Civil Partnership Stress!

Well, the notes the Gender Recognition Panel sent me about how to change from being married to being civil partners were rather unhelpful - they just said 'discuss the matter with your local registry office to ensure you can take advantage of the special provision...'


The special provision is that you can (THEORETICALLY) go along and get your marriage annulled, get the Gender Recognition Cert and become civil partners all in the same day.


I rang my local registry office today, from work, and was passed around several nice, friendly people who didn't know what the bloody hell I was on about.  They give me the number of the registrar general or something and I got passed round several more nice, friendly people who knew moderately more - but not much more.


I had to quote from the GRP website to prove there even IS such a thing as a streamlined process !


So, eventually I spoke to someone who was able to give me more details.


He seemed to think I have to get a petition for divorce from my local divorce court, fill that out and send it back.  Then after some more fannying about we will get a court date and go in to get our marriage annulled.  Then the court will issue my full certificate and we will go to the registry office - if we can book it on the same day - to get married again!!!


What a palaver.


And it's even worse because it's a bureaucratic nightmare in which the bureaucrats themselves don't know how it works!!


So, I have to ring the court now - and of course I couldn't get through today so dead end.


Oh well - I am sure we will get there, thanks to Becca's support and patience.  It's not nice having to ring up and ask to get divorced from someone you still love!


I am still pleased to have my interim certificate - this is a nice dilemma.... kind of.


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