Civil partnership in the United Kingdom

Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by the Labour government. The Act initially permitted only same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but the law was expanded to include different-sex couples in 2019.

Civil partnerships were introduced for same-sex couples under the terms of the Civil Partnership Act 2004. Before this, an informal London Partnership Register had been set up in 2001 by then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone but without any legal recognition.

In February 2018, the United Kingdom and Scottish governments began reviewing civil partnerships, potentially to expand them to include opposite-sex couples. In June 2018, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that restricting civil partnerships to same-sex couples was incompatible with the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights as enacted in Schedule 1 to the Human Rights Act 1998. The UK Government was obliged to change the law to allow opposite-sex couples in England and Wales to enter into civil partnerships. This change was unsuccessfully opposed by the Church of England and many Christian denominations.

Opposite-sex couples have been able to enter into civil partnerships in England and Wales since 2 December 2019. Similar reforms have been in place in Northern Ireland since 13 January 2020. In Scotland, legislation to allow opposite-sex civil partnerships passed the Scottish Parliament on 23 June 2020. These changes extend the legal recognition of relationships granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, allowing couples irrespective of sex to obtain essentially the same rights and responsibilities as civil marriage.

Civil partners are entitled to the same property rights as married couples, the same exemption as married couples on inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to obtain parental responsibility for a partner's children, as well as responsibility for reasonable maintenance of one's partner and their children, tenancy rights, full life insurance recognition, next of kin rights in hospitals, and others.

When the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales in March 2014, civil partnerships remained available to same-sex couples and granted those couples in a civil partnership the ability to convert their civil partnership into a marriage. The equivalent Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 does not grant that ability to couples in Scotland, but includes provisions for its later introduction, and does permit those already in civil partnership to marry without first dissolving the mutual civil partnership; it is not possible to have both. When same-sex marriage became legal in Northern Ireland on 13 January 2020, couples married elsewhere were legally recognised as married in Northern Ireland. Couples in Northern Ireland have been allowed to convert their civil partnerships into marriages since 7 December 2020.

A civil partnership is a relationship between two people, formed when they register as civil partners of each other, which ends only on death, dissolution or annulment. Part 2 of the Act relates to England and Wales, Part 3 to Scotland and Part 4 to Northern Ireland.

A civil partnership is formed once both individuals have signed the civil partnership document in the presence of a registrar and two witnesses.