LGBT Carers Group newsletter, February 2005

'Civil partnerships' receive royal assent

Note: Highlights of this edition are available online. Click on the article titles at the bottom of this page to read each article. A downloadable pdf version of the newsletter is also available.

In our last newsletter we reported on important legal steps that are being taken to provide greater rights and responsibilities for lesbians and gay men. We are pleased to report that the Civil Partnership Act has now received royal assent and will be implemented during 2005. The Alzheimer's Society has supported this act, which allows same-sex couples to make a formal, legal commitment to each other by entering into a civil partnership through a statutory civil registration procedure. At present, same-sex couples have no way of gaining formal legal recognition for their relationship. This act is a big step forward in the provision of support and legal protection for a marginalised, invisible and often discriminated against section of the population.

A range of important rights and responsibilities will come with entering civil partnerships. These will help same-sex couples to organise their lives together.

Jacqui Smith, deputy minister for women and equality, said:

'This is one of the most significant pieces of social legislation the government has introduced. The Civil Partnership Act sends a clear message that we value and support the contribution committed same-sex couples make to each other and our society.
A loving relationship, whether of opposite-sex couples or same-sex couples, benefits society as a whole and I am delighted that this act is now on the statute book.
I hope this act will help create a more equal society. It opens the way to respect, recognition and justice for those who have been denied it for too long.'

Under the act, civil partners will:

have a duty to provide reasonable maintenance for each other and any children of the family
be assessed in the same way as spouses for child support
receive equitable treatment for the purposes of life assurance
receive employment and pension benefits
be recognised under intestacy rules
have access to fatal accidents compensation
be recognised for immigration and nationality purposes.