Part 5Civil partnership formed or dissolved abroad etc.
Chapter 3Dissolution etc.: jurisdiction and recognition
Recognition of dissolution, annulment and separation
233Effect of dissolution, annulment or separation obtained in the UK
(1)
No dissolution or annulment of a civil partnership obtained in one part of the United Kingdom is effective in any part of the United Kingdom unless obtained from a court of civil jurisdiction.
(2)
Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the validity of a dissolution or annulment of a civil partnership or a legal separation of civil partners which has been obtained from a court of civil jurisdiction in one part of the United Kingdom is to be recognised throughout the United Kingdom.
(3)
Recognition of the validity of a dissolution, annulment or legal separation obtained from a court of civil jurisdiction in one part of the United Kingdom may be refused in any other part if the dissolution, annulment or separation was obtained at a time when it was irreconcilable with a decision determining the question of the subsistence or validity of the civil partnership—
(a)
previously given by a court of civil jurisdiction in the other part, or
(b)
previously given by a court elsewhere and recognised or entitled to be recognised in the other part.
(4)
Recognition of the validity of a dissolution or legal separation obtained from a court of civil jurisdiction in one part of the United Kingdom may be refused in any other part if the dissolution or separation was obtained at a time when, according to the law of the other part, there was no subsisting civil partnership.