Marisa Allman: Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 - Top ten guide

This is an Act to make provision for same sex couples in England and Wales and about gender change for married persons and civil partners. It does not:

- Change the law relating to marriage for couples of the opposite sex;
- Abolish civil partnership or repeal the Civil Partnership Act 2004;
- Extend civil partnership to couples of the opposite sex.

It will be accompanied by a set of regulations (statutory instruments) which will bring the new Act into force and provide the procedural framework for same sex marriage but these have not yet been made. The government has indicated that the first same sex marriages are not likely to take place until next year. In this article the key features of the new Act are highlighted and explained. It remains to be seen exactly how they will work in practice.

1.       It makes marriage between same sex couples lawful and equivalent to a marriage between a man and a woman....

Read the full article here.