Introduction

As at the end of a marriage, the breakdown of a civil partnership will often necessitate a consideration of whether financial arrangements should be made for the benefit of a partner, or children, or both. The other relief that may be required, usually on a more immediate basis, relates to protection from domestic violence and occupation of the home and is the subject of a separate chapter (chapter 13).

The various types of financial orders which the court may make under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 on the formal termination of a marriage are now available, under Schedule 5 to the Civil Partnership Act, on the breakdown of a civil partnership. Ancillary relief practitioners will immediately recognise the list of factors to be taken into account by the court when deciding how to exercise its powers and the court's duty to consider whether to dispose finally of the parties' financial claims by imposing a ‘clean break’. The ability of the court to make financial relief orders if one civil partner has failed to provide reasonable maintenance for the other, or has failed to contribute properly towards reasonable maintenance for a child (corresponding with s.27 of the Matrimonial Causes Act), is also included in Schedule 5.