Chapter 4 – Civil partnership agreements
Section 73: Civil partnership agreements unenforceable
135.This section provides that an agreement to form a civil partnership (“a civil partnership agreement”) does not constitute a contract giving rise to legal rights under the law of England and Wales and will not be enforceable.
136.Subsection (2) provides that no action can be taken over any breach of a civil partnership agreement.
137.Subsection (4) provides that the section will apply to civil partnership agreements entered into both before and after the section comes into force but it will not affect any legal action which has begun before the section comes into force.
Section 74: Property where civil partnership agreement is terminated
138.This section applies when a civil partnership agreement is terminated. It provides that section 65 (contributions to property improvement by a civil partner) and sections 66 and 67 (disputes between civil partners about property and applications where property is not in possession) will apply in relation to property in which either or both of the parties to the agreement had a beneficial interest while the agreement was in force.
139.An application made using the provisions of sections 66 and 67 must be made within 3 years of the date of termination of the civil partnership agreement.
140.Subsection (5) provides that a person who makes a gift to the other person on the understanding that it will be returned if the civil partnership agreement is terminated is not prevented from recovering the property merely because he or she terminated the agreement.