Introduction

The breakdown of a civil partnership may cause one or both partners to seek relief from the courts in the short and the longer term. If a partner finds herself or himself the victim of domestic violence, or a dispute arises about one partner's entitlement to occupy the partners' home, remedies and rights are now available under the Family Law Act 1996. The intention behind the amendments to the 1996 Act, effected by Schedule 9 to the Civil Partnership Act (introduced by s.82), is for civil partners to be entitled to the same protection as that available to spouses and opposite sex couples. So, a civil partner or former partner can apply for non-molestation orders under section 42 of the Family Law Act and occupation orders under section 33, 35, 36, 37 or 38 of that Act. ‘Home rights’ replace ‘matrimonial home rights’ in section 30, so that a civil partner's entitlement to occupy the home for so long as the partnership subsists is recognised, investing civil partners with the same rights to occupy their home as married persons. The Act also introduces the concept of the ‘civil partnership home’.

As with divorce, the breakdown of a civil partnership will inevitably involve a consideration of what, if any, financial provision ought to be made in favour of a partner, or children, or both.