The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2015

Amendments to the Family Procedure Rules 2010

6.  In rule 7.12 (what the respondent and co-respondent should do on receiving the application)(1)—

(a) for paragraph (11), substitute—

“(11) Paragraph (11A) applies where—

(a) the application is for—

(i) nullity of marriage under section 12(1)(d) of the 1973 Act;

(ii) nullity of marriage under section 12A(3) of the 1973 Act in a case where section 12(1)(d) of the 1973 Act applies ; or

(iii) nullity of civil partnership under section 50(1)(b) of the 2004 Act; and

(b) the respondent files an answer containing no more than a simple denial of the facts stated in the application.

(11A) The respondent must, if intending to rebut the matters stated in the application, give notice to the court of that intention when filing the answer.”; and

(b) after the words in parentheses at the end of the rule, insert—

“(In relation to paragraph (11)(a)(ii), section 9(6) of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 provides that where a civil partnership is converted into a marriage, the civil partnership ends on the conversion, and the resulting marriage is to be treated as having subsisted since the date the civil partnership was formed.)”.

(1)

Rule 7.12 was amended by S.I. 2012/679 and 2014/843.