To make your civil marriage official in Luxembourg:

• you and your partner must be at least 18 years of age, unless you have authorisation from the guardianship judge; and
• one of you must officially reside in Luxembourg.

You may be of different genders or the same gender and of any nationality.

You will need to complete a number of administrative procedures beforehand.

The marriage may be celebrated in the commune where one of you is legally resident. Depending on the commune, you may or may not need to appear in person before the civil registrar to receive the forms detailing the procedures to be followed and the list of documents to be provided.

Therefore, please contact your commune directly for information on how to collect and submit your marriage application.

Subsequently, one of you must go in person to the communal administration of your place of residence where the wedding is being held in order to submit a number of essential documents to the civil registrar, such as:

• your valid identity documents;
• a full copy of both your birth certificates (showing your parents' names) which must:
  • be less than 6 months old;
  • drawn up by the commune of your place of birth;
• a certificate of legal capacity to marry, if you are a foreign national;
• your residence certificates.

The wedding date will be set when all the supporting documents have been submitted.

These documents must be submitted to the civil registrar's office no later than one month before the planned wedding date.

Every marriage must be preceded by a display of a 10-day public notice, starting from the date of receipt of the required documents:

• in the commune where you reside; and
• at the civil registry office of the commune where the marriage will be celebrated.

If you are an employee or apprentice, you are entitled to 3 days' special leave for personal reasons on the occasion of your marriage.

Marriage has legal consequences for the spouses throughout the duration of the marriage. As a married couple, you are automatically subject to a matrimonial regime.

This determines the management of your assets and debts during the marriage. If you have not signed a marriage contract before a notary, you are automatically subject to the community of property regime.

However, you are free to choose and/or change your matrimonial regime before or during your marriage.

As residents or cross-border workers in Luxembourg, you may, under certain conditions, choose your tax regime:

• individual taxation: you are each considered as individual single persons and are taxed individually in tax class 1 on your own personal income; or
• individual taxation with reallocation of income between the spouses; or
• joint taxation: you are considered, as a couple, to be a single taxpayer and are automatically taxed in tax class 2.

It is also possible for Luxembourg residents to marry abroad under certain conditions. In most cases, marriages celebrated abroad must undergo a recognition procedure in order to be valid in Luxembourg.