If two people simply live together as a family for a long time, such residence does not confer the legal rights that a spouse has.
However, what to do when it is no longer possible to officially marry, and one of the cohabitants wants to exercise his or her rights, as it would be in a registered marriage? There is a special procedure that allows you to obtain these rights. Lawyers of the free legal aid system explain.
To exercise these rights when it is impossible to marry, for example, one of the cohabitants (partners) died suddenly, it is possible to establish the fact of living as one family.
This is necessary, for example, to resolve issues of custody and participation in the maintenance of children, when receiving an inheritance, distributing property, receiving a survivor's pension, or registering the legal right to care for a partner during illness.
How is the fact of cohabitation established?
In court. The court may consider cases to establish the fact of cohabitation if:
- the couple has lived together for at least five years
- is the purpose of establishing a fact, for example, division of property, inheritance.
What evidence can be submitted to court?
- witness statements
- documents confirming the fact of residence at the same address
- photographs, correspondence
- documents on joint expenses and purchases.
Where to get legal help
Everyone can get help and get free legal advice from the free legal aid system. Lawyers will tell you what to do in your situation and help you prepare documents, in addition to documents for the court.
Some categories of people are also entitled to free assistance with applying to court. These are IDPs, people with low incomes (able-bodied people – with income up to 6056 UAH/month; pensioners (by age, years of service) – 4722 UAH/month; with disabilities – if pension or social assistance up to 6056 UAH), war veterans, family members of fallen Defenders of Ukraine (other categories are listed in Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine "On Free Legal Aid"«). Lawyers will study your circumstances in detail, if necessary, prepare and submit a statement to the court, and represent your interests in court.
How to contact the BPD system
https://legalaid.gov.ua/kliyentam/yak-otrymaty-bpd
Example of assistance in court
They lived in a civil marriage for 38 years, but to obtain an inheritance from their husband, they had to go to court.
Galina and her husband Ivan lived in a civil marriage for 38 years. The couple did not see the need to officially register the marriage, because their relationship was already excellent. Together they ran a joint household and raised Galina's daughter from her first marriage.
When Ivan died, Galina went to a notary to begin the process of registering the inheritance for the property left by her husband, namely the land plot. However, she was refused by the notary because she was not an official wife.
To solve the problem, the woman turned to the free legal aid system. There, she was explained that in order to register the inheritance, it was necessary for the court to recognize the fact of living with Ivan as a single family for at least 5 years before the time of opening the inheritance.
Halyna has a disability, her average monthly income does not exceed two subsistence minimums, which gives her the right to free assistance by applying to the court.
The lawyer prepared a statement to the court. She attached to the statement a certificate from the village council and a certificate of inspection of the material and living conditions of the household/actual residence of the person, which confirm that Halyna and Ivan lived together and ran a joint household. She also brought in witnesses - neighbors and fellow villagers.
The court satisfied the client's claims and established the fact of living as one family for at least 5 years prior to the opening of the inheritance.
It is worth noting here that establishing the fact of living in one family does not give the right to inherit as an heir of the first order. According to Article 1264 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, such heirs belong to the fourth order. In the case of Galina, she was the only close person for her husband. Therefore, the absence of heirs of the previous orders gave her an indisputable right to inherit the land plot by law.