The Civil Union Agreement is a contract freely and spontaneously entered into between two people who share a home. Its purpose is to regulate the legal effects derived from their affective life in common of a stable and permanent nature.
The agreement can be entered into by a heterosexual couple (a woman and a man), a couple of two men, or a couple of two women.
Do people acquire another marital status when they sign the Civil Union Agreement?
Yes, the conclusion of this agreement confers on the partners the civil status of civil partner.
Who can enter into the agreement?
Only people who are of legal age and who have the free administration of their assets may enter into the Civil Union Agreement.
How is the civil union agreement signed?
It will be held at the Civil Registry and Identification Service, or another place set by the contracting parties (within the jurisdictional territory of the respective Service) before any official. A record will be drawn up that must be signed by the civil officer and by the contracting parties.
The contracting parties must declare in writing, orally or by sign language that they are not married and that they do not have another Civil Union Agreement that is in force.
What is done with the minutes?
The act, drawn up by the official of the Civil and Identification Registry, will be registered in a special registry that said entity will keep. This registry must include the following references: full name and sex of the spouses; date, time, place and commune in which this contract is celebrated; and the certification, carried out by the official of the Civil Registry, of the fulfillment of the requirements established for its celebration.
Who is legally prevented from entering into a Civil Union Agreement?
Ascendants and descendants by consanguinity (relatives who are descended from each other, such as: parents, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren) or affinity (exists between a person who is or has been married and the blood relatives of his or her husband or wife, such as: in-laws , son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brothers-in-law), or collaterals by consanguinity in the second degree (brothers). Neither are people who are married or who have another civil union agreement in force.
Are civil union agreements signed abroad recognized?
Yes, those agreements or civil unions validly celebrated abroad are recognized, as long as they comply with the provisions of Chilean law, such as being of legal age, not being ascendants, descendants or siblings and signing the contract freely and spontaneously.
The agreement signed abroad must be registered in a special registry of civil union agreements.
Marriages between people of the same sex celebrated abroad are not valid as such in Chile, but the contracting parties could register them in Chile as civil unions if they comply with the requirements established by national law for those agreements.
What rights and duties do civil partners have?
- They owe each other help.
- They are obliged to pay the expenses generated by their life together, according to their economic powers and the patrimonial regime that exists between them.
- The contracting parties will retain the ownership, enjoyment and administration of the goods acquired before the conclusion of the contract and of those they acquire during the term of the contract, unless they expressly agree to another method of distributing their goods in the same agreement.
What happens to the inheritance of civil partners?
In the event of the death of one of the contracting parties, the surviving civil partner will have the same rights that correspond to the surviving spouse in the case of marriages. Likewise, the surviving civil partner may receive by will what is called a quarter of improvements, which corresponds to a quarter of the inheritance.
Which court reviews matters relating to civil union agreements?
The competent Family Court.
How does the Civil Union Agreement end?
- Due to natural or presumed death of one of the civil partners.
- For the marriage of civil partners among themselves, when appropriate.
- By mutual agreement of the civil cohabitants or unilateral will of one of them, which must be recorded by public deed or certificate issued before the Civil Registry official and the other civil cohabitant be notified.
- By judicial declaration of nullity of the agreement.
Is the financial compensation for one of the cohabitants appropriate at the end of the Civil Union Agreement?
Indeed, if as a consequence of having dedicated to the care of the children or to the tasks of the common home, one of the civil partners could not develop a remunerated or lucrative activity during the term of the agreement, or did so to a lesser extent than it could. and wanted. In that case, you will have the right to have the other party compensate you for the economic loss suffered, provided that the separation is by mutual agreement, unilateral will or judicial nullity.
Can a civil partner be the legal charge of the other?
A civil partner may register the other as a burden only for their Fonasa or Isapre health plan.
Does the civil partner have the right to a survivor’s or widow’s pension?
Yes, it will be received by the surviving civil partner, provided that the agreement had been entered into at least one year before the death or three years, if the agreement was entered into when the deceased was already receiving an old-age or disability pension.
