Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Same-Sex Marriage and Civil Partnership Differences
Same-Sex Marriage and Civil Partnership Differences
COUPLES
Note: this table sets out the similarities and differences between civil
partnership, which is available only to same sex couples, and marriage as it
applies to same sex couples. There are some differences between how marriage
applies to opposite sex and same sex couples, which are not covered.
Legal
provisions
Formation
Administra
tive
processes1
Marriage
Civil Partnership
Based on current position. There may be some changes as part of the implementation of the 2013 Act.
Certificate
s2
Annulment
See footnote 1.
Marriage
Civil Partnership
Marriage
Civil Partnership
venereal disease in a
communicable form.
Divorce /
Dissolution
If an interim gender
recognition certificate has
been issued to either party
after the marriage.
Marriage is ended by
divorce, by obtaining a
decree absolute. Some
effects of marriage of the
couple end on the issue of
the decree nisi.
Unreasonable behaviour.
Unreasonable behaviour.
Marriage
State
pensions
Civil Partnership
consent required).
consent required).
Marriage
Survivor
benefits
occupation
al pension
schemes
Survivor
benefits
public
service
pensions
Where an occupational
pension scheme provides
discretionary survivor
benefits, schemes are
permitted to only take into
account the rights accrued
from the date the Civil
Partnership Act came into
force (5 December 2005).
Where an occupational
scheme is contracted out3,
schemes are required to pay
surviving spouses of either
gender half of the
Guaranteed Minimum
Pension (GMP) accrued
based on the members
accruals back to April 1988.
Survivor benefits in public
service pensions are, in
most cases, in line with
those for civil partners and
widowers of a marriage
between an opposite sex
couple. This means that in
most cases, in addition to
the GMP, they take account
of service accrued since
1988.
Civil Partnership
An individual can contract out of (leave) the additional state pension (ASP) if their employer runs a contracted out pension
scheme. A member of such a scheme does not contribute to the ASP for the time they belong to the scheme. When they retire
they wont get any ASP or it might be reduced. They should receive a pension from their employer.
4
See footnote 3.
Marriage
Civil Partnership