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What ‘civil partnership’ means

Civil partnerships are a legal confirmation of a relationship between two people of the same sex.

If you’ve been living with someone or been married, you can find out more about ending the relationship by following the links below.

• Your rights if you split up but aren't married or in a civil partnership

• How the divorce process works

What you need to prove to a court to dissolve a civil partnership

To legally end a civil partnership by ‘dissolving’ it, you must have been in it for at least a year.

You’ll also need to prove to a court why the civil partnership doesn’t work any more.

The court needs proof that ‘irretrievable breakdown of the civil partnership’ has happened. You’ll need to give specific reasons for this – these reasons are known as supporting ‘facts’.

Supporting ‘facts’ to dissolve a civil partnership

There are four supporting ‘facts’ you can use to prove to the court that your civil partnership should be dissolved. You will have to tell the court which ‘fact’ has happened to show why you want to end the civil partnership.

These are:

• unreasonable behaviour by your civil partner
• your partner left your home more than two years ago (legally called ‘desertion’)
• you've been separated for at least two years and you both agree to the dissolution
• you've been separated for at least five years but one of you hasn't said they agree to the dissolution

What ‘unreasonable behaviour’ means

‘Unreasonable behaviour’ is generally when a partner is acting in a way that means you can’t be expected to live with them any longer.

Unreasonable behaviour could include, for example:

• physical or mental cruelty
• verbal or physical abuse
• being irresponsible with money
• being sexually unfaithful

Unreasonable behaviour doesn’t have to be one serious incident – it can be a number of smaller incidents.

You’ll need to go into some detail, so it’s useful if you have a note of the dates or times when these things happened. You’ll need to provide these details to the court when you start the dissolution process.

Bear in mind that if the unreasonable behaviour stopped more than six months ago, the court may not see it as a reason to end your civil partnership. If this is the case, it’s a good idea to get some legal advice.

If you are in an abusive relationship you can find out where to get help by following the link below.

• Domestic violence: protecting yourself and getting help (crime and justice section)

What ‘desertion’ means

You can use ‘desertion’ as a reason to dissolve your civil partnership if your partner has left your home at least two years ago. This must be:

• without your agreement
• without good reason
• for a period of more than two years in the last two and a half years
• with the aim of ending the relationship between you
  

You can still claim desertion if you have lived together for up to a total of six months within this period.

What ‘separation’ means

‘Separation’ usually means that you haven't been living in the same household.

In some circumstances, you can still be considered separated if you have stayed in the same home. But you must be able to show that you haven’t been living as civil partners. This means proving you haven’t shared meals, slept together or done things for each other like washing, cooking or cleaning.

If you and your civil partner have been separated for at least two years and you both agree to the dissolution, you can use ‘separation’ as a ‘fact’.

If you've lived apart for at least five years, there is no need for you both to agree to the dissolution. Either one of you can use ‘separation’ as a ’fact’. But the court may refuse to grant the order if it would cause serious hardship to your civil partner.

Starting the process to end a civil partnership

Once you have worked out which ‘fact’ you intend to use to support the ‘grounds’ to end the partnership, you can start the formal process.

• Filing court papers to end your civil partnership

Separation if you can’t get or don’t want a dissolution

There may be reasons why you can’t or don’t want to dissolve your civil partnership. For example, you may have been in the partnership for less than a year, or you can’t prove any of the supporting ‘facts’.

If this is the case, you could consider a legal separation instead of dissolving your civil partnership.

• Legal separation