Open civil partnerships to all

A recent survey conducted by Populus suggests that Civil Partnerships should be available to all couples and not just to homosexuals. At the moment the law in England and Wales allows same-sex couples to either get married or enter into a civil partnership. However, heterosexual couples can only get married and do not have the option of entering into a civil partnership. Of those surveyed, 57% answered that all couples should be allowed the right to obtain a civil partnership regardless of their sexuality. This is compared to the 20% who said that civil partnerships should be removed altogether and 24% of those surveyed who said they did not know or did not mind what should happen.

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill, which would extend the availability of civil partnership to heterosexual couples, was due to have its second reading on 12 May 2017. However as Parliament is due to be dissolved on 3 May 2017 this Bill will not pass into law during this Parliament. We wait to see whether it will be tabled again after the election.

Amanda Erskine is a solicitor in the Family department at Barker Gotelee Solicitors.

Ipswich Family Solicitors – for more information on our range of legal services, please call the team on 01473 611211 or email [email protected]