Biggest marriage shake-up in 200 years as heterosexual couples set to be granted civil partnerships
by Christopher Hope, Telegraph:
Heterosexual couples will be given the right to enter civil partnerships after the Government ushered in the biggest shake up of marriage laws since the 1800s.
In a move that was derided as introducing “marriage-lite”, the Home Office said it would review the “operation” of civil partnerships – which are currently only available to homosexual couples – “so the difference in treatment in the current system is resolved”.
The reform is the most controversial of a series of changes that will mean couples are no longer given a marriage certificate on the day of their wedding and will not sign an official register on the day. A single electronic register will replace the current system of registers being held in churches.