Ending a civil partnership carries the same legal weight as ending a marriage — the same no-fault process, the same financial claims, the same stakes for children — with a handful of differences worth knowing. Connaught Law's civil partnership dissolution solicitors act for partners across London and the UK, from agreed dissolutions to contested finances.
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The Dissolution Process
Dissolution mirrors modern divorce: after the partnership's first year, either or both partners apply on a no-fault statement of irretrievable breakdown, the case proceeds online through the 20-week reflection period to a conditional order, and six weeks later the final order ends the partnership. No blame, no conduct arguments — and the option of applying jointly when the decision is mutual.
Financial Claims on Dissolution
Civil partners have the same financial claims as divorcing spouses: the home, pensions, savings, businesses and maintenance, divided by the same fairness principles and starting from full disclosure. The same trap applies too — the final order ends the partnership but leaves financial claims open unless a court order closes them. Our guides to financial orders and Form E disclosure apply equally to dissolution, and we turn agreed splits into binding consent orders.
Separation Agreements
Partners not ready to dissolve — or waiting out the first year — can record their arrangements in a separation agreement: who lives where, who pays what, how assets will eventually divide. Properly drafted with disclosure and independent advice, these agreements carry substantial weight in any later dissolution and bring order to the in-between period that otherwise breeds disputes.
Children
Children of civil partners are treated exactly as in divorce: arrangements agreed between parents where possible, child arrangements orders where not, and maintenance running on its own track. Our child arrangements service handles the living and contact questions, with parental responsibility issues — which can have extra wrinkles for same-sex parents — advised on directly.
Dissolution, Separation or Annulment
Dissolution ends a valid partnership; nullity annuls one that was never validly formed or is voidable; judicial separation formalises living apart without ending the partnership — sometimes preferred for religious, pension or personal reasons. Each has different consequences for finances and status. Most people need dissolution; a short conversation confirms whether you're the exception.
What It Costs
An agreed dissolution is one of the more predictable pieces of family work: a court fee on the application, fixed legal fees for the process itself, and a consent order to close the finances — costs we set out in full before you start, on our fees page and in your quote. Costs rise with conflict, which is one more reason our strategy is to keep dissolutions consensual wherever the facts allow.
How We Work
First, the whole picture: the dissolution timetable, the financial claims each of you holds, arrangements for children, and — where relevant — immigration status tied to the partnership, which our immigration team advises on directly. Then we run the process cleanly: application, orders, disclosure and settlement, with negotiation kept civil because that's cheaper and kinder, and court used where fairness needs enforcing.
Why Connaught Law
01Equal expertise, equal treatmentDissolution clients get the same depth as divorce clients — same claims, same rigour, no afterthought service.
02Finances closed properlyEvery dissolution leaves with a financial order — because open claims are the mistake people discover years too late.
03Senior attention throughoutYour matter is run by our experienced family team, not passed down — with direct access to the person handling it.
04Costs you can see comingFixed fees for the defined stages, quoted before you commit — and a strategy built to keep conflict from inflating them.
Fee structures are set out on our fees page — agreed before we start.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I dissolve a civil partnership?
After the partnership's first year, apply — alone or jointly — with a statement that it has irretrievably broken down; no fault or blame is required. The process runs online through a 20-week reflection period to a conditional order, then six weeks to the final order. Alongside it, deal with the finances by consent order: that's the part with lasting consequences.
How much does a civil partnership dissolution cost?
For an agreed dissolution: the court's application fee, fixed legal fees for the process, and a modest additional fixed fee for the consent order closing the finances — quoted in full before you start. Contested finances cost more because they take work; our approach is to price each stage clearly and keep you out of the expensive ones where possible.
Is dissolution different from divorce?
In substance, no — the process, timescales and financial claims mirror divorce almost exactly. The differences are technical: terminology, the grounds available for annulment, and some pension and international recognition wrinkles that occasionally matter, particularly abroad. Where one applies to you, we'll flag it early.
Do civil partners have the same financial rights as married couples?
Yes — property, pension sharing, maintenance and lump sum claims all apply with equal force, decided on the same fairness principles. And the same warning applies: those claims survive the final order unless a court order ends them, so the clean break needs to be made, not assumed.
Ending a civil partnership?
Tell us your situation — agreed or contested. We'll set out the process, the finances and the fixed costs before you commit to anything.
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