Convert civil partnership to marriage

Any same-sex civil partnership that has already been through a legal civil partnership ceremony in England or Wales, can carry out a conversion.

You cannot convert an opposite-sex civil partnership to a marriage in England and Wales.

There will be no fee for couples who had their civil partnership before 29 March 2014 (before the introduction of same sex marriage). The free conversion is for 1 year until 9 December 2015.

Statutory Fee of £45.00 (per couple) will be payable if:-

• you registered a civil partnership after Saturday 29 March 2014, or plan to register one in the future and then convert it to a marriage; and/or
• from 10 December 2015 the statutory fee will be payable
• There will be separate fees for those conversions which take place for the housebound (£99) detained (£117) or for "deathbed" conversions (£15)
• There will be a fee if you chose to have a ceremony after the conversion

• you must both attend an appointment, in person, at a Register Office. Even if you didn’t have your civil partnership in Waltham Forest, you can still come to Waltham Forest for your conversion.
• you will need proof of identity, confirming your full name and date of birth, proof of address and your civil partnership registration
• the couple will sign a declaration that they have not dissolved their civil partnership and both want to convert it to a marriage
• the declaration must be signed by both parties in the presence of the Superintendent Registrar at the register office

The conversion will be registered and a marriage certificate will be issued. Cost of a marriage certificate will be £11.00

There is no official ceremony attached to the conversion. You do not go through a marriage ceremony. But, you can choose to have a symbolic ceremony after the conversion at the Register Office or a registered building.

If you would like to have a ceremony to symbolise the conversion, please email the team at MarryMe.

Prices for ceremonies are same as for weddings.