Marriage provides for certain rights and benefits that are not available to couples who are not in a legally recognized relationship (factual relationship). These benefits relate primarily to inheritance rights, health care, social benefits, adoption of a child, tax relief and the right not to testify against the spouse in various proceedings.
Health care
As the closest person to your spouse under the law, you have the right to make decisions on his/her behalf about significant issues regarding his/her health care in situations where your spouse is not able to do so. Such decisions cover the acceptance or rejection of medical treatment in general or of specific medical methods which can have, for example, considerable side effects. You will also be the first person informed when your spouse has terminated his/her medical treatment and left a medical institution.
Your right to decide on such matters is significant, as it affects your spouse’s health and life as well, to a considerable extent. However, you must observe your partner’s previously expressed wishes regarding his/her medical treatment.
Property and inheritance
As a general rule, the assets acquired by the spouses during the marriage are their common property until, in accordance with the law or the contract concluded between them, no other legal regime is established for these assets.
You may inherit your spouse’s property on the basis of the Civil Code even if there is no last will. An unmarried partner, on the other hand, has to be specifically mentioned in the last will in order to inherit from his/her partner.
Further, you would be entitled under certain conditions to a reserved share of your spouse’s inheritance, even if your spouse has decided in the last will to leave his/her property to other persons, subject to condition your spouse had an obligation of pecuniary support towards you. These rights are not available to unmarried partners.
Adoption
Only a married couple has the privilege to adopt a child jointly and thus establish a legally recognized family relationship between them as adoptive parents and an adopted child.
Social benefits
You may receive a sum from your spouse’s state (or service) pension which had been calculated but not disbursed at the time of his/her death. You may also obtain the specific allowance for persons whose spouse has passed away, as well as a funeral allowance in case of your spouse’s death. There are also additional social benefits for persons whose spouse has served in the public service, for example, in military service.
important Social benefits related to pregnancy and a parent-child relationship are not dependent on the fact of whether you have concluded marriage.
Tax relief
Spouses are entitled to certain tax relief. If your spouse does not benefit from personal tax exemption and is considered a vulnerable person according to the Tax Code, you are entitled to an additional income tax relief.
Right not to testify against your spouse
You have the right not to testify against your spouse in court proceedings. These proceedings include pre-trial proceedings in criminal procedures, as well as court proceedings in civil, criminal, administrative and contraventional procedures.