What arrangements can I make for my civil partnership?

If you want to register a civil partnership, you will be able to give formal notice of your of intention to do so from 5 December 2005. Before this date, you should contact your local register office to find out what provisional arrangements you can make. Some local authorities, such as Brighton and Liverpool, are already taking provisional bookings whereas others are taking expressions of interest from couples. It is up to local authorities to decide what arrangements to make with couples at this stage, however over the next few months it is expected that more and more places will start to take provisional bookings as more details of the procedures for registration become known.

Where can I register my civil partnership?

The range of places you can register your civil partnership will be broadly similar to those available for civil marriage.

Every local authority will be required to provide a facility for the registration of a civil partnership. It will also be possible to register a civil partnership at a venue elsewhere, for example at a hotel. Any premises that are presently approved for marriage will, with effect from 5 December, be deemed to also be approved for the purposes of civil partnership registrations until the current approval is renewed or expires. After 5 December, premises will be approved for hosting both civil partnerships and marriages.

What formal requirements have to be met before registration can take place?

You and your partner will need to each give notice in the area(s) where you have resided for at least seven days. When you give notice, you will be asked to state where you wish the civil partnership registration to take place

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. Example:

If you live in Brighton and your partner lives in Eastbourne, but you want to register a civil partnership in a country house hotel in Kent, you will have to give notice to your local register office in Brighton and your partner at Eastbourne 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.

What is the waiting period for civil partnership?

There will be a 15-day waiting period once each person has given notice of intention to register, before the civil partnership can be registered. There will be procedures in place to reduce the 15-day waiting period in exceptional circumstances where there are compelling reasons to do so.

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