers. Legal warnings should be given separately by partners who live in different places. It doesn’t have to happen on the same day.
People who are in a relationship with someone from outside the UK may have to go through a more difficult process because their connection may be investigated. The record office will have to tell the immigration department about it. The immigration department will then decide if they need to look into it or not. They will have to wait 70 days before the register can happen if they decide to look into it.
For Registration
The filing itself is the next step in the process. It can be done in any office that allows entering civil partnerships, so the couple can pick the place that works best for them.
As was already said, civil partnerships are legally the same as marriages, which means there are a lot of extra rules for a lot of different scenarios. For example, people who are considered to be seriously ill do not have to travel to enter a civil partnership. The same rules apply to people who are considered to be housebound.
You can’t go into all of these rules in one piece because they apply to so many different situations. In most cases, if the couple can’t follow the normal steps for a good reason, they should look into what other choices they have in order to go ahead with forming a civil union.
How much does it cost to get a civil partnership?
The fees for registering a civil partnership could be different based on the local government and a lot of other factors. If one of the partners is not from the UK, the fee goes up. There may be other factors that change the total cost as well.
They need to remember that there is a fee to register and that they will still have to pay for everything else that goes along with the event they have planned.
What are Civil partner’s rights?
There are some small differences in how the laws are implemented. But in general, the rights of civil partners are the same as the rights of married couples. As long as the partners live together, the papers for their marriage must be accepted. This must happen before they can have or adopt children together.
When two people are civil partners instead of married, their financial rights are much more flexible. Couples who are married but not married can have either a shared account or their own bank accounts.
And in civil unions, inheritance is also fairly simple to understand. People who have money in bank accounts can get all of their inherited money if one partner dies. It doesn’t matter if the money is in a shared account or their partner’s separate account.
Typically, couples in a civil partnership would leave a will. But if one of them dies without leaving one, there are rules that say how the assets will be split. The same is true for children of civil partners. They may also be able to receive property following the normal steps for inheritance.
How to end a civil partnership?
Dissolution is a legal way to end a civil partnership. The couples need to fill out the right paperwork. The most important thing is that they have been legally married for at least a year.
Applying to a court is part of the dissolution process. But you might not have to go to court unless there are disagreements about how to divide assets or who gets care of the children.
How does a civil partnership work for straight couples?
In the past, only couples of the same gender could have a civil partnership. Now, couples of the opposite gender may register as a civil partnership. If you and your partner are not married, a civil partnership will officially recognise your relationship, like a marriage. It will also give you more legal rights and duties. One partner has to die for the partnership to end. Alternatively, you can go to court and ask them to end the partnership formally. But you can’t ask for the connection to end until it’s been going on for at least a year.
Need Assistance?
Couples can always consult with us at UK Immigration Solicitors for advice on civil partnership issues. Our lawyers can give you the information you need to make the right decision. We’ll look at your situation and figure out how to help you based on those details.
If there are any legal problems in the civil partnership, UK Immigration Solicitors can help. We have years of knowledge in both marriage and civil partnership law. This includes problems like who gets to keep the kids, who own the property and money, and more. You can visit our office in London or book an appointment online through our site.
