Alsters Kelley Solicitors, incorporating RJ Kelley and Co and Richards Heynes and Coopers, providing all aspects of Family Law and Civil Partnerships. Based in Coventry, Leamington Spa and Nuneaton, we are one of the largest solicitors firms in Warwickshire and the West Midlands.
Civil Partnerships, Solicitors, Lawyers, Legal Services, Coventry, Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, West Midlands.
Alsters Kelley Solicitors provide legal services including Family Law and Civil Partnerships. Contact us with your Family Law and Civil Partnerships needs.
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on December 5th 2005 and has created a new legal status available only to same-sex couples. Couples who sign
a civil partnership registration document commit themselves to a range of rights and responsibilities similar to the rules and legal principles governing marriage and
in turn the dissolution of civil partnerships is based on divorce principles.
An eligible couple must each give ‘notice’ of their intention to register a civil partnership to a registration authority (registry office). The notice must include a solemn
declaration in writing, confirming that the proposed civil partner knows of no legal impediment to the formation of the civil partnership. Provided the registration authority
is satisfied that there is no legal impediment to the couple forming a civil partnership the authority will issue a civil partnership schedule at the request of either of the
proposed civil partners. Once the schedule has been issued the couple must sign the document and have the partnership formally registered.
A civil partnership is a serious commitment and like marriage can only be brought to an end by a court order or by the death of one of the partners. The court may end
a civil partnership on an application by one of the parties in a similar way as a marriage is dissolved. Neither partner can apply to dissolve the partnership until at least
one year after the partnership was formed. The only ground for dissolution of the partnership is that the partnership has broken down irretrievably. Like divorce the
civil partner applying for dissolution must satisfy the court that one or more of 4 ‘facts’, apply;
behaviour by the other civil partner (the respondent) which means that the applicant cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent
separation for 2 years and the parties agree to dissolution of the partnership
separation for 5 years
desertion of the applicant by the respondent for a period of 2 years
Civil partners whose partnership is dissolved can obtain from the court the same range of financial orders as those available to divorcing couples. The court will first
consider the welfare of any child under 18 and then consider the other relevant factors; income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources of each partner,
the financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each civil partner has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future; the standard of living enjoyed by the family
before the breakdown of the civil partnership; the age of each civil partner and the duration of the civil partnership; the contributions which each civil partner has made
or is likely to make in the foreseeable future to the welfare of the family, including any contribution by looking after the home or caring for the family; any conduct which
it would be inequitable to disregard; and the value to each civil partner of any benefit which, because of the dissolution or annulment of the civil partnership, that civil
partner will lose the chance of acquiring. When a civil partnership comes to an end the court must give consideration to ending the mutual financial obligations of the
civil partners and will try to reach a financial settlement on a clean break basis. If the court does make a periodical payments order,(maintenance) it must give particular
consideration to limiting those payments to allow the financially dependent partner to adjust without undue hardship.
Civil partners have the same legal rights as married parents relating to children of the family. Civil partners have the right to apply for residence or contact orders, adoption
orders and parental responsibility orders of a child of the family. Civil partners are treated the same as married people for the purposes of the child support regime and the
court can makes order for a civil partner to make payments for the benefit of a child of the family.
