Civil partnership in Ireland

Get the who, what, and how.

The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 came into effect on the 1st January 2011 and brought civil partnerships to Ireland. It is the very first Irish act/law that gives gay couples legal rights within relationships. The act also assigns rights to gay couples that have been living together for a certain period of time. There are no differences in the act between the rights of those who live together and those who have entered into a formal civil partnership.

A couple must register for their partnership three months in advance, so the first civil partnerships in Ireland are likely to take place in April 2011.

Many foreign civil partnerships are now recognised in Ireland also.

Who can get one?

You must be aged 18 or over.
You must be in a single sex couple.
You must freely consent to the partnership – in other words, you must not be pressured into it.

How to register for a civil a partnership:

You must give a registrar three months notice of intention to enter into a civil partnership. You can find a list of locations of civil registration offices around Ireland by clicking here.
You can give notification at any civil registration office; not just one near where you are living or where you plan to hold a ceremony.
You must make an appointment with the registrar before you go to the office.
You will need to provide the registrar with various details such as your address, date of birth and nationality. You should also bring your passport, original birth cert, proof of address, any divorce or separation papers and your PPS number with you.
You will need to provide the registrar with details of the proposed ceremony date, names of witnesses and details of the venue where the ceremony will be held.
In exceptional circumstances such as severe illness, you may send a three months notice of intention to enter into a civil partnership by post.
In other exceptional circumstances, a family court may waive the three month notice and allow a couple to get a partnership without waiting for the usual time frame

Benefits of a civil partnership:

The home you share with your partner cannot be leased, sold or rented out without your consent.
If you split up, you can get spousal maintenance (payments) from your ex, as well as various financial settlements relating to pensions etc.
If your partner dies, you will be automatically entitled to a share of his/her estate. You will also be entitled to death benefits.
Any social welfare claims will be dealt with as a couple. You will no longer be assessed as a single person. This may mean you are entitled to more money, but it could also mean you get less or none at all.

Issues with civil partnerships:

Many people feel that civil partnerships are not truly equal to marriage and that gay people should be entitled to actual marriage, and not just civil partnerships. Also, since marriage is for opposite sex couples and civil ceremonies for same sex couples; both groups can easily be given entirely different and unequal legal rights.
The children of civil partnerships do not have the same rights as the children of opposite sex parents. In fact, they are not mentioned in the bill at all. So, children have no maintenance rights if a partnership dissolves through separation, as well as no automatic rights to their parent’s estate (unless a will has been made). Children are considered to belong to the biological or adoptive parent only, so that the civil partner does not have any legal rights to the child, no matter how many years he/she has raised them.
If your partner is a non national, he/she cannot be automatically awarded citizenship when you get into a civil partnership.

Further Info:

www.glen.ie/

www.marriagequality.ie/learn/civilpartnershipbill/