Mitchell Ryan Solicitors
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Dissolution of Civil Partnership

The process to dissolve your Civil Partnership is, as with Divorce, straightforward and is ordinarily paper-based, without the need to attend Court. That said, it is of fundamental importance that the Application for Dissolution and associated papers are correctly completed, to ensure that matters proceed smoothly, in a timely manner, and cost-effectively, with your position being fully protected at all times. It is very important to understand that a Dissolution simply dissolves your Civil Partnership and does not sever you financially from your Civil Partner. Therefore, if you want to ensure your financial protection and prevent unexpected future claims, your finances need to be addressed and concluded alongside the Dissolution.

 

Dissolution of Civil Partnership

The process to dissolve your Civil Partnership is, as with Divorce, straightforward and is ordinarily paper-based, without the need to attend Court.  That said, it is of fundamental importance that the Application for Dissolution and associated papers are correctly completed, to ensure that matters proceed smoothly, in a timely manner, and cost-effectively, with your position being fully protected at all times.  It is very important to understand that a Dissolution simply dissolves your Civil Partnership and does not sever you financially from your Civil Partner. Therefore, if you want to ensure your financial protection and prevent unexpected future claims, your finances need to be addressed and concluded alongside the Dissolution.  

The Application for Dissolution is the very start of both your Dissolution and your financial application, so ensuring that the documentation is correctly completed at the outset is of the utmost importance.

You can obtain a Dissolution in England or Wales if you have been in your Civil Partnership for at least a year and your Civil Partnership has irretrievably broken down.  The law relating to the Dissolution of Civil Partnerships changed on the 6th April 2022 and the no fault process now replaces the old system.

Essentially, no fault process removes the requirement to provide evidence of ‘unreasonable behaviour’ or ‘separation’.  It replaces this with a simple requirement to give a statement of irretrievable breakdown of the Civil Partnership.

To obtain a Dissolution in England and Wales under the old law, your Civil Partnership had to have irretrievably broken down.  To show this, however, you had to confirm one of the following:

  1. The other person had behaved in such a way that you could not reasonably be expected to live with them anymore;

  2. You had been separated for two years and the other person consented to the Dissolution;

  3. You had been separated for five years; or

  4. The other person had deserted you for at least two years.

Unless therefore you had been separated for at least two years, you had to say that your Civil Partner’s conduct was the reason for the breakdown of the Civil Partnership.

Under the new law, this is no longer necessary.  The no fault application contains a statement in which you confirm that the Civil Partnership has irretrievably broken down.  A further change is that you can now also make a joint application with your Civil Partner.

There are also much more limited grounds on which the other person can object to the Dissolution proceedings.  It is hoped that this should make the process easier and more conciliatory.

Anyone who is entitled to Dissolve their Civil Partnership in the jurisdiction of England and Wales can apply under the no-fault process.

The process is broadly as follows:

  1. One party (or both parties together if a joint application) will give notice that the Civil Partnership has irretrievably broken down by completing an application.

  2. 20 weeks after the application has been issued by the court, the Applicant (or Applicants) confirm that they want to proceed with the Dissolution by applying for a Conditional Order.

  3. The court can then make a Conditional Order.

  4. After a further 6 weeks, the court can make a Final Order, which brings the Civil Partnership to an end.

It will therefore take a minimum of 26 weeks from start to finish.  We will use this time to discuss and negotiate the terms of financial settlement and endeavour to agree a Financial Remedy Consent Order.

We are able to assist and advise you throughout the whole Dissolution process which can be both stressful and daunting. 

We are also able to offer, in most cases, a fixed fee service in relation to your Dissolution and we may also be able to apply to reduce or waive the usual Court fee of £593, depending on your financial circumstances.

We offer a FREE first appointment, so take the first step and reach out to us now by either telephone on 01962 809056 | 02380 653785 or email us to arrange a convenient time on contact@mitchellryansolicitors.co.uk.