A. Contact your local Registry Office (RO) by phoning your local Council. Although not all ROs are taking provisional bookings yet, once you’ve made an appointment, you can give notice from December 5th onwards and book your signing and ceremony from December 21st onwards. The signing’s compulsory, and requires two witnesses. Each local authority can decide whether or not to offer a ceremony, and some won’t allow their registrars to do so. Pink Weddings will arrange and create partnership ceremonies for you. Gino, Pink Weddings

A. No. You can have your special day somewhere else. You must, however, give notice to your local Registry Office, then contact the Registry Office where you’ll be registering and possibly holding the ceremony. Gino, Pink Weddings

A. If you think you’re being treated unfairly by your local Registry Office, you can contact the General RO, www.gro.gov.uk, which oversees all the ROs in the country. For the General RO for Scotland, go to www.gro-scotland.gov.uk. This is your day, and you don’t have to put up with second-class treatment. You can register anywhere, so shop around. Stonewall

A. As long as both partners sign the Civil Partnership (CP) Register in front of a registrar and two witnesses, you don’t have to go all out. Not everyone will want their CP ceremony to be like Jordan’s wedding – it’s up to you both to decide how elaborate you make it. Stonewall

A. You won’t be automatically recognised, so you’ll have to re-register. CP will give same-sex couples legal recognition of their relationship for the first time, and the same benefits – and responsibilities – which come with marriage. Stonewall

A. There’s no requirement within the Act to cohabit following registration of a CP. In order to be eligible to register, the parties must be of the same sex, not already a civil partner or already married, over 16 and not within prohibited degrees of relationships; ie, child, parent, siblings, etc.

However, if you register but don't live together then this may cause problems if you both own your own homes. You will only be allowed one home to be exempt from Capital Gains Tax. As such, within 2 years of registering your relationship, it will be necessary for you to elect one property as your usual residence for CGT exemption. Therefore when the other property is sold CGT will be payable. O’Neill Patient solicitors

A. What title and what surname you use is up to you. It’s a matter of preference. However, the problem can arise when you want to change formal documents; ie, bank accounts, passport, etc. If you want to change surnames after you register, you’ll be able to use a CP Certificate as evidence, in the same way that married couples use their marriage certificate to do so. O’Neill Patient solicitors

A. By the time the first CPs take place this December, it won’t be. Then, the total cost of either a CP or a wedding at an RO will be approximately £100 – that’s £30 for each partner to give notice at their local RO, and then £40 to register on the day. Stonewall

A. You can have a blessing or ceremony in any religious building, provided your gay-friendly religious leader is happy to officiate, but there can be no religious aspect at all when you sign the CP Register. This is the same as with straight couples in a civil wedding. Stonewall

A. Yes. The law says newspapers must provide the same service for everybody.

A. No. The law says venues must provide the same service for everybody.

A. CP does come with responsibilities as well as benefits, and there’s a chance that your income might be taken into account. Even if you don’t form a CP, your relationship will be recognised in law from the end of the year. The Citizens’ Advice Bureau can advise you further on this. Go to www.citizensadvice.org.uk. Stonewall

A. There are no regulated associations for wedding planners; however, trading standards and contracts protect both parties. You can ask what experience a planner has, and even speak to some of their previous clients. We believe it’s about building a rapport with our couples. We aim to ensure our prices are competitive, if not lower than our competitors. It’s about passion and choice. Prices vary depending on the size and style, but expect to pay around £480 to £980 for planning services. Gino, Pink Weddings

A. If they understand what you and your partner’s style is, their sexuality shouldn't matter. It’s their knowledge, experience and professionalism you’re buying. It's all about communication. Jenny Crandley/ Fabulous Gay Weddings

Question the wedding planners offering services to ascertain whether they know enough to meet your needs. There isn’t a huge difference between organising a gay or straight wedding, but it’s the hidden differences that make the difference. It takes genuine experience and intimacy to know what gay and lesbian couples want on their special day. Gino, Pink Weddings

A. If they’re good, they could save you money through careful buying. Thanks to our successful core business, we’re able to offer economies of scale to our wedding clients. Jenny Crandley/ Fabulous Gay Weddings

A. Until December, there’s been no legal recognition if one partner becomes incapable or dies. This has led to partners being excluded by a deceased's family, the hospital and the authorities. The CPA 2004 gives civil partners, broadly, the same rights and recognition as married couples. As ‘next of kin’, civil partners will have the right to register their partner’s death, will be recognised under intestacy rules, be provided out of the estate as ‘surviving spouse’, and should benefit from the same exemptions from Inheritance Tax. Civil partners will have an unlimited insurable interest in each other's lives and needn’t prove cohabitation to qualify under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 O’Neill Patient solicitors

A. I assume you mean you’ve made a Will. A Will is revoked by the formation of a CP in the same circumstances as by marriage. So, unless you make the Will in recognition of the CP, and it’s clear that you intended this Will not to be revoked by the formation of the CP, then the Will will be revoked. O’Neill Patient solicitors

A. Your CP must be registered for at least a year before either partner can apply for its dissolution – or ‘divorce’. The partner filing for dissolution must satisfy the Court that the relationship has broken down irretrievably.
Acceptable grounds for divorce include unreasonable behaviour, two years’ separation by consent, five years’ separation, with no consent required, and desertion.

If you and your civil partner share ownership of property and possessions, or responsibility for a child under the age of 18, you’ll need to take legal steps to protect your rights and the welfare of those in your care.
Civil partners can make financial claims against each other if their relationship breaks down, in the same way that married spouses can. These include claims for periodical maintenance, lump sum payments, orders for the sale of property, and pension sharing.

Civil partners who are parents can apply for Residence Orders, Contact Orders and Parental Responsibility to determine whom a child will live with and when they’ll see other members of their family. This rule applies if civil partners are the birth parents, adoptive parents or stepparents of the child. In making its decision, the Court’s objective is the welfare of the child.

Knowing where you stand if things go wrong shouldn’t be seen as a vote of no confidence, and could save you and your family additional heartache and confusion. )Anita Shepherd, matrimonial expert at Manchester law firm, Glaisyers

A. Yes. When a CP is dissolved, it’s open to either party to apply to the Court for financial relief, which can include periodical payments, a lump sum order, property adjustment order or pension-sharing orders. The Court will take into account the property being in your name, but this depends on all other circumstances surrounding your relationship. These include your income and earning capacity, now and in the foreseeable future, financial needs and obligations, standard of living before the breakdown of the relationship, contributions made or likely to be made, and conduct. The Court’s also likely to take into account periods of cohabitation prior to registration. O’Neill Patient solicitors

A. There are more benefits than pitfalls. If it doesn’t work, you’ll have to wait a year before you can dissolve the partnership and, like any divorce, this may be costly. On the plus side, registered partners will be able to pass assets freely on death, avoiding inheritance tax, as married couples can now. Free asset passing can also be used in life to take advantage of a partner paying a lower income tax rate, or to maximise Capital Gains exemptions. With proper planning, many civil partners will be able to maximise tax savings. As well as tax advantages, a surviving registered civil partner will be entitled to pension benefit provisions. They’ll also be able to claim a state pension from the National Insurance contributions of their deceased civil partner. Leanne Holder, Fresh Finance

A. (I live with my partner and her son from a previous relationship, whom I co-parent. I’m also expecting a baby. After we register, will we still need to apply for Joint Residency Orders? )

Currently, you don’t have parental responsibility for your partner's son. The only way of obtaining this is to apply for a Shared Residence Order. Following registration of your CP, you’ll be classed as the child's stepparent. You can acquire parental responsibility either by entering into a Parental Responsibility Agreement with your partner – but if the child’s father has parental responsibility, then his consent will be required – or, as a stepparent, by making an application to the Court. Regarding the baby you’re expecting, you’ll have responsibility for that child. If you register a CP, you both will be able to enter into a Parental Responsibility Agreement in respect of the child. You won’t need the father's consent if he isn’t registered on the birth certificate; he won’t have parental responsibility. O’Neill Patient solicitors

A. Yes. Stonewall has produced guidance on CP. For more info, go to Stonewall.

A. If either you or your partner is subject to UK Immigration Control, there may be restrictions in terms of you forming a CP, and you might have to gain entry clearance before coming to the UK to register your partnership. This is the same for a straight couple in similar circumstances who want to marry. From December, same-sex couples who choose not to form CPs will still be treated just like straight, unmarried couples.

To find out how this may affect you, contact either the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate at www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk, 0870 606 7766, or the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group at www.uklgig.org.uk, 020 7620 6010. Stonewall

A. No. More countries are introducing same-sex partnership schemes, but there are no international rights to protect same-sex couples abroad. For those moving to a different country permanently, any partnership scheme in that country may legally acknowledge overseas relationships, but this isn't guaranteed. Stonewall