Recognition of new forms of family life

Since 2010, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled "that it is artificial to continue to consider that unlike a heterosexual couple, a homosexual couple cannot have a "family life"". More recently, it also took the view that Council of Europe Member States must at least offer same-sex couples a specific legal framework recognising their union, protecting it and regulating their property relations.

In order to comply with the ECHR case law and to respect its international commitments, the Monegasque legislator has chosen to offer its nationals and residents forms of legal protection for family life other than marriage, by recognising both common law unions and intra-family cohabitation in Act No 1.481 on civil solidarity contracts adopted on 4 December 2019. This new Act, published on 27 December 2019, creates two types of contracts:

• The cohabitation agreement is open to two members of the same family living under the same roof (cohabitants); and
• The « living together » contract is open to persons living in a common-law union, regardless of their sex (partners). It allows all couples who so wish to benefit from a legal existence accompanied by social rights.

To set them apart from the institution of marriage, those contracts, which are drawn up before a notary, do not result in any extrapatrimonial consequences (e.g. the duties of fidelity, help and assistance).

Moreover, the legal framework for these contracts do not impact personal status in any way. Civil solidarity contracts will not be transcribed in civil status registers, nor will they create a genuine family link, since they will not affect the rules governing filiation, adoption, parental authority, devolution of name, children's rights or maintenance obligations.

On the other hand, they offer new social rights to partners and cohabitants:

• the rightful entitlement of their partner or cohabitant to social security coverage;
• reduced inter vivos and death duties;
• co-ownership by operation of law of the lease;
• the right to free use of housing and to the furniture belonging to the partners or cohabitants or totally dependent on the estate, for one year following the death of the partner or cohabitant;

and subject to the conclusion of a civil solidarity contract with a Monegasque citizen:

• the right to stay in Monaco, except in the case of specific criminal convictions;
• the possibility of holding a home equity contract in the state-owned sector;
• the priority of hiring and the protection in the order of dismissals provided for in Article 5 of Act No 629 of 17 July 1957 regulating the conditions of recruitment and dismissal in the Principality.

The existence of such a contract also constitutes an aggravating circumstance in case of a criminal offence committed on the partner or cohabitant, and results in the partner or cohabitant’s consent having to be sought in medical matters when the condition of his/her partner or cohabitant requires it.

Such contracts may be terminated by a simple unilateral declaration to the notary who registered the deed, served on the other partner or cohabitant.

These new civil solidarity contracts may be concluded as of the entry into force of these new legislative provisions on 28 June 2020.