Civil Partnerships

Civil Partnership now enables same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship. Couples who form a civil partnership will have a new legal status, that of ‘civil partner’.

In order to form a civil partnership you must first give notice. A civil partnership can be formed in England and Wales at a register office or an approved premise. Registrations, may or may not include a ceremony.

Giving notice of forming a Civil Partnership
You and your partner will need to each give notice in the area(s) where you have resided for the seven days prior to your notice appointment. When you give notice, you will be asked to state where you wish the civil partnership registration to take place and asked to provide details of Nationality, age, address and freedom to enter into a Civil Partnership. All this will be explained when you call our office.

If a civil partnership is to be registered outside of the area of residence, you and your partner will still need to give notice in the area(s) where you live. When you each give notice, you will be asked to give the date and place where the civil partnership registration is to take place so these details will need to have been first agreed with the local authority where the registration is going to take place.

For example…
If you live in Leicestershire and your partner lives in Brighton, but you want to register a civil partnership in a country house hotel in Kent, you will have to give notice to your local registration office in Leicestershire and your partner at Brighton register office. When you give this notice, you will both have to be able to give the date and the place where the civil partnership is to be registered, which means that you will have to have arranged this already with the venue and the Kent registration authority.

There is a fee per person for giving notice plus an additional charge for the ‘Forming a civil partnership’ at a registration service office. If you choose to do this at an approved venue you will incur the cost for attendance by a civil partnership registrar plus a further charge by the owners of the building for the use of the premises.

What is the waiting period for Civil Partnership?
There is a 15-day waiting period once you have given notice of intention to register, before the civil partnership can be registered. In exceptional circumstances, where there are compelling reasons to do so, the 15-day waiting period may be reduced.

Civil partnerships can be registered at the residence of someone who is housebound, detained or seriously ill and not expected to recover.

There are also procedures which allow couples to form a civil partnership quickly in the cases of former spouses, one of whom has changed gender under the provisions of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

If you would like more information on Civil Partnerships or would like make an appointment to give notice, please contact us on 0116 305 6565 or email registration@leics.gov.uk