Civil partnership, or common law marriage, refers to a household of 2 people of the same or different genders—known as "partners"—who live as a couple, and who have declared their partnership.

A civil partnership may end:

• by mutual consent, by a joint declaration of the 2 partners;
• by a unilateral declaration by either of the 2 partners;
• by the marriage of either of the 2 partners;
• by the death of either of the 2 partners.

Who is concerned

How to proceed

Preliminary procedures to revoke a civil partnership

A civil partnership may be revoked in 2 ways:

• either by a joint declaration by the 2 partners before the civil registrar of the commune that the partnership declaration was filed with, even if the partners have changed their domicile in Luxembourg or transferred their domicile abroad since that date;
• or by a unilateral declaration by either of the 2 partners; In this case, the partner ending the partnership must first inform the other partner of their decision via notice served by a bailiff.

Essential documents to submit

The following documents are required to end a civil partnership:

• a valid ID card, for Luxembourg nationals;
• a valid passport, for foreign nationals;
• a certificate issued by the civil register for the Public Prosecutor's Office (Parquet général) mentioning the declared partnership.

In the event of a unilateral declaration, a copy of the notice previously served by the bailiff upon the other partner must be attached.

Official declaration terminating a civil partnership

Regardless of whether the termination is unilateral or by mutual consent, the declaration terminating a civil partnership must be filed in person with the competent civil registrar, in other words, at the office where the civil partnership was recorded.

If all of the required documents are legally admissible:

• the civil registrar checks the declaration of civil partnership (a certificate issued by the civil register for the Public Prosecutor's Office) and records the declaration terminating the civil partnership;
• the declaration terminating the civil partnership is then sent, within 3 working days, to the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Luxembourg to be kept on file in the civil register.

The termination of the partnership is deemed to be effective as of the date the civil registrar receives the declaration terminating the civil partnership. The termination of a civil partnership is nevertheless only enforceable against third parties once the declaration has been recorded in the civil register.

Once the civil partnership has ended, and as long as the request has been submitted within 3 months of such termination, the justice of the peace (juge de paix) will rule on the urgent provisional measures warranted by such termination, and relating to:

• the occupancy of the shared residence;
• the partners' personal matters and property;
• the partners' legal and contractual obligations.

The judge determines the period of validity, which may not exceed 1 year.

Who to contact