The process of converting a civil partnership to a marriage is administrative in nature and does not require a ceremony, guests or witnesses.
Only the couple need to book an appointment to come to the Register Office during office hours to complete the conversion and receive any certificates they wish to purchase.
Couples can attend any Register Office in England and Wales for this process - it doesn't have to be the same place where the civil partnership was formed.
We will ask to see original documents to show your details:
- Names and ages - passport or birth certificate, along with any name change documents
- Address - council tax bill or bank statement
- Your existing civil partnership certificate
Some couples choose to have a separate celebration at some point after their conversion appointment to commemorate the occasion and, as the conversion has already taken place, certificates can be presented at the ceremony. Alternatively, you can convert using a two-stage option where all of the documentation is checked before the ceremony, but the signing of the legal document takes place at the ceremony. If you decide to complete your application and declaration of conversion separately there is an additional fee for this and certificates will not be available on the day of the conversion.
Certificates will show the date of marriage as the original civil partnership date. These will not be available until after the full conversion process has been completed and can be purchased as per our fees table.
It is not currently possible to convert a marriage to a civil partnership.
Ceremonies
Couples have the opportunity to follow the conversion process with a ceremony to mark the occasion if they wish.
The fees for our ceremonies are in line with our marriages and renewal of vows as detailed in our fees table depending on your conversion choices.
Please call us if you would like to discuss making a booking to convert your civil partnership to a marriage or email registrars@milton-keynes.gov.uk.
More information can be found on the "Convert a same-sex civil partnership into a marriage" pages on the gov.uk website.
Changing legal gender within a marriage
The provision to enable a marriage or civil partnership to continue if a person legally changes gender has been reviewed. See the gender recognition pages on gov.uk for details.
How do I find out more?
Additional information can be found as follows:
www.gov.uk - Convert a same-sex civil partnership to a marriage
The main differences between civil partnerships and marriage.
In addition, Stonewall also have an informative website which may be of interest.