Civil Partnerships

Civil partnership ceremonies are conducted by the Registrar and take place in the designated office venues or in another venue which has been licensed for partnerships.

Any two people, regardless of where they live, can register a civil partnership in Northern Ireland, provided that they are:

• aged 18 or above on the day of your ceremony (consent is needed if either is aged 16 or 17)
• unrelated to one another in a way that would prevent you from forming a civil partnership
• free to enter into a partnership, for example, neither of you is already a civil partner or legally married

Notify us of your intention to enter into a civil partnership

You must give a minimum of 28 days’ notice to form a civil partnership to the council in the area you wish to marry.  

We will accept notice up to a year before the date of your marriage.

The notification process is:

1. Contact our registration team by phone on 028 9244 7263 or email bdm.registration@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk to book an appointment.  We will need to know the date and place of your marriage
2. Our team will contact you about your paperwork.  You can download the notice online here
3. Both individuals need to complete a civil partnership notice form
4. Please return your completed forms to us along with photocopies of the appropriate identification.  You can post or hand deliver them to our Registration Office at Lagan Valley Island. The full postal address is:

5. We need photocopies of the following:

• full birth certificates (showing parents' details) or full adoption certificate
• photocopies of in-date passports 
• any other relevant documentation as per notice forms i.e. decree absolute from last marriage/previous marriage certificates/civil partnership certificates, death certificates, deed polls etc. 
• a consent form if aged 16 or 17 (these are available from the Registrar)
• if you have entered into a civil partnership before, a court order of dissolution for that partnership
• if you have been married before and the marriage was dissolved, a certificate of divorce or annulment or a certified copy decree (decrees must be absolute or final)
• if you have been married more than once, only the documents for your most recent marriage are required
• if you are a widow, widower or surviving civil partner, the death certificate of your former spouse or civil partner

6. The correct fee as detailed below: 

Ceremony size and location	Cost
Couple and two witnesses in attendance and the ceremony taking place in the Registrar’s Office Monday to Friday Saturday	£80    £206
Couple and guests (max. of 70 people) with ceremony taking place in a ceremony room Monday to Friday Saturday	£160 £286

 

7. If either of you are of a different nationality to Irish or British please click here for further information you will be required to complete before you can give notice. 
8. If you do not have a full birth certificate and you were born in Northern Ireland, please click here to order a full birth certificate.
9. Should any of your documents not be in English, we will also need certified translations of these documents.

Order a certified copy of civil partnership certificate here