Section 44: Dissolution of civil partnership which has broken down irretrievably
78.Subsection (1) sets out the sole ground on which an application for dissolution may be made, namely that the civil partnership has broken down irretrievably.
79.In order to demonstrate the irretrievable breakdown of the civil partnership the applicant must satisfy the court of one or more of the following facts set out in subsection (5):
That his or her civil partner (called the respondent for the purposes of the proceedings) has behaved in such a way that the applicant cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent;
That the applicant and the respondent have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 2 years immediately preceding the application (this is referred to in the Act as “2 years’ separation”) and that the respondent consents to a dissolution order being made;
That the applicant and the respondent have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 5 years immediately preceding the application (this is referred to as “5 years’ separation”);
That the respondent has deserted the applicant for a continuous period of at least 2 years immediately preceding the making of the application.
80.Subsection (2) provides that the court must inquire as far as possible into the facts alleged by the applicant and any facts put forward by the respondent. The court may not hold that the civil partnership has broken down irretrievably unless the applicant satisfies the court of one or more of the facts set out in subsection (5). But if the court is satisfied of any of those facts it must make a dissolution order unless it is satisfied on all the evidence that the civil partnership has not broken down irretrievably.