Couples who have formed a civil partnership are now able to convert their partnership to a marriage.

There are two ways to convert a civil partnership into a marriage:

• A simple administrative process called a 'standard conversion'
• A two stage process where the conversion is followed by a ceremony

The standard conversion

This is a simple administrative process where you will both attend an appointment at any register office and complete a declaration with details about you and your civil partnership.

The documents that you will need to produce include:

• Evidence of your name and date of birth - current passports or birth certificates
• Evidence of your address - recent council tax or utilities bill
• An original civil partnership certificate

A legal declaration will then be drawn up for you to both sign with the registrar.

If you wish you can choose to say the declaration wording aloud to one another before signing the conversion document. Your marriage is then registered and a marriage certificate will be issued.

A conversion followed by a ceremony

There are two stages to this type of conversion.

The first part is where you will both need to attend an appointment at any register office and complete a declaration with details about you and your civil partnership. The documents that you will need to produce include:

• Evidence of your name and date of birth - current passports or birth certificates
• Evidence of your address - recent Council Tax or utilities bill
• An original civil partnership certificate

The second stage is the signing of the declaration, which can be followed by a ceremony and can take place at venues where same sex couples are able to marry:

• Approved venue
• Religious buildings that are registered for the marriage of same sex couples
• Premises where a ceremony according to the Jewish faith or the Society of Friends is to immediately follow the conversion

The ceremony can be designed to suit you.

Following the ceremony your marriage is registered, and a marriage certificate can then be issued. Your marriage certificate can either be collected or posted.