What is civil partnership?
A civil partnership is a legal relationship for same-sex couples, which is formed by signing a civil partnership registration document. It provides a number of important rights and responsibilities and equal treatment for same-sex couples on a wide range of legal matters.
Who is eligible?
You must both be of the same sex, not already in a civil partnership or marriage and must both be over 16. If you are under 18 you will need to provide written consent from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s).
How do we arrange a civil partnership?
You may hold your civil partnership registration in any Register Office or approved premise in England and Wales, although individual approved premises are free to decide whether they wish to host civil partnership registrations. You may choose to simply register your partnership or to celebrate the registration with a formal ceremony.
Registration only
To make your partnership legal you need only sign the partnership schedule in the presence of credible witnesses and the registrar.
Partnership ceremonies
You may enhance your registration by holding a partnership ceremony either at Leeds Town Hall or at approved venues within Leeds.
The legal preliminaries - giving your notice of civil partnership
By law, before you can register your civil partnership, you must both give notice of your civil partnership. You must do this in person and you cannot ask someone else to go for you. If you are both British Citizens or European Union nationals (see below) you must give your notice to the superintendent registrar in the district where you live.
You must have lived in the same district ie Leeds for at least eight days before you can give your notice.
If you both live in the same district you must both give your notice at the same office. If you live in different registration districts you must give notice separately in your own area.
If you are a foreign national or are arranging a civil partnership with a foreign national from outside the European Union you must both give your notice in a district which has been designated for that purpose. Leeds is a designated district.
To give notice in Leeds you will need to make an appointment. Please ring (0113) 2224408. You will need to pay the notice fee (£33.50 per person) when you book your appointment. Please ensure that you have a debit/credit card available. If you do not turn up for your appointment we cannot refund your notice fee. We will only re-imburse your fee if you cancel or re-arrange your appointment more than 48 hours before your appointment time.
Once you have given your notice it does not matter if either of you moves to a different address.
A notice of civil partnership is valid for 12 months and therefore may be given up to 12 months before the date of your registration. It is advisable to secure your registration or ceremony appointment by giving your notice as soon as you can.
The notice is valid only for the venue named on the notice. Whereas it may be possible to change the date and time of your registration or ceremony (provided it is before the expiry date), a change of venue would require a new notice and another notice fee.
After giving notice you must wait a further 15 clear days before the registration or ceremony can take place (for example if a notice was given on the 5 December, the ceremony may take place on or after 21 December.) If you are holding a ceremony outside Leeds you must present the authority for your ceremony to take place to the person conducting the ceremony prior to the event.
Member states of the European Union
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden or Switzerland.
Provisional ceremony bookings
You can make a provisional booking to secure your preferred date and time for your registration / ceremony. Please ring (0113) 2224408. You will need to pay a non-returnable administration fee of £20. If you are booking more than one year in advance you will need to make arrangements to give your notice at the appropriate time to confirm the booking. When you make your booking we will agree a date with you by when you should give notice.
What documents will we need?
When you make your appointment to visit the Register Office to give your notice you will be asked to produce certain documents as proof of your name, age, nationality, address and where necessary marital status.
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Preferred documents
Name, age and nationality - a passport, Home Office travel document or a birth certificate. If you were born after 1 January 1983 and cannot produce a passport, you must also provide one of your parents’ full birth certificate or passport in addition to your own certificate. If presenting a birth certificate you will need to provide further evidence of your identity eg a driving licence, ID card or bank statement. If you were born abroad and are not a British citizen a national identity card or driving licence issued by the authorities of your country may be acceptable. It must show your photograph and if it is not in English you should provide a translation.You will also need to produce a deed poll or any statutory declaration documents if you have changed your name.
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Address - driving licence or utility bill/bank statement showing your current address (dated within the last 3 months).
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Condition - If either of you has been in a civil partnership before, either in this country or abroad and that partnership has now ended you will need to show proof of how it ended. If either of you has been married before either in this country or abroad and is now divorced you will need to show proof of your divorce. If you divorced in England or Wales this will be a court stamped copy of the decree absolute. If you were divorced anywhere else you will need to produce the original document issued by that country and an English translation - if appropriate. In the case of a lady presenting a divorce document, if the name on the divorce decree absolute does not match the name on the proof of identity we will need to see the relevant previous marriage certificate(s).
- If your former spouse has died or you are a surviving civil partner you will need to show us a certified copy of your late husband's/wife's or civil partner’s death certificate (and an English translation if the certificate is in a foreign language).If you have already registered a civil partnership in a foreign country you only need to register again in this country if you think that the partnership is not legally recognised in the country where you registered your partnership. If you decide to register your partnership here, you will need to provide any documents relating to the registration when you give your notice.
What to do if you are under 18
The minimum age for a civil partnership in this country is 16 years. If either of you is aged 16 or 17 you will need to provide proof of consent to your civil partnership - either from parent(s), guardian(s) or the Court(s). Please contact the register office for advice (see Where to contact us).
Gender recognition
If you have had a gender change a special procedure under Section 3 of the Civil Partnership Act exists so that you may register a civil partnership in your new gender. You may register your Civil partnership on the same day that your marriage is annulled so that there is no legal break in your relationship (although the schedule authorising your civil partnership is valid for a month). You must produce your gender recognition certificate issued by the court in addition to the other documents described above when giving your notice.