On the 13th March 2014, it became legal for same-sex couples to marry in the UK and 16 days later the very first ceremonies took place around the country. Now, more than two years on, we examine the rise in popularity of same-sex marriages and the subsequent decrease in Civil partnerships.
The Modern History of Same-Sex Marriage and Civil Partnerships
Over 140,000 people in the UK have entered into civil partnerships since the introduction of The Civil Partnership Act 2004. It was the first time same sex couples were able to legally register their relationship and afforded both the same rights and responsibilities as a married couple.
In 2014, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 became law enabling same sex couples to marry.
Same Sex Marriage in Statistics
The introduction of this Act has in the past 12 months been a major factor in the decrease by 85% (from 1683 to 861) in the number of Civil partnerships registered. There has also been an increase in the number of dissolutions of Civil partnerships for weddings in this period.
The information provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reports that in Wales there were more partnerships formed between women (15) than men (14). London (294) had the highest number of civil partnerships formed in 2015 than anywhere else in the UK, and almost half of those forming partnerships in the UK were aged 50 or over.
How Has Howells Seen a Change?
Richard Scott, Partner and family law specialist at Howells Solicitors has represented gay and lesbian clients since the introduction of The Civil Partnership Act 2004.
Commenting on the ONS data, he said,
“Prior to same sex couples being able to legally enter into marriage together, we have represented clients wanting to dissolve their Civil partnerships. Howells has seen a significant increase in the number of enquiries since the Act became law. The majority of whom are seeking information about the legal process involved in ‘swapping’ from a Civil partnership to a marriage.
“We anticipate this trend to continue in the short term but they will then probably reduce as more same sex couples opt to get married instead of forming Civil partnerships.”
Explaining the differences between a Civil partnership and same sex marriage and why couples are preferring to get married, Richard Scott said,
“There aren’t any major differences between civil partnerships and marriage although the latter does provide additional benefits. These include couples having the same rights as a religious marriage (although the ceremony itself cannot have any religious content and is conducted by registrar), adultery can be used as a reason as grounds for divorce, and most importantly for many the couples can call themselves ‘married’ for legal purposes.”
The differences between Civil partnerships and same sex marriage are explained in more detail in this previous post: What’s the Difference Between Marriage and Civil Partnership?
