My brother got a civil partnership with another man who was originally from India

Question: My brother got a civil partnership with another man who was originally from India. They originally met in India and decided to get ‘married’ in the UK. My brother’s ‘spouse’  came to the UK on a visit visa at the time to get ‘married’, but within a few months things broke down between the two of them and the spouse returned to India and that was the last we heard from him. Not even his family know where he is as he deleted his social networking accounts not long after going back to India so there is no way for us to trace him now.

We’ve tried to make contact with him in India through official channels, but since we do not have an address or know his whereabouts to be able to dissolve the civil partnership. We’re unsure now what we can do as the spouses family in India no longer talk to him or know where he is.

Answer: It is still possible for your brother to get the civil partnership dissolved, it will just mean there is a little more involved since he’s unable to make contact with his ex-partner. Your brother will have to prove to the court that he has tried all means to make contact through family members and checking that he is not living at the last known addresses or reachable by forwarded mail. Only then will he be able to dissolve his civil partnership by obtaining an order to dispense with service.