Registering a civil partnership

What is a civil partnership

A civil partnership is a legal relationship which can be registered by 2 people.

Couples also have the option to get married. A civil partnership gives you the same rights and responsibilities as marriage.

To register a civil partnership, you and your partner must sign a civil partnership document in front of 2 witnesses and the person registering your civil partnership.

In some situations, a couple who hasn't registered a civil partnership will have the same legal rights and responsibilities as a couple who has registered a civil partnership. This is the case, for example, when working out your entitlement to welfare benefits and tax credits.

You can read more about civil partnerships on mygov.scot.

Who can register a civil partnership

You can register a civil partnership with your partner if all of the following apply:

• you're both aged 16 or over

• neither of you is already a civil partner or married

• you're not relatives who are legally forbidden from registering a civil partnership

• you both understand the nature of a civil partnership and can consent to its formation.

If you or your partner is 16 or 17 years old and either of you lives in England or Wales, a civil partnership registered in Scotland will not be legally recognised in England and Wales.

How to register a civil partnership

There are 2 steps needed to complete a civil partnership:

• giving notice of your intention to register

• registering the civil partnership.

Giving notice

You and your partner will each need to give notice of your intention to register a civil partnership to the district registrar for the area where you wish to register your civil partnership.

There's no legal requirement for a minimum length of residence in Scotland for a couple who wishes to form a civil partnership in Scotland. As there are no residence requirements, you can choose the district in Scotland where you wish to register.

When you give notice, you'll be asked to give details of the date and place where the civil partnership is to be registered. You'll also have to give the register office certain personal details. These are your name, your address, your date of birth and whether you've been in a civil partnership or married before. You may also be required to give evidence of your nationality.

When you give notice to the district registrar, this must be accompanied by your birth certificate and the correct fee. If either you or your partner has been married or in a civil partnership before, you'll need to produce documents to prove you're free to register a civil partnership. This could be, for example, a decree of divorce or the death certificate of a former civil partner.

If one of you is subject to immigration control, you may have to provide additional documentary evidence.

Once you've given notice of your intention to register a civil partnership, details from the notice will be published in the register office for the area where you intend to register.

The details must be made available for people to see for 28 days before you can register your civil partnership. This is to give an opportunity for any objections to be made.

The details made available won't include your address or that of your partner.

Once the 28-day period has expired, if there are no objections, the register office will produce a legal document called a civil partnership schedule. You'll need this document to register your civil partnership. If your civil partnership is going to be registered by a religious or belief celebrant, you or your partner will need to collect the schedule in person from the registrar's office.

Once the schedule is ready, you're free to register your partnership within the next 3 months. If you don't register your civil partnership within this period, you won't be able to register unless you start the whole process again.

In some exceptional circumstances, for example if one of you is seriously ill, you can ask for the 28-day period to be waived.

You can download the civil partnership notice application form and guidance notes from the National Records of Scotland website.

Registration

A civil partnership can be registered by:

• a district or assistant registrar

• a religious or belief celebrant who's been authorised by the registrar general, if the religious or belief body has agreed to register civil partnerships.

If your civil partnership is going to be registered by a registrar, it can take place either in a registration office or in any other place that the registration authority agrees to, except for religious premises.

If your civil partnership is going to be registered by a religious or belief celebrant, this can take place anywhere agreed by you and your celebrant.

There's no legal obligation or duty on a religious or belief body to register civil partnerships. It isn't unlawful discrimination for an individual celebrant or religious or belief body to refuse to register a civil partnership.

Non-religious venues can't choose whether to hold civil partnerships or not, if they hold weddings. This would be unlawful discrimination. However, religious organisations can refuse to hold civil partnerships in their venues.

You can access a directory of registrars in Scotland on the National Records of Scotland website. You should check the venue is available before registering your notice to register.

You and your partner will have legally registered your civil partnership once you've signed the civil partnership schedule in front of the person registering the civil partnership and two witnesses.

You can arrange to have a ceremony in addition to your registration process, but this isn't legally required. If you'd like to have a ceremony, you should contact the local registrar or your religious or belief celebrant to find out what arrangements can be made.

If your civil partnership is being registered by a religious or belief celebrant, you must arrange for the civil partnership schedule to be returned to the district registrar within three days of the civil partnership so it can be registered in the civil partnership register.

The cost of registering a civil partnership

There is a cost associated with registering a civil partnership. You should contact your local registrar office to find out how much this will be.

Special rules

There are special rules for some groups of people when registering a civil partnership.

People who are seriously ill

You and your partner will each need to give notice of your intention to register a civil partnership.

One of you can ask the registrar for the 28-day notice period to be reduced by:

• writing a letter or completing a form - ask the registrar for a copy of the form

• sending evidence that one of you is seriously ill and not expected to recover.

Your evidence might be a letter or email from a consultant, GP or specialist nurse.

It’s best to contact the registrar as soon as you can to check what you need to do. The registrar might accept documents sent by email until you can send original forms, supporting documents and evidence.

People who have acquired a different gender

If one partner has acquired a different gender and has a full gender recognition certificate, they'll be able to form a civil partnership in the same way as any other person.

You can read more about gender recognition, and how to register a civil partnership if one of you has acquired a different gender, on GOV.UK.

People who are subject to immigration control

There are special rules for registering a civil partnership if either you or your partner is subject to immigration control.

You're subject to immigration control unless you:

• are a British citizen or someone who has the right to live in the UK

• are an EEA or Swiss national with settled status - the EEA includes all EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway

• have no conditions attached to your stay in the UK, for example because you're a diplomat or a member of visiting armed forces.

If you're subject to immigration control, you and your partner must both give notice to register your civil partnership at a special register office. Before you'll be allowed to give notice, you must have been granted entry clearance to the UK specifically for the purpose of registering a civil partnership in the UK.

Everyone who wants to register a civil partnership in a register office must provide proof of their nationality. If the registrar believes that someone is entering into a civil partnership for immigration purposes, they must report this to UK Visas and Immigration.

If you're subject to immigration control and want to register a civil partnership, you may need to get advice from an experienced adviser, for example at a Citizens Advice Bureau. Find out where to get advice.

Partnerships formed overseas

Some couples may already have formed a civil union abroad. If you're in this kind of relationship, you can get automatic recognition in the UK as civil partners and won't need to register in the UK as well.

However, you, your partner and your overseas relationship must meet certain conditions. For example:

• you and your partner must not have already been civil partners or married when you entered into a civil partnership

• you must have the capacity to enter into the relationship

• your civil partnership must meet the legal conditions in the country or territory in which it was formed.

You can read more about civil partnerships outside Scotland on mygov.scot.

Forced civil partnerships

Forcing someone to enter a civil partnership without their full and free consent is against the law and is an abuse of a person's human rights. If you're afraid that you might be forced into a civil partnership in Scotland, or that someone might be planning to force you into a civil partnership while you're abroad, you should contact the police. This is also the case if you're worried that someone you know is about to be forced into a civil partnership.

Forced civil partnership is a criminal offence, punishable by up to 7 years in prison and/or a fine.

You can also apply to court for a Forced Marriage Protection Order (FMPO), which can stop a wide range of behaviour, for example:

• taking you abroad for a civil partnership

• taking your passport away

• intimidating you with threats and violence.

It can also require someone to reveal where you are. Anyone who breaks an FMPO can be sent to prison for up to 2 years and get a fine of up to £10,000.

If you're the victim of a forced civil partnership or if you're worried about someone who is at risk of being forced into a civil partnership, you could also contact Scotland's Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline. This is a free, confidential helpline available 24 hours a day and staffed by trained advisers. There's information about forced civil partnerships on the website and this is available in different languages.

If you're afraid that you might be forced into a civil partnership abroad, you should contact the Forced Marriages Unit for advice before travelling.

Ending a registered civil partnership

Once you've registered a civil partnership, it can only be ended if one of you dies or by applying to court to bring the partnership to an end.

Converting a civil partnership into marriage

It's possible for a couple to convert a qualifying civil partnership into a marriage. This can be done by a simple administrative process or by having a full marriage ceremony. The civil partnership will end on the conversion.

You can read more about changing a civil partnership to a marriage on mygov.scot.

Differences between civil partnership and marriage

Civil partnership and marriage are almost identical, and civil partners have the same rights and responsibilities as married partners.

There are some very small procedural differences. For example, civil partnerships are registered by signing the civil partnership schedule, with no words required to be spoken, whereas marriages are solemnised by saying a prescribed form of words.