How many same sex marriages have taken place?

Between 29 March 2014 and 30 June 2015, 7,366 same sex marriages took place: 55% between female couples and 45% between male couples.  Starting with 98 marriages in the month of March 2014, the number peaked at 844 in August 2014 and has since followed the usual seasonal marriage pattern, with more marriages taking place in the summer months.  615 couples married in June 2015.

The annual figure of 5,916 same sex marriages between1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015 is similar to the number of civil partnerships formed each year from 2009 to 2013.

What about civil partnership conversions?

In addition, 7,732 couples converted their civil partnerships into marriages between 10 December 2014 (when it became legal to make the conversion) and 30 June 2015.  Around 50% of these were male couples, and 50% female couples.  From a peak of 2,401 conversions in December 2014, the number has decreased each month since then (with the exception of a small rise in May 2015). It is estimated that on 30 June 2014, 115,389 civil partners lived in England and Wales, indicating that only 13% had converted their partnerships into marriages by the end of June 2015.

How do same sex marriage statistics compare to civil partnerships?

993 civil partnerships were converted to marriages in the first 3 days of their introduction.  This is roughly similar to the formation of civil partnerships. In the first 3 days of their introduction (21 – 23 December 2005) 1,227 civil partnerships were formed.  By comparison, same sex marriages were taken up at a much slower rate, with only 98 taking place in the first 3 days, and 1,450 in the first 3 months: compared to 6,147 civil partnerships being formed in the first 3 months of their introduction and 5,078 civil partnerships being converted into marriages in the first 3 months from December 2014.

Is there are difference between men and women marrying?

The ONS statistics also show that 81% of women and 89% of men entering into a same sex marriage had not previously been married or in a civil partnership.  Of those that had previously been divorced, the majority had previously been in a heterosexual marriage.   4% of women and 2% of men had previously been in a civil partnership that had been dissolved or annulled.

Over a third of those marrying in the period covered were aged between 25 and 34.  When it comes to those aged 65 and over, more than twice as many men as women got married. More females tended to marry aged 54 and less.

Can Graysons help same sex couples to divorce or dissolve a civil partnership?

The dissolution of a civil partnership is a similar process to that of divorce, but you cannot rely on the fact of adultery to establish the ground of irretrievable breakdown.  The divorce process for same sex couples is the same as for heterosexual couples, but adultery can only be cited as the reason for the irretrievable breakdown if it is with the opposite sex.

Our family law specialists can help if you are looking for advice on divorce or dissolution of your civil partnership.  Contact us directly for a confidential discussion or read more on our family law pages here.

You can read the full statistics on the ONS website here.