Website of the UK government

Marriage

The General Register Office (GRO) publishes an online guide to getting married. The website covers where you can get married in England and Wales and how to do it abroad. It also gives details on the residential and legal requirements for marriage, and what you need to do if you discover an error on your marriage certificate.

The GRO has responsibility for England and Wales, and there are equivalent offices for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

If you are looking for a copy of your marriage certificate, this can be ordered online or through the register office or religious building where the marriage took place. The General Register Office holds a central copy of all registrations for England and Wales. Local Register Offices also hold their own records of all events registered in their area.

Civil Marriage Ceremonies

You can find more details about civil marriage ceremonies by following the link below. Enter details of where you live and you'll be taken to your local authority website where you can find the venues available in your area. English Heritage also publishes a list of its historic buildings available for hire for a civil wedding.

• General Register Office for England and Wales Opens new window
• General Register Office for Scotland Opens new window
• General Register Office for Northern Ireland Opens new window
• Find out about civil marriage ceremonies Opens new window
• Hiring an English Heritage property Opens new window

Civil partnership

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on 5 December 2005 and enables same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship. Couples who form a civil partnership have a new legal status, that of 'civil partner'.

Civil partners have equal treatment to married couples in a wide range of legal matters, including:

• tax, including inheritance tax
• employment benefits
• most state and occupational pension benefits
• income-related benefits, tax credits and child support
• duty to provide reasonable maintenance for your civil partner and any children of the family
• ability to apply for parental responsibility for your civil partner's child
• inheritance of a tenancy agreement
• recognition under intestacy rules
• access to fatal accidents compensation
• protection from domestic violence
• recognition for immigration and nationality purposes

How to register a civil partnership

In order to form a civil partnership you must first ‘give notice’. This involves stating your intention to register a civil partnership to your registration authority. Once given, your notices are publicised by the registration authority for a period of 15 days. A civil partnership can be formed in England and Wales at a register office or approved premises.

The General Register Office has detailed information on the process and costs of forming a civil partnership.

Book a civil partnership

The 'Book a Civil Partnership' link below will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local authority website where you can find out more.

• Civil Partnerships information from the General Register Office Opens new window
• Book a civil partnership Opens new window

Co-habitation - living together

There are over four million couples living together in England and Wales in co-habitation. Although co-habitants are now given legal protection in several areas, they and their families have significantly fewer rights and responsibilities than their counterparts who are married or who have formed a civil partnership.

Most people think that, after they've been living with their partner for a couple of years, they become “common law husband and wife” with the same rights as married couples. This is not the case. In fact, couples who live together have hardly any of the same rights as married couples or civil partners.

There is no such thing as ‘common law marriage’.

If you are living together as a couple, there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your partner. There are also ways to minimise the legal and financial problems which may arise if, as can happen, you decide to separate, or if one of you dies.

You can find out about the current rights of co-habiting couples from Advicenow – an independent website offering information on rights and legal issues. Their ‘Living Together’ campaign is intended to make both opposite and same-sex co-habitants more aware of their legal status. The campaign also provides advice on how to protect yourself and your family, should you wish to do so.

If you would like more information about the differences in the legal position of married and unmarried couples, the ‘Married or Not’ section of the One Plus One website provides an overview.

• Download 'The Rights of Co-habiting Couples' - an introduction from Advicenow (PDF, 176K)
• Married or not - the legal differences Opens new window
• Help with PDF files

Book a civil partnership

The following link will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local authority website where you can find out more about how to book a civil partnership ceremony in your area.

• Book a civil partnership Opens new window

Divorce and separation

There is information and advice available on divorce and separation in the parents section of Directgov.

• Getting a divorce (parents section)