Chwefror 12 af 2012
This information applies to Scotland
A civil partnership is a legal relationship, which can be registered by two people of the same sex. If you are in a gay or lesbian relationship, registering a civil partnership will give your relationship legal recognition. This will give you added legal rights, as well as responsibilities.
To register a civil partnership, you and your partner must sign a civil partnership document in front of two witnesses and a registrar.
In some situations, a same-sex couple who has not registered a civil partnership will have the same legal rights and responsibilities as a couple who has registered a civil partnership. This will be the case, for example, when working out your entitlement to welfare benefits and tax credits.
For more information about the rights and responsibilities of same-sex couples, see Rights of same-sex couples in Family fact sheets.
You and your lesbian or gay partner can register a civil partnership as long as all the following circumstances apply:-
There are two steps needed to register a civil partnership. The first step is to give notice of your intention to register and the second is to actually register the civil partnership.
You and your partner will each need to give notice of your intention to register a civil partnership to the district registrar for the area where you wish to register your civil partnership. There is no legal requirement for a minimum length of residence in Scotland for a couple who wish to form a civil partnership in Scotland. As there are no residence requirements, you can choose the district in Scotland where you wish to register.
When you give notice, you will be asked to give details of the date and place where the civil partnership is to be registered. You will also have to give the register office certain personal details. These are your name, your address, your date of birth and whether you have been in a civil partnership or married before.
When you give the notice to the district registrar, this must be accompanied by your birth certificate and the correct fee. If either you or your partner has been married or in a civil partnership before, you will need to produce documents to prove you are free to register a civil partnership. This could be, for example, a decree of divorce, or the death certificate of a former civil partner. If one of you is subject to immigration control, you may have to provide additional documentary evidence – see under heading People subject to immigration control.
Once you have given notice of your intention to register a civil partnership, details from the notice will be publicised in the register office for the area where you intend to register.
The details must be made available for people to see for 15 days before you can register your civil partnership. This is so as to give an opportunity for any objections to be made.
The details made available will not include your address, or that of your partner.
After 15 days, you will be free to register your partnership within the next three months. If you don't register your civil partnership within this period, you will not be able to register unless you start the whole process again.
In some exceptional circumstances, for example, where one of you is terminally ill, you can ask for the 15-day waiting period to be waived – see under heading Special rules for people who are seriously ill.
The 15-day waiting period can also be waived in some circumstances where one of you has acquired a different gender – see under heading Special rules if one of you has acquired a different gender.
You can register your civil partnership in any register office in Scotland or at any venue you agree with the local registration authority.
Non-religious venues cannot choose whether to hold civil partnerships or not, if they hold weddings. This would be unlawful discrimination. However, religious organisations can refuse to hold civil partnerships in their venues.
For more information see Discrimination because of sexuality.
You can search for approved premises on the National Records of Scotland website at www.gro-scotland.gov.uk. You should check the venue is available before registering your notice to register.
You and your partner will have legally registered your civil partnership once you have signed a legal document, known as the civil partnership schedule. This must be done in front of a registrar and two witnesses.
There are no further legal requirements, and you don't have to have a ceremony, although you can choose to have one if you want. Many local authorities will arrange for a ceremony in addition to the signing of the civil partnership document but they do not have to. This ceremony cannot be a religious one. If you want a ceremony and the local authority refuses to carry one out, you could:-
Fees are charged for various aspects of civil partnership registration, for example, giving notice and the civil partnership registration itself. A local authority will set its own fee for civil partnerships which take place outwith a registration office. General information about the costs involved are available on the National Records of Scotland website at www.gro-scotland.gov.uk.
There are special rules for registering a civil partnership for people who are seriously ill and not expected to recover. These relax the rules for registering a civil partnership in order to speed up the process. Only one of you will need to give notice of your intention to register a civil partnership to the register office. You will need to provide evidence that one of you is seriously ill and not expected to recover, and that they are too ill to be moved.
Someone who wants to acquire a different gender can apply for a gender recognition certificate to give legal recognition to their new gender. However, if they have been married, they must get divorced first in order to do this. If you are getting divorced under these circumstances, you can register your civil partnership on the same day as you get divorced.This means you do not have to wait for the usual 15 days between giving notice of your intention to register, and registering your civil partnership – see under heading How to register a civil partnership.
For more information about gender recognition, and how to register a civil partnership when one of you has acquired a different gender, visit the Gender Recognition Panel's website at www.grp.gov.uk.
There are special rules for registering a civil partnership if either you or your partner is subject to immigration control.
You will be subject to immigration control unless you are:
For more information about which countries belong to the EU, see The European Union.
For more information about who is subject to immigration control, see Help with immigration problems.
If you are subject to immigration control, you and your partner must both give notice to register your civil partnership at a special Register office. Before you will be allowed to give notice, you must have been granted entry clearance to the UK specifically for the purpose of registering a civil partnership in the UK.
Everyone who wants to register a civil partnership in a Register Office must provide proof of their nationality. For more information, go to the UK Border Agency website at www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk. If the registrar believes that someone is entering into a civil partnership for immigration purposes, they must report this to the UK Border Agency.
If you are subject to immigration control and want to register a civil partnership, you may need to get advice from an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
Some same-sex couples may already have formed a civil union, registered partnership, domestic partnership or a same-sex marriage abroad.
If you are in one of these kinds of relationships, you can get automatic recognition in the UK as civil partners and will not need to register in the UK as well. However, you, your partner, and your overseas relationship must meet certain conditions.
Once you have registered a civil partnership, it can only be ended if one of you dies, or by applying to court to bring the partnership legally to an end.
For more information about ending a civil partnership, see Ending a relationship.
Ymwadiad, hawlfraint a pholisi preifatrwydd, Hawlfraint © Cyngor ar Bopeth. Cedwir pob hawl.
