Legislative changes

Registered partnership is a relationship similar to marriage, recorded at the civil registry. Since its introduction on 1 January 1998, it has undergone several changes. When it was introduced, legal parenthood was not automatically settled if children were born within the relationship. Partners in same-sex couples who were not the biological mother could not acknowledge the child. It was easier to dissolve a partnership than to dissolve a marriage, as it did not have to go through the courts.

In 2009, the possibility of converting a marriage into a registered partnership was abolished. From then on, a dissolution of a registered partnership also had to go through the courts if minor children were involved. Between 2001 and 2009, conversions were used to separate quickly and easiliy. These so-called flash divorces are disregarded in this news release.

From 2014, legal parenthood for partners in a registered partnership was regulated in a similar way as for partners in a marriage. Fathers automatically became legal parents if their female partner had a child. Child acknowledgment also became possible for partners of same-sex couples who were not the biological mother. From then on, these couples could also adopt children.

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