How to deal with financial remedies on the dissolution of a Civil Partnership has been considered by the Court of Appeal for the first time in Lawrence v Gallagher. Robert Worthing, Partner and Head of our Family Team looks at this in further detail.
In the lower Court, the Judge confirmed that on the breakdown of
a Civil Partnership, civil partners should be treated the same as
divorcing spouses. On appeal, Mr Lawrence ran the argument
that in a homosexual relationship, it was more likely that the
couple would not have children and would both be able to work
outside the home in order to pursue their dual careers. He
wanted to treat their income and capital as separate.
Mr Lawrence's submissions were not accepted by the Court in
view of the fact that the parties had combined their financial
resources and had not maintained financial independence. The
Court of Appeal reiterated that the same legal principles must
apply to the dissolution of Civil Partnerships as to divorce.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.