Changing a civil partnership to a marriage

The way you change your civil partnership to marriage depends on where you had your ceremony.

If you had your civil partnership:

in Scotland – you can either change it by an administrative process or have a marriage ceremony
outside of Scotland – you need to have a marriage ceremony

Administrative process

You do not need to have a wedding ceremony if your civil partnership took place in Scotland.

Instead you can arrange an appointment with your local registrar to change your civil partnership to marriage.

Before you go to the appointment, fill in sections 1 to 12 on the application form.

You can get the form:

on the National Records of Scotland website
from a registry office - you can find all the registrars in Scotland on the National Records of Scotland website

When you go the registration office, you'll need to take:

your form
the entry in the civil partnership register about your civil partnership - the registrar can help you get this
photo ID for both of you (for example your passport or driving licence)

You will then sign section 13 of the application form with the registrar.

You will then be married and can order a marriage certificate.

You need to pay £30 if you do the administrative process. You can get a marriage certificate for an extra £10.

If you want to have a marriage ceremony, follow the steps in the getting married guide.

For civil partnerships registered outside of Scotland, you must be able to prove:

your civil partnership was registered with a 'responsible authority' – the registrar can help if you're not sure
you and your partner are not married to or in a civil partnership with someone else
your civil partnership was legal in the country you had it

If you can prove these things, follow the steps in the getting married guide.

You can find out more about changing a civil partnership to marriage on the National Records of Scotland website.

If you're not sure what you need to do, you can contact:

National Records of Scotland
Marriage/Civil Partnership Section Room 38
New Register House
3 West Register Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3YT

Phone: 0131 314 4447

Find out about call charges on the GOV.UK website.

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