Advices on Civil Partnerships
For the first time in Ireland same sex couples are given rights, entitlements and obligations similar to married couples. Same sex couples must register their partnership in order to derive any rights or entitlements under the Act.
Civil partners can avail of many of the rights and protections conferred to married couples in areas such as property, maintenance, succession and pensions. If you are in a same sex relationship and have chosen to register your relationship, this relationship can only come to an end upon the death of one partner or alternatively on the dissolution of the partnership by a court (similar to a decree of divorce or judicial separation).
An application for dissolution of the partnership allows one or both partners to apply for maintenance or pension adjustment orders, property adjustment orders and a share in the estate of their ex-partner on death. The Act also permits civil partners to make an application for a barring order or safety order under the Domestic Violence Act, 1996.
