The Parliament of Latvia allowed same-sex couples to form civil unions. In 2024, such partnerships will be legal, but such couples will still have fewer rights than heterosexual couples.
"Reuters" writes about it.
The partnership institute is introduced by amendments to the Law "On Notaries". The notary will issue a deed of partnership to the couple. This document confirms the readiness of the parties to run a joint economy and take care of each other. The data of each partner — name, surname, personal code — are included in the act. If the partner is a foreigner and does not have a personal code, the date of birth will be used.
The partnership, in particular, will allow visiting each other in the hospital. Also, in the event of the death of one partner, the second has the right to a pension that the deceased did not have time to receive. However, same-sex couples will still not be able to adopt children and may face inheritance issues.
Justice Minister Inese Libina-Egnere said that parliament has no intention of giving civil union partners the same rights as married couples.
"We recognize that we have families who are not married, and this is a way for them to register their relationship," she noted.
- In 2005, Latviaʼs constitution was changed to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.
- In 2023, the new president of Latvia Edgars Rinkevičs became the first openly gay person to hold such a position in the European Union. In 2014, he became the first high-ranking official in Latvia to announce that he was gay. The EU has had several gay prime ministers, including Irelandʼs Leo Varadkar and Luxembourgʼs Xavier Bettel, but Rinkevich will be the EUʼs first gay president.
- For 24 years, the Seimas has repeatedly considered draft laws providing for the introduction of the partnership institute, but has never reached a decision. Only the ninth attempt was successful.