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CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS
UPDATE:
Same-sex marriage is now legal in England,
Wales and Scotland but not Northern Ireland.** ** UPDATE July 2019 - Although same sex marriage is currently still illegal in Northern Ireland steps are underway to change this; more information can be found here.
in UK Law, the Civil Partnership Act 2004, allows Same Sex couples to have a 'Civil Partnership' ceremony, which is very similar to a registry office wedding. The Civil Partnership Act came into force on the 5th December 2005, allowing for ceremonies to take place from the 21st December, 2005. The service is actually performed by a registrar in a registry office or licensed wedding venue, and this ceremony will give the couple all of the same rights in law that a married couple receive. Having got over the first hurdle, you may well be asking "Where do we go from here?" Here are some answers to some general questions which we hope will help get the all important preparations underway.
Hurrah! There HAS been a change in the Law which allows same sex couples to have a 'Civil Partnership' ceremony, which is very similar to a registry office wedding. The Civil Partnership Act came into force on the 5th, allowing for ceremonies to take place from the 21st December 2005. The service is actually performed by a registrar, and this ceremony will give the couple all of the same rights in law that a married couple receive. Financially, this can help to stabilise same sex couples lives, and can mean benefits such as pensions or exemption from inheritance tax on their partners property, should the unfortunate occur. The new law will even allow the dissolve of this agreement, by way of a divorce.
The Civil
Partnership Act is a massive step forward within the gay community - it will
give gay couples the same property and inheritance rights as married
heterosexuals and entitles them to the same pension, immigration and tax
benefits but,
unlike
in Belgium, Spain and Canada,
it is not a marriage.
The
procedure is 'civil' in Britain, with the partners merely signing documents,
whereas a marriage becomes binding when partners exchange spoken words in a
civil or religious ceremony.
Civil partners will have equal treatment in a wide range of legal matters
with married couples, including:-
You have to make some fundamental decisions early on – such as:-
You will need to choose a venue that is licensed for Civil Partnerships (any of those that are licensed for civil marriages will be able to do this too) and make a provisional booking before contacting your local Register Office to book the services of a Registrar. Then you can start planning the details of the ceremony, the guest list, catering, entertainment, transport and so on, and organising a day to celebrate your Partnership in style and leave your guests with warm and happy memories of a unique event. If all this seems too much to take on/too stressful and exhausting, consider using the services of a gay organising company to handle some or all of the details
In our experience, the wedding industry is not one of prejudice, so you shouldn't feel unable to simply call from our directory as normal. You can celebrate your civil partnership ceremony at a registry office or at any venue which holds a civil wedding licence. There are 3,500 licensed venues across the UK and some of those specifically gay friendly can be found here. Whatever you do don't let any negative behaviour cast a dampener on your big day!
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