Civil Partnership Agreement for International Couples with Concurrent Property Arrangements—The Solution for Protecting Partners’ Separate Property in Cases Involving Children from a Previous Marriage.
Our firm recently had the pleasure of assisting in the legal formalization of the union of two life partners and in the simultaneous estate planning for them and their adult children from a previous marriage through the drafting of a civil partnership agreement – and the regulation of their property relations.
The couple approached our firm primarily due to the multiplicity of legal systems involved in their relationship, as the parties had, on the one hand, multiple nationalities and, on the other, different habitual residences, factors that required the application of the laws of other Member States as well as third countries, such as Switzerland, to regulate their relationship. By leveraging the possibilities provided by the relevant European Regulations, we were able to draft an agreement that would ensure the application of the appropriate law for each relationship, thereby serving the partners’ shared goal of maintaining the separation of their assets.
This desire on the part of the parties is particularly common, especially among partners who often choose to take a new step in their lives after a previous marriage, since they are now at the peak of their careers, their children have grown up, and essentially want things to stay the same, without the legal complications of a formal legal commitment between them. Greek law on civil partnerships promotes precisely this type of solution, as it provides registered partners with the option to mutually waive inheritance and alimony claims. This means, especially when combined with the drafting of a will or, potentially, with the provisions on inheritance contracts set to take effect, that the parties can ensure their property will pass to their children without their new partner having any claim to it (an ideal solution when both partners have children from a previous marriage).
Cases like the one above demonstrate that dealing with family law can signify not only a “separation” and the “end,” but a new beginning for the entire family, which, with the right guidance, can move forward with its life choices with confidence and security.
Athens Court of First Instance- Awarding of sole custody of the parties' minor child to the father, even for important matters concerning the child's education, pursuant to Article 1519 of the Civil Code - Designation of the father's residence as the child's place of residence and obligation to exercise the mother's right of communication in Greece.