Civil Partnerships Making A Will
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Civil Partnership Act 2004
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into
force on the 5 December 2005 providing a long overdue legal recognition of same
sex couples' rights. Same sex couples now finally have largely the same legal
rights as that of heterosexual married couples. However, there does appear to be
2 areas where the legal rights of civil partners and married couples differ.
The grounds for dissolving a civil
partnership are the same as those for dissolving a marriage with one exception
- adultery is not a ground for dissolution in a civil partnership unlike in
- Pre-Partnership Agreements
Pre-nuptial agreements have been
available for many years but it would seem that only the most wealthily
couples who intend to marry avail themselves of this agreement, and it there
appears to be little encouragement from legal forums to use them.
Conversely, with the introduction of Civil Partnerships, much emphasis has
been placed on entering into a Pre-Partnership Agreement.
The Pre-Partnership agreement has been
extant for many years now. Previously referred to as 'Cohabitation agreements'
it was considered a useful document to have where couples - both same sex and
heterosexual - decided to live together. More often than not however, people
never knew of the existence of such a document, as is probably the case today.
With the introduction of civil
partnership rights, much emphasis has been placed on having such an
agreement. The document should be entered into prior to registering the
partnership, and is designed to deal with how the couple wish to deal with
financial issues in the event that the partnership is dissolved.
The Law Society of England and Wales has
argued in its literature that whilst Pre-Partnership Agreements - like
pre-nuptial agreements - are not legally binding, with the courts usually
deciding to split assets 50/50 on divorce pre-partnership agreements ought to
be considered as the law will treat civil partnerships in the same manner as
(A Pre-Partnership/Cohabitation Contract
is available to download from the Legal
Tax & Wills Implications
Civil partners will be treated the same as
married couples for tax purposes. Thus, all the same inheritance tax exemptions
available to married couples will also be available to civil partners. Such
exemptions will include the Nil Rate Band allowance (currently £275,000) and
the 'spouse' exemption whereby all transfers between spouses are exempt from
inheritance tax and will also be the case with civil partners. (For more
detailed advice on inheritance tax exemptions see Inheritance
The other implication of entering into a
Civil Partnership from a Wills perspective, is that any existing will shall be
invalidated upon registering the partnership. The extant Will shall
automatically be revoked, and a new Will should be drafted.
If you wish to make a Will in expectation
or contemplation of entering into a civil partnership - or marriage for that
matter - specific clauses will need to be drafted into the Will to ensure that
it remains valid after entering the partnership/marriage.
Thankfully the law relating to Civil
Partnerships is on a very similar footing to that of marriage, thus matters are
not too complicated. As with advice given to married couples, making a Will is
important as you should not assume that your spouse/partner will inherit your
share, and it may well be that specific clauses will need to be drafted into
Wills for civil partners.
About the AuthorJsByrne
LLB (Hons) LPc.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2006-06-09 23:34:00 in Legal Articles