New Cohabitation Law in Greece
Published by deviousdiva March 4th, 2008 in Legal Issues.From Kathimerini . Can I just say it’s about time…
Academics and unmarried couples yesterday backed the government’s plans to introduce a cohabitation law in Greece that would give partners in a relationship the same rights as if they were married.
The plans, revealed over the weekend, would represent quite an innovation in Greece, a country with one of the highest marriage rates in the European Union and where relatively few children are born out of wedlock.
However, several unmarried couples that Kathimerini spoke to welcomed the initiative which, according to sources, would allow them to make their relationship official and legally binding by signing a simple notarial contract.
The contract would remain in effect, thus ensuring full protection of both partners’ legal rights, until they get married or one marries someone else.
Practically speaking, this means that if a couple jointly buy a property, there will be no complications with claims on the home should the couple split or one partner dies.
The Justice Ministry’s plans have also received the support of Nikos Alivizatos, a University of Athens professor who was involved in drafting a similar proposal under the previous PASOK government which, however, never became law.
Writing in Kathimerini, Alivizatos said that he believes the time is right for a cohabitation law to be passed in Greece.
“Even though the number of married couples in Greece is, along with Ireland, one of the highest in the EU, the number of couples living together out of wedlock is increasing,” he said.
“Marriage today is usually the culmination of a previous long-term relationship rather than the start of a new period in the life of the newlyweds,” he added.
Recent statistics also back up the assertion that the institution of marriage is changing in Greece.
In 1993, only 10 percent of marriages in Greece ended in divorce. But according to the most recent National Statistics Service figures, for 2005, that number had risen to 24 percent.
Fifteen years ago, less than 2,500 births were registered outside wedlock. In 2005, that figure had risen to almost 5,500.
Technorati: greece, cohabitation, marriage, law, wedlock
partners as in partners or partners as in a man and a woman?
where does this law leave gay members of greek society?
i’m all for these measures, but shouldn’t they apply equally to all?
oh tmt, we are not so naive to think that this means gay partners ? Wait a decade or two and we might get there…
Your comment made me laugh in a bitter bitter way!
no.. it’s obvious this is just for heterosexuals. just making a point, that’s all.
I know !
Our different expressions of humour are getting the better of us! Or MY expression of humour is getting the better of us !
I get you and agree with your comment.
DD
Will the new law apply to everyone, or do you think there will be a separate one for the gay relationships of government ministers?
Maybe Greece will be suprised when they learn what “Partners means”. They may not know that “partner” is the standard term for same-sex individuals in relationships. Once they learn what “partner” means, maybe they will have to legally define “Partner” as a union ONLY between a man and a woman.
Remember what happened with the word “Marriage” in the USA.
At least in Greece, even thinking of same sex marriages is probably about 100 years away. For now, they will have to deal with the word “partner” which is more in tune with the 1950s attitude of Greece today.
Too funny indeed…