Civil Partnership conversion into Marriage

Couples who have been through a Civil Partnership Ceremony can now convert this into a marriage.

There are two ways of doing this.

Standard Conversion

The first is a simple administrative process called a standard conversion – this is where you both attend at any register office and complete a declaration with details of you and your Civil Partner.

You will need the following documents for this:

• Your civil partnership certificate.
• Evidence of identity for each of you, for e.g. UK Passport /Driving Licence with photo
• Proof of your address in one of the following forms:
  • A utility bill dated within three months of your appointment, or
  • Bank or building society statement dated within one month of your appointment, or
  • A council tax bill dated within one year of your appointment, or
  • Valid UK Driving Licence.

A legal declaration will then be drawn up for you both to sign in the presence of the Superintendent Registrar. If you would like, you can choose to state the declaration wording aloud to each other, prior to the signing the document. You will then be legally married and a marriage certificate issued.

A conversion followed by a ceremony

There are two stages to this process, the preparation of the declaration at a register office and the signing of the declaration at a different location or a different time.

Firstly, you would both need to attend at any register office and complete a declaration with details for you and your Civil Partner. You would need to provide the necessary documents during this appointment which is stated above i.e. civil partnership certificate, proof of identity and proof of address.

The second stage to this process is the signing of the declaration, followed by the ceremony. This can take place at any venue where same sex couples are allowed to marry.

The ceremony can be designed to suit your needs and a fee’s will be applicable.

Please contact the Register Office for Civil Partnership Conversion fees.

If you would like to book a ceremony or require any further guidance, please contact the office on 01495 742132 or email: registrars@torfaen.gov.uk where staff will be happy to help.