Next year marks the 20 year anniversary of the Civil Partnerships Act 2004, which entitled same-sex couples in England and Wales to enter into legally binding civil partnerships. The act came into force on 5 December 2005, from which point same-sex couples were able to enter into a similar lifelong commitment to married couples, for the first time. Whilst it may seem incredible now, it wasn’t until 10 years later, in 2014, that same-sex couples were able to marry.
Importantly, while couples who live together, or have a family together, may refer to their significant other as their “partner”, they are not civil partners in law, unless they have specifically registered their relationship in a legal form similar to marriage. Equally, couples are only “husband” or “wife” if they are married. If they enter into a civil partnership, they are civil partners.
While civil partnerships were initially only available to same-sex couples, the Supreme Court case of R (on the application of Stenfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development (in substitution for the Home Secretary and the Education Secretary) [2018] in 2019, entitled heterosexual couples to enter into civil partnerships as well.
In reality, the number of civil partnerships make up a tiny percentage of legally binding relationships (marriages or civil partnerships). According to 2021 census data, same-sex civil partnered adults made up just 0.14% (67,000) of the population aged 16 years and over, and opposite-sex civil partnered just 0.07% (36,000).
So, now that the option of marriage is available to everyone, is there any real difference between a marriage and a civil partnership?
Societal differences
The main reasons a couple might choose a civil partnership over a marriage are societal. If a couple doesn’t appreciate the religious and/or patriarchal connotations of marriage, then they may feel a civil partnership is more appropriate for them – indeed, this was the driving force behind Rebecca Steinfeld’s and Charles Keidan’s Supreme Court case for opposite-sex civil partnerships in 2019.
Legal differences
Importantly, legally, there is essentially no difference between marriage and civil partnerships in the UK. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 mirrors the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, which governs marriages, including their dissolution, so that the consequences of both entering into a civil partnership, and dissolving a civil partnership, are substantially the same as with a marriage. The civil partnership will only end when either one person dies, or it is formally dissolved in a similar way to that which married couples use to divorce.
Upon separation, the assets of civil partners would be divided between them in the same way that the assets held by a married couple would be shared – the same principles will apply. As such, entering into a civil partnership, rather than a marriage, will offer no additional protection for pre-marital assets, for example.
You can enter into a pre- and post-civil partnership agreement, in the same way you can enter into a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement, and that agreement would carry the same weight as any nuptial agreement.
It is important to be aware, however, that marriages are more widely recognised internationally compared to civil partnerships, which may not be recognised in some countries.
Financial
The financial implications of a civil partnership are essentially the same as for married couples – for example, those in civil partnerships can:
- Inherit wealth from their partner without a tax charge.
- Transfer to their partner a proportion of their unused tax-free personal allowance, if they are a higher rate tax payer.
- Transfer assets to their partner free of capital gains tax.
- Inherit under the intestacy rules.
On the face of it, there is no significant legal or financial benefit to entering into a civil partnership rather than a marriage, or vice versa – they are largely the same. The real difference comes in the form of the meaning and symbolism for of the commitment for the couple.
If you require any advice, please contact our Family Law team.