Number of civil partnerships in England and Wales continuing to rise

Despite a large decrease in civil partnerships between 2013 and 2015 due to the legalisation of same sex marriage in 2014, it appears that the number of civil partnerships formed in England and Wales is increasing once again. Since 2018 the numbers have risen to 956, an increase of 5.3%.

John Darnton, consultant in BDB Pitmans’ family team, comments on the reasoning behind this in an article for eprivateclient:

‘Different types of families continue to evolve; however the law is slow to catch up. The continued failure to introduce effective legislation to protect cohabitees is an example of this’.

He also questioned why civil partnerships are regarded as more attractive than same sex marriages, saying:

‘Is it seen by some as a half-way house?’

The full article is available to subscribers of eprivateclient, here.