End a civil partnership
Apply for a final order
The final order is the legal document that ends your civil partnership.
You have to wait 6 weeks after the date of the conditional order to apply for a final order.
If your civil partner applied for a conditional order, you have to wait 3 months and 6 weeks after the date of the conditional order.
Apply within 12 months of getting the conditional order - otherwise you will have to explain the delay to the court.
If you want a legally binding arrangement for dividing money and property you must apply to the court for this before you apply for a final order.
How to apply
How you apply for a final order depends on when the court issued the application for ending your civil partnership.
If the court issued your application before 6 April 2022
Fill in the application for a conditional order to be made final.
Return the form to the court. This will usually be the same court that dealt with your conditional order.
If the court issued your application on or after 6 April 2022
If you applied to end your civil partnership online, you’ll be told how to apply for the final order online.
To apply by post, fill in the application for a final order form.
You can apply for a final order as a sole applicant, even if you started the process to end your civil partnership jointly with your civil partner.
Getting the final order
The court will check that there are no reasons why the civil partnership cannot be ended. You must provide all details the court asks for within the time limits.
If the court is happy with all the information, it will send you and your civil partner a final order.
Once you get your final order, your civil partnership has ended and you can marry or enter into another civil partnership.
You must keep your final order safe - you will need to show it if you enter into another civil partnership or to prove your status.