In England and Wales, it is possible to apply for a dissolution of your civil partnership if you have been in a civil partnership for at least one year and your relationship has irretrievably broken down. If you want to end your civil partnership during the first year, you can apply for a legal separation as a first step and then later for dissolution.
The complete process of dissolving a civil partnership in England and Wales is approximately 6 to 7 months. While applying for a dissolution of your civil partnership, you and your partner will need to come to an agreement on child arrangements, child maintenance and your finances (i.e. money and property).
If you are not able to reach an agreement with your partner regarding your children, finances and properties, you can ask the court to make decisions on your behalf. This is where the guidance, support, and professional expertise of a civil partnership dissolution solicitor can prove extremely beneficial.
Civil partnership dissolution process
It is important to note that the legal process of civil partnership dissolution in England and Wales is different to that in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Before applying, it is important to check that you meet the criteria for the dissolution of your civil partnership (as explained above).
The civil partnership dissolution process in England and Wales is as follows:
- Determine whether you wish to make a joint or sole application for dissolution of your civil partnership. You and your partner can make a joint application with your partner if you both agree to the dissolution and there is no risk of domestic abuse. If your partner does not want to make a joint application with you, you can make a sole application for the dissolution of your civil partnership.
- Reach an agreement with your partner on child arrangements, child maintenance payments, and how you will divide your money and property.
- Apply for dissolution on the HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) website.¹
- Pay the civil partnership dissolution application fee of £593.
- On receipt of your civil partnership dissolution application, HMCTS will review your case. If all requirements have been met, a notice that your application has been issued will be sent out. If you apply on your own, HMCTS will send an ‘acknowledgement of service’ to your partner, who will then need to reply within 14 days.
- Apply for a Conditional Order on the HMCTS website. You will need to wait for 20 weeks from the date that your application was issued by HMCTS before applying for a conditional order.² A conditional order (previously called a ‘decree absolute’) is a legal document provided by HMCTS that confirms that there is no reason why you cannot dissolve your civil partnership.
- Apply for a Final Order on the HMCTS website.³ You will need to wait a further 43 days from the date of the Conditional Order before applying for a Final Order. A Final Order (previously called a ‘decree nisi’) is a legal document that confirms your civil partnership has ended, and you can now enter into a new civil partnership.
Civil partnership dissolution financial settlement and child arrangements
During the process of dissolving your civil partnership, you and your partner will have a number of important decisions to make regarding your children, property, and financial settlement.
When deciding on arrangements for your children, you will need to consider who your child will live with, where they will spend their time, and how they will be financially supported. And when it comes to finances, a financial settlement sets out how your assets will be divided following your dissolution, including any property (in the UK or overseas), money and savings, pensions, and investments.
If you can reach an agreement on your children and finances amicably between yourselves, it is still advisable to have a Consent Order (one for child arrangements and one for the financial settlement) drawn up by a solicitor and approved by a court to ensure the arrangements are legally binding. This way, if your partner changes their mind or does not honour the agreement, you can ask the court to enforce the agreement.
If you cannot reach an agreement with your partner, a trained mediator may be able to help you reach a resolution without the need to involve the courts. If it is still not possible to reach an agreement on child arrangements or a financial settlement, a civil partnership solicitor can help you apply to the court, who can make the necessary decisions for you.
Once the court has made its decision on your financial settlement, it will issue a legally binding financial order. For decisions relating to child arrangement, the court may issue a child arrangements order, prohibited steps order, specific issue order, or consent order, depending on the circumstances.
References
1 GOV.UK: Online application for Dissolution
2 GOV.UK: Online application for Conditional Order
3 GOV.UK: Online application for Final Order