Dissolution of Civil Partnerships
If there is a breakdown of a same sex relationship, it is necessary to deal with both the dissolution of the Civil Partnership and the surrounding financial issues.
Grounds for Dissolution of a Civil Partnership
Parties wanting to apply for a divorce will have to sign a statement to confirm that their marriage has broken down irretrievably.
The applicant will then receive paperwork from the Court notifying them that the application for divorce has been issued and confirming when this was sent to the Respondent.
The Respondent must reply to the application within seven days of receipt.
If the Respondent fails to acknowledge receipt of the application to the court, there are several ways in which we can ask the court to consider the application without the Respondent’s agreement. These include having the documents personally served upon them or making an application to the court for deemed service.
The next stage of the divorce process is to apply for a Conditional Order, and this can only be done 20 weeks after the date the Court first issued the divorce application.
Six weeks and one day after the granting of the Conditional Order, the applicant can apply for the Final Order. Once this is granted by the court, the divorce is final. If the applicant fails to apply for the Final Order during this time, the Respondent can apply for it a further three months later.
The process of getting a divorce is long, drawn out and complicated – especially when there are children involved or financial matters to arrange. It’s also a time of emotional difficulty and great stress. This is why it is wise to have good legal advice from expert divorce and family law solicitors to ensure the process goes as smoothly as it can, and that everything is settled fairly for you and your family.
Dissolution proceedings cannot be issued within the first year of registration of the civil partnership.
The General Procedure
Once the Dissolution Petition has been issued by the Court, the next steps are as follows:-
- the other partner (the Respondent) files a document (an Acknowledgment of Service) to confirm whether or not they intend to defend the divorce proceedings;
- if the divorce proceedings are undefended and everything is in order, the Petitioner applies for a Conditional Order of Dissolution. This is the first decree in the process certifying that the parties are entitled to dissolution.
- After the Court has pronounced the Conditional Order, the Petitioner must wait a further 6 weeks and 1 day before applying for the Final Order. This is not an automatic process; the Petitioner must apply for it. This is the final decree and will complete the dissolution.
A straight forward dissolution roughly takes (from issuing the Petition to the Final Order) around 3 – 6 months. However, it may be sensible to postpone applying for the Final Order until a financial settlement has been reached. This is particularly important if there is a significant pension and the Petitioner would lose valuable pension benefits if the Respondent died unexpectedly between the Final Order and a pension sharing Order being made. In a situation such as this, the Petitioner would reach the point of the Conditional Order and then defer applying for the Final Order until the finances have been settled and a Court Order has been made approving the terms.
If the one seeking a pension sharing Order is the Respondent in the dissolution (and therefore is not in control of timing), the Petitioner will be asked to give a formal assurance not to apply for the Final Order until the finances have been resolved.