Section 233: Effect of dissolution, annulment or separation obtained in the UK

Civil Partnership Act 2004 · 2004 c. 33View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 5: Civil partnership formed or dissolved abroad etc. — Chapter 3: Dissolution etc.: jurisdiction and recognition

No dissolution or annulment of a civil partnership obtained in one part of the United Kingdom is effective in any part of the United Kingdom unless obtained from a court of civil jurisdiction.

Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the validity of a dissolution or annulment of a civil partnership or a legal separation of civil partners which has been obtained from a court of civil jurisdiction in one part of the United Kingdom is to be recognised throughout the United Kingdom.

Recognition of the validity of a dissolution, annulment or legal separation obtained from a court of civil jurisdiction in one part of the United Kingdom may be refused in any other part if the dissolution, annulment or separation was obtained at a time when it was irreconcilable with a decision determining the question of the subsistence or validity of the civil partnership—

previously given by a court of civil jurisdiction in the other part, or
previously given by a court elsewhere and recognised or entitled to be recognised in the other part.

Recognition of the validity of a dissolution or legal separation obtained from a court of civil jurisdiction in one part of the United Kingdom may be refused in any other part if the dissolution or separation was obtained at a time when, according to the law of the other part, there was no subsisting civil partnership.

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Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.