Civil Union Act 2004, ss 7–9

A civil union is a legal relationship similar to marriage.

You can enter into a civil union if:

• neither of you are currently married or in a civil union with someone else, and
• you’re not closely related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption (a list of the kinds of relationships that are not allowed is in Schedule 2 of the Civil Union Act 2004), and
• you’re both 18 or older. If either of you are 16 or 17, that person will need permission from the Family Court (it will be the same process of asking the Family Court permission to get married at 16 or 17 – see: “16 and 17 year olds need a judge’s permission to get married“).

Civil Union Act 2004, ss 7–9

You’ll need to get a civil union licence and then have a formal ceremony before a Registrar of Civil Unions or an approved civil union celebrant.

First, you’ll need to submit a “Notice of Intended Civil Union” with the Registrar. You can find this form online, here (or go to govt.nz and search “Get a civil union licence”). The notice includes a statutory declaration, which one of you will have to sign in front of a Registrar of Civil Unions at a Births, Deaths and Marriages office. A list of locations to sign the form is included at the end of the form.

You’ll also have to pay a fee. You will be given information about how to post your payment to the Births, Deaths and Marriages office in Wellington on the form.

You will be sent a civil union licence and two copies of the “Copy of particulars of civil union,” a form with all the details of the people getting the civil union. Give all three of these documents to your celebrant before your ceremony.

You have to have the ceremony within three months of receiving the civil union licence. The ceremony can be carried out by a Registrar of Civil Unions at a Registry Office during ordinary business hours, or by an approved civil union celebrant at some other place, at any time or day of the week. You can search for a civil union celebrant at celebrants.dia.govt.nz.

A civil union formally comes to an end when the Family Court issues a divorce (Dissolution Order), the same as with a marriage (see: “Divorce: Getting a “Dissolution” Order”).

A married couple can also change their relationship from a marriage to a civil union (or the other way around) without getting divorced first (see: “How does a marriage formally end?” for more on this process).