If your Civil Partnership, or gay marriage, has turned sour, you may be contemplating legally ending the Civil Partnership by dissolution. Fisher Meredith’s Family lawyers offer pragmatic legal advice for same sex couples who are contemplating ending their Civil Partnership.

For same sex couples in a Civil Partnership considering dissolution can be a very stressful and emotional time. Many gay couples do not fully appreciate their rights and what they can expect should their relationship breakdown.

What is a dissolution of a Civil Partnership?

Dissolution is the legal process that will bring an end to a Civil Partnership. It is the equivalent to divorce for married couples. Only after dissolution can a person engage in another Civil Partnership if they so wish. A person must have been in a Civil Partnership for at least a year in order to apply for dissolution.

The ground for a dissolution is the irretrievable breakdown of the Civil Partnership which must be established through 1 of 4 facts:

• Unreasonable behaviour
• Desertion
• 2 years separation by consent
• 5 years separation

There can be advantages and disadvantages to using some of these facts. We recommend that you seek specialist legal advice from a Civil Partnership solicitor to discuss your options.

There are modern alternatives to ending a gay marriage. Please read our free information guide on Alternatives to Dissolution.

International considerations

If you or your partner does not live in England or Wales, or you have recently moved here, you will also need legal advice from a Family lawyer as to whether you can have a dissolution in this country.

In cases with an international element there may also be a choice of countries where you can end your gay marriage. Different countries can adopt more or less favourable approaches when dealing with financial disputes or children. This can be a very important consideration and specialist legal advice from a Civil Partnership and Family lawyer will be needed.

Dissolution Terminology

The person starting a dissolution by way of a document called a ‘Petition’ is called the ‘Petitioner’ and the person having the dissolution brought against them is called the ‘Respondent’.

Should I be the Petitioner?

The advantage of being the Petitioner is that you are in control of the process but you also do the majority of the work. The dissolution will therefore be more expensive for the Petitioner as opposed to the Respondent. It is however possible to claim costs from the Respondent if you cannot agree how these should be apportioned.

Our Family lawyers have prepared a factsheet which explains how you can keep your costs down.

We recommend you speak to a Civil Partnership solicitor who can explain the best approach for your circumstances.

Should I defend a dissolution?

It is very rare that a dissolution will be defended and it is more usual that an agreement will be reached as to who will bring the petition and on what fact. The factual detail put in the petition is usually kept to a bare minimum and can even be agreed in advance. The whole procedure is usually paper based and in only very rare circumstances will you have to attend at court.

Dissolution procedure

Once the paperwork is prepared and filed with the correct court (there are only certain courts in the country in which a Civil Partnership petition can be brought at present), it is then sent to your partner and they are asked to acknowledge that they have received it.

Once this has been done the Petitioner will then make an application to the court for the judge to consider the dissolution papers. If the judge is satisfied that everything is in order he will set a date for a provisional order (also known as a Conditional Order). Six weeks and a day after it is pronounced the Petitioner can apply for the Conditional Order to be made final, which will bring the dissolution to an end.

The whole process will take about four to six months. If there are financial disputes involved, for example pension assets, it is advisable to delay the application for the dissolution until they are resolved.

Our Civil Partnership and Family solicitors have prepared factsheets on resolving outstanding issues between civil partners and agreeing a consent order, and debt and bankruptcy.

Important things to consider

A dissolution will only legally end a Civil Partnership and will not deal with other issues which have their own separate procedure.

Quite often there may be children disputes such as arrangements for the children, where they should live, how much time they will spend with each parent or step-parent as the case may be.

Our Family lawyers have prepared factsheets on financial provision for children, child maintenance issues and restricted contact with children.

Often there are financial disputes to be addressed and financial claims can be made. Even if you have agreed these matters or there is nothing to share, it is important that matters are formalised so that financial claims are not revived in future. The law is identical to that for divorcing couples.

There are other methods you can use to resolve these disputes that do not involve instructing a Civil Partnership solicitor to negotiate through correspondence or make contested applications to court. For further information on alternative methods, please visit our Family Mediation and Collaborative Law pages.

If you are thinking about a separation or think that your partner wants to end the Civil Partnership, don’t feel pressured into accepting something that you may not be comfortable with. Formally dissolving a Civil Partnership can have far reaching consequences on your children and financial affairs.

Our Family solicitors recommend seeking specialist legal advice to understand the options that are available to you at an early stage. You can then make an informed decision about the future and avoid any potential pitfalls that may jeopardise your position.

Dissolution of Civil Partnership fees

We can offer you a fixed fee for:

• An undefended application for dissolution which is £1,500 (inclusive of VAT and court fees)
• An undefended respondent dissolution which is £700 (inclusive of VAT)

We have prepared factsheets explaining breakdown of costs and any additional fees that may be incurred in the process of an undefended and undefended respondent applications.

Why use Fisher Meredith?

Fisher Meredith is an award winning law firm with offices in Richmond, Surrey and Kennington, London. Our Civil Partnership solicitors have an outstanding reputation for acting on behalf of individuals with highly successful results.

For 35 years, Fisher Meredith has developed a reputation for being approachable and “going the extra mile” for its clients whilst maintaining ethical and socially responsible standards.

Fisher Meredith’s Family Law department is headed by founding partner Eileen Pembridge.

Our Family lawyers have formed close links with counsellors and family therapists who can offer additional help to guide you through this difficult process. We also offer a full range of quality legal services to deal with your dissolution whether this is through Mediation, Collaborative Law, negotiation or by way of an application to the courts.

By working closely with Fisher Meredith’s Property and Private Client teams, we also provide separated couples expertise in property transactions and wills.

What should I do now?

If you are considering ending your gay marriage our Civil Partnership lawyers can provide you with quality legal advice to achieve the best possible outcome.

For initial advice or to arrange a meeting with one of our Family solicitors in London or Richmond, please contact our helpline on 0800 014 7445.