Ecuador`s 2008 Constitution established civil unions between two persons regardless of gender and gave same-sex couples the same rights as legally married heterosexual couples, with the exception of the right to adopt. [131] Connecticut citizens` associations were not closed in 2010 and existing civil unions were automatically converted into marriages. Same-sex marriages, civil unions and extensive national partnerships from other jurisdictions are treated legally as marriages in the state. In 2003, the UK government announced plans to establish life partnerships that would allow same-sex couples to enjoy the rights and obligations of marriage. The Civil Partnership Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on March 30, 2004. After reviewing the amendments made by the House of Commons, it was passed on November 17, 2004 by the House of Lords, its last legislative hurdle, and passed by the Royal on November 18, 2004. The Law came into force on 5 December 2005 and same-sex couples, but not opposites, were able to establish partnerships from 19 December 2005 in Northern Ireland, 20 December 2005 in Scotland and 21 December 2005 in England and Wales. [152] The first Finance Act of 2005 introduced separate provisions to enact provisions amending tax legislation to give couples of couples the same tax advantages and disadvantages in partnerships as for married couples. At the time, the Church of England, the State Church of England, allowed clergy to marry persons of the same sex. [153] In early 2012, Washington legalized same-sex marriage, which provided that a couple in a civil association would have two years to turn their civil union into a marriage.

The law was approved by referendum in November 2012. [182] Iceland does not have a comprehensive piece of legislation on civil unions (in Icelandic: “V.G.Sambé”). Instead, different laws deal with civil unions and their importance. When Iceland legalized same-sex marriage in 2010, the Registered Partnerships Act (87/1996) was abolished. Since the passage of the Law in 1996, the most important legal associations for same-sex partners have been established through registered partnerships (in 1996). [138] Washington proposes national partnerships that grant same-sex couples almost all state-recognized marriage rights. Washington is the first state to vote in a referendum on a law on same-sex civil union. On October 25, 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court gave New Jersey lawmakers 180 days to rewrite the state`s marriage laws, including same-sex couples or creating a new civil union system for them.

On December 12, 2006, the legislature passed a law on the creation of civil unions in New Jersey, signed by Governor Jon Corzine. The first civil unions took place on 19 February 2007. [180] In South Africa, a “civil union” is either a marriage or a civil partnership, although the term “civil union” is used in a confusing way when it comes to “civil partnership.”