Although the Civil Partnership Act has been
in force for six years now, many couples s ll
find it difficult to work their way through the
procedures. Common ques ons are: ‘What
do we need to do?’ ‘Who do we need to
speak to?’ ‘How much will it all cost?’ And
the essen al ques on: ‘Is it very complicated
to arrange a civil partnership ceremony?’
The answer is a resounding ‘nO!’... and here’s why:
*
The first thing to do is set a date. Remember your civil
partnership signing can take place at any tme of the
year, except christmas day, Boxing day and new Year’s
day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
*
Then contact your local register office to check the
availability of that date and make an appointment to
give your ‘notce of intenton’. (For a list of designated
register offices go to:
www.gro.gov.uk/content/
civilpartnerships/index.asp)
*
When you give notce you must produce identficaton,
usually a current passport or a birth certficate, along
with supportng documents like a driver’s licence,
council tax document or medical card. in additon, you
must show proof of residency and also show that both
of you have lived in the uK in a registraton authority for
at least seven days prior to giving notce of your
intenton to register your partnership. each person must
give notce individually.
*
Once you have given notce, you have a waitng period of
15 days (14 in Scotland) before you are able to hold your
civil partnership signing and ceremony. From the tme you
give notce, the applicaton is valid for a one-year period.
*
When you give notce of your intenton to register a
civil partnership, details from the notce will be
available in a register office for public inspecton (as in
the case of a marriage) but the details will not include
either the address or addresses of you or your partner,
unlike in the case of an opposite-sex marriage.
*
it is important that these details are publicly available
during the 15-day waitng period in order to allow for
any objectons to be made, just as in the case of
marriage. The grounds for objecton to a civil partnership
are the same grounds for objecton to marriage – for
example, someone could object if they think the couple
are not eligible to register a civil partnership.
This is prety much all you need do in terms of paperwork. now
that’s out of the way, the fun and games can begin and you can
start planning your perfect day.
Gino and Mike Meriano are gay rights
campaigners and directors of Pink
Weddings, one of the leading gay
weddings companies in Europe, and
the UK’s official Gay Wedding Show.
Advice is from their book
civil
Partnership – a guide to the perfect
day
, published by New Holland
Publishers (UK) Ltd and available
from Amazon.
ISBN: 978-1-84773-323-8
Arranging your ceremony need not
be complicated say Gino and Mike
Meriano, one of the first couples to
have a civil partnership ceremony
in the UK
24 » pink weddings magazine
Guidance
SIX SIMPLE STEPS
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