Civil Partnership
Civil partnership is a new legal relationship, which can be registered by two people of the same sex, allowing legal recognition. The Civil Partnership Act came into force on 5 December 2005.
Civil partners will have equal treatment in a wide range of legal matters with married couples, including:
- Tax, including inheritance tax
- Employment benefits
- Most state and occupational pension benefits
- Income-related benefits, tax credits and child support
- Duty to provide reasonable maintenance for your civil partners and any children of the family
- Ability to apply for parental responsibility for your civil partner’s child
- Inheritance of a tenancy agreement
- Recognition under intestacy rules
- Access to fatal accidents compensation
- Protection from domestic violence
- Recognition from immigration and nationality purposes.
As a result of the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act there will be important changes affecting same-sex couples who claim income-related benefits, regardless of whether the couple decide to form a civil partnership.
For more information about how this could affect your benefits see
Getting it right (English) (37KB)
Getting it right (Welsh) (39 KB)
For more detailed information about civil partnerships go to www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/civilpartnership.htm