Dissolution of Civil Partnership

You can get civil partnership dissolved in England or Wales if all of the following are true:

• you’ve been in civil partnership for over a year
• your relationship has permanently broken down
• your civil partnership is legally recognised in the UK
• the UK is your permanent home, or the permanent home of your civil partner

To end a civil partnership, you first need to fill in a civil partnership dissolution form D8. You must include your:

• full name and address
• civil partner’s full name and address
• civil partnership certificate - send the original certificate or get a copy from a register office

Include the names and dates of birth of any children (no matter how old they are). You must try to find your civil partner’s current address if you do not know it. The court will need it to send them a copy of the dissolution application.

You must send paperwork to a court to ask for permission to end your civil partnership.

Separate from the paperwork, you and your ex-partner may need to work out:

• arrangements for looking after any children
• child maintenance payments for any children

You also need to divide your money and property. There’s a deadline if you want to make this legally binding.

You can usually avoid going to court hearings if you agree about children, money and property and the reasons for ending your civil partnership.

Following is the step by step procedure for getting civil partnership dissolved in the UK:

1. The petitioner would file the dissolution petition in the court by completing civil partnership dissolution form D8 and send the form with the relevant enclosures to the court;
2. Within a few days of getting the dissolution petition, the court would write to the petitioner or his/her solicitors confirming the receipt of the dissolution petition;
3. The court will then send a copy of your dissolution petition to your civil partner (respondent). If your civil partner has instructed solicitors to act for him/her, a copy of the dissolution petition would be sent to them. If you applied for dissolution on adultery grounds and named the other party who committed adultery with your civil partner, a copy of the dissolution petition would also be sent to such other named party;
4. Within 8 days of receiving the dissolution petition, the respondent is required to send a reply by post to your dissolution petition stating whether or not he/she intends to contest the dissolution. The respondent must respond within 7 days in case of online response where the dissolution petition was filed by your civil partner online;
5. If your civil partner (respondent) does not contest the dissolution, you can then apply for Conditional Order Of Dissolution. If your civil partner does contest the dissolution, you’re still able to apply for final dissolution order, but you’ll need to attend a court hearing where your case will be discussed. A family court judge will then decide whether to grant you a Conditional Order Of Dissolution. If your dissolution petition is approved by the court, you and your civil partner (respondent) will be sent certificates stating the time and date when dissolution will be granted. If your dissolution petition is rejected, you may be sent a form called a ‘notice of refusal of judge’s certificate’ giving reasons why you are not permitted to dissolution. This form will also tell you what steps to take next. For example, you might be asked to provide additional information or you might be required to attend a hearing;
6. After 6 weeks and 1 day of conditional order of dissolution being granted by the court, you can then apply for a dissolution order. Before applying for a dissolution order, you have to submit a financial settlment application if there are assets and money of which settlement is required. Once you have decree absolute, your civil partnership is officially dissolved and you are no longer in civil partnership.

This varies from court to court and from case to case, depending on the complexity of the case. An uncontested dissolution can take from 4 to 6 months whereas a contested and complicated dissolution can take much longer than 6 months and time would vary depending on the complexity of the matter.

Dissolution and separation is a very difficult decision to make and should never be taken lightly. Our team of family law solicitors is aware of the sensitivity in this matter and every individual is in a different situation. To make your life easier, you can seek expert legal help from the family law solicitors at Sunrise Solicitors. Our team of family law solicitors are highly trained and experienced in all aspects of dissolution law and will guide and support you each step of the way. We will cut through the legal jargon and ensure you understand exactly what’s happening at all times. Our team of expert family law solicitors will provide the required legal help and guidance with step by step procedure for getting civil partnership dissolved in the UK.

Our team of family law solicitors will advise and assist to cater for your individuals needs. We will discuss the possible grounds on which you can apply for dissolution after gathering all the factual information from you. We will explain to you the court procedures in very simple and clear terms and fully guide you through the procedures and carry out all the follow up work until the Decree Absolute is issued by the family court.

The court fee for filing dissolution in the family court is £593 which has to be paid at the time of filing for dissolution. Petitioners with very low income may qualify for court fee exemption.

Civil partnership dissolution in England & Wales is a legal process to end civil parnership between civil partners after the relationship between them has broken down irretrievably. An application for civil partnership dissolution in England & Wales is made using application form D8.

You can get your civil partnership dissolved in England & Wales only after you have been in civil partnership for at least one year.

If your civil partnership was not consummated, you may be able to apply for annulment of your civil partnership even if you have been in civil partnership for less than a year.

You can end your civil partnership in England & Wales if all of the following are true:

• you’ve been in civil partnership for over a year
• your relationship has permanently broken down
• your civil partnership is legally recognised in England & Wales (including same-sex marriage)
• Either you or your civil partner is habitually resident in England & Wales

A clean break civil partnership is where no ongoing financial commitments remain between you and your civil partner. The phrase ‘a clean break’ is particularly used as the opposite of an order where there is ongoing spousal maintenance payable, usually monthly, from one partner to the other.

A clean break is only possible in relation to the financial claims between civil partners. It is not possible to have a clean break in relation to financial obligations towards your children.

In case you and your ex-partner have no assets to divide, you should also apply for a financial settlement order. It’s important to do so, even if you don’t have any assets to divide at the time of the civil partnership dissolution. There’s no guarantee you won’t come into some money in the future and if you haven’t obtained a financial settlement, your ex is still within their legal rights to make a financial claim.

Once a 'clean break' agreement of this kind has been ratified by court order, neither of you will be able to go back to court in the future to ask for maintenance or further transfer of assets. This gives both partners a much greater degree of certainty and allows them to completely disentangle their individual financial affairs.

Yes, you can start dissolution of civil partnership proceedings in England provided that you have a valid civil partnership certificate (and certified translation, if the civil partnership certificate is not written in English). The key issue is determining whether the civil partnership is valid and legal in the country within which the ceremony took place, with the local custom being observed. If the civil partnership has been carried out in accordance with the local laws and customs of the country in which it took place, it is usually a valid legal civil partnership.

You should also meet all of the following requirements for ending civil partnership in England & Wales:

• you’ve been in civil partnership for over a year
• your relationship has permanently broken down
• your civil partnership is legally recognised in England & Wales (including same-sex marriage)
• Either you or your civil partner is habitually resident in England & Wales

Uncontested Civil Partnership Dissolution

An uncontested civil partnership dissolution is a dissolution process where the Respondent to the civil partnership dissolution does not defend or contest the ending of civil partnership. It is possible for the Respondent to disagree with the grounds for civil partnership dissolution yet agree to civil partnership dissolution taking place on the grounds that the relationship has irretrievably broken down between the Petitioner and the Respondent.

Contested Civil Partnership Dissolution

A contested civil partnership dissolution is one where the Respondent to the dissolution petition decides to contest or defend the civil partnership dissolution. In other words, Respondent objects to civil partnership dissolution taking place in a contested civil partnership dissolution. A contested civil partnership dissolution is a more complicated procedure and will involve the couple having to attend family court for hearings. In very rare cases, Respondent can succeed in contesting a civil partnership dissolution in England & Wales. In the event of Resondent failing to defend the civil partnership dissolution, the family court is likely to make a legal costs order against the Resondent.

A conditional order of dissolution is a document that says that the court does not see any reason why you cannot end civil partnership. You can apply for a conditional order of dissolution if your civil partner does not defend your civil partnership dissolution petition.

The final dissolution order is the legal document that ends your civil partnership. You need to wait at least 43 days (6 weeks and 1 day) after the date of the conditional order of dissolution before you can apply for a final dissolution order.

To apply for a civil partnership dissolution you’ll need:

• your civil partner’s full name and address
• your original civil partnership certificate or a certified copy (and a certified translation if it’s not in English)
• proof of your name change if you’ve changed it since you registered your civil partnership - for example your civil partnership certificate or a deed poll

You must try to find your civil partner’s current address if you do not know it. The court will need it to send them a copy of the civil partnership dissolution petition.