Declaration of civil partnership (PACS)
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Summary:
If you live as a couple, you can register a civil partnership or civil solidarity pact (Pacte civil de solidarité - PACS), which gives you legal recognition and security in civil, tax and social security matters.
The civil partnership or civil solidarity pact (PACS) grants you and your partner, with whom you live without being married:
- legal recognition of your cohabitation;
- legal security in terms of:
- civil law, with rules of solidarity and responsibility applicable between partners; and
- fiscal matters, with tax relief; and
- social security, with social protection.
A civil partnership is a civil contract between you and your partner, regardless of your gender, if you:
- live as a couple; and
- declare your partnership before the civil registrar.
When you register your civil partnership, you are entitled to one day of special leave for personal reasons.
Who is concerned
Anyone:
- regardless of their nationality;
- regardless of their gender;
- who legally resides in Luxembourg.
Prerequisites
You and your future partner must:
- have the legal capacity to enter into contracts and therefore not be:
- declared incompetent by law; or
- non-emancipated minors; or
- protected adults (under guardianship, curatorship, etc.);
- not already be bound by a marriage or other partnership;
- not be relatives by blood or marriage, at the following levels:
- in direct line of descent: ascendants, descendants or relatives in the same line;
- collateral line: siblings or relatives of the same degree;
- uncle/aunt and nephew/niece.
How to proceed
Submitting the application
You and your future partner must appear before the registrar of the commune where you both reside, with the required documents, to declare your partnership:
- in person; and
- jointly.
Please contact the registry office of the relevant commune to find out whether or not you need to make an appointment to register your civil partnership.
Information about your joint legal residence is verified by the civil registrar in the National Registry of Natural Persons (registre national des personnes physiques - RNPP) when you submit your application.
Supporting documents
- In most cases
- Special cases
You must carry:
- an ID card or a passport;
- a full copy of both your birth certificates, which must be:
- less than 3 months old if they were issued in Luxembourg or France;
- less than 6 months old if they were issued in another country;
- a sworn statement that there is no blood relationship or family connection between you that would constitute a legal obstacle to registering the partnership. This statement must be signed by both of you:
- before the civil registrar; or
- before a notary.
If either of you were not born in Luxembourg, you must also bring a certificate issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office certifying that neither you nor your partner has registered another partnership with another person.
You can request this certificate by sending a letter, signed by both of you, to the Civil Register, along with:
- your full names, marital status and address; and
- a copy of both your social security cards; and
- a copy of both your identity cards or passports.
If you are not a Luxembourg national, regardless of whether you were born in Luxembourg or not, you must also provide a certificate (stating your marital status) confirming that you and your partner are not in a civil partnership or any other form of cohabitation abroad.
This certificate of non-engagement is issued by the competent authority in your country of origin, such as:
- the embassy or consulate of your country of origin in Luxembourg; or
- the communal administration of your last place of residence in your country of origin.
If, in your country of origin, marriage is the only form of cohabitation that exists, you must provide a certificate of custom. This certificate:
- is issued by the embassy; and
- clearly states that the authorities of that country do not recognise any form of cohabitation other than marriage.
Depending on your respective circumstances, you may be required to provide additional documents.
If you are divorced:
- a full copy of the divorce decree; or
- a full copy of the divorce transcript, when the divorce is not mentioned in the margin of the birth certificate.
If you are a widow(er):
- the death certificate of your deceased spouse; or
- their birth certificate, on which their death is recorded.
If you entered into a partnership before 1 November 2010, you must provide a recent certificate from the Civil Registry Office confirming the dissolution of the partnership.
If you have entered into an agreement with your partner that deals with property rights, you must provide proof of its existence.
As the documents to be attached to the file may vary depending on your situation, it is advisable to consult with the civil registry office of the relevant commune beforehand.
The required documents must be in French, German or English.
If this is not the case, you must:
- have them translated by a sworn translator; or
- request an international document from the relevant civil registry office.
The civil registrar will not keep the agreement or the documents you provided. They will be returned to you after verification. You must therefore ensure that:
- you safeguard them; or
- deposit them with a notary, lawyer or trusted person.
Official declaration of the partnership
If all of the required documents are legally admissible when the partnership is declared, the civil registrar:
- checks whether you and your partner meet the conditions laid down by the law; and
- records the partnership declaration on plain paper; and
- provides both of you with a certificate stating that your partnership has been registered.
The partnership declaration includes, where applicable, a reference to any agreement on property rights concluded between you and your partner.
As soon as your partnership is registered by the civil registrar, it begins to have legal effect between you both.
The official declaration of partnership is forwarded to the Public Prosecutor's Office within three days to be registered and kept at the Civil Registry Office. It is therefore enforceable against other persons from the moment of registration.
If your birth certificate was issued or transcribed in Luxembourg, your civil partnership declaration will be noted in the margin.
This entry states:
- the place and date of your registered partnership declaration; and
- your partner's personal details.
Your partnership is only mentioned on the full copy of your birth certificate, not on a simple extract of your birth certificate.
After receiving the registration notice from the Civil Registry Office, you will receive a certificate of registered partnership by post.
Property settlement agreement
If you wish, you may enter into a property settlement agreement:
- at the time of the declaration of partnership or afterwards; and
- which can be modified at any moment.
Effects of the partnership declaration
Even in the absence of a property settlement agreement, registering your partnership creates rights and obligations between you and your partner.
Who to contact
Public Prosecutor's office Civil Register
- Address:
-
Luxembourg
Cité judiciaire - Plateau du Saint-Esprit - L-2080 Luxembourg
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 341
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 375
- Email address:
- repertoire.civil@justice.etat.lu
Communal administrations
- Address:
- Luxembourg
Related procedures and links
Procedures
Links
Further information
-
Délivrance d’une attestation de partenariat / Délivrance d’un acte de naissance portant mention du partenariat
sur le Portail Justice
-
Registered partnerships
on Your Europe
-
Listes des experts, traducteurs et interprètes assermentés
sur le site du ministère de la Justice
Legal references
-
Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 of 25 June 2019
on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, and on international child abduction
-
Convention (No.16) of 8 September 1976
on the issue of multilingual extracts from civil-status records
-
Loi modifiée du 9 juillet 2004
relative aux effets légaux de certains partenariats
