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Publication date: 16.04.2024
According to the Family Code of Ukraine, marriage is a union of a man and a woman voluntarily entered into and registered in accordance with the procedure established by law for the purpose of creating a family based on mutual consent, equality of rights and responsibilities during joint life, raising children and ensuring their well-being .
Marriage is considered one of the foundations of family law and is important for the legal status of the persons who enter into it. The conclusion of marriage in accordance with the requirements of the law involves certain formalities, in particular, registration in the state registration bodies of civil status acts.
Thus, according to the current legislation, the conclusion of a marriage entails the onset of certain rights and obligations for the spouses (the right to support, the right of the wife or husband to inheritance, etc.), and confirmation of the existence of these rights is a document on the state registration of marriage .
However, the analysis of the norms of the current legislation gives reasons to assert that a man and a woman who live together, but at the same time the marriage between them is not registered, may also have certain rights and obligations, which a lawyer in family matters can tell you in detail about.
Thus, according to the Family Code of Ukraine, a family is an association of persons who are married, as well as other persons who have mutual rights and obligations established by marriage or actual cohabitation. Family recognition can be based on both formal marriage and actual living under the same roof.
In this case, we are talking about the legal recognition of a civil marriage based on the fact that a man and a woman live together. Legal support of this process should be provided by an experienced family lawyer ( family law attorney ).
Yes, there are many cases in life of the need to establish the fact of cohabitation between a man and a woman whose marriage was not registered. Such a need may arise, for example, in the event of the death of one of them, when the other wants to enter the inheritance, receive payments provided for by the current law, etc. After all, according to Article 74 of the Family Code of Ukraine, even if a man and a woman lived together without state registration of the relationship, the property they acquired together is their joint property. In addition, according to the Civil Code of Ukraine, the fourth line of inheritance includes persons who lived with the deceased in the same family for 5 consecutive years before his death. That is, in some cases, the cohabitation of a man and a woman is equated to marriage.
Recognition of the fact of cohabitation of a man and a woman as a civil marriage usually takes place in a civil court procedure. Current legislation defines certain conditions under which cohabitation can be considered as a fact of civil marriage.
The procedure for establishing the fact of cohabitation includes submitting to the court an application for establishing the fact of cohabitation between a woman and a man without marriage registration, which must be supported by evidence such as witness statements, documentary evidence, as well as any other evidence that confirms the fact of cohabitation . The court considers all the submitted evidence and the circumstances of the case and makes a decision on establishing or denying the fact of cohabitation based on the relevant legal norms.
This procedure can be part of a larger legal process, for example, in the case of consideration of questions about the distribution of property, determining alimony, obtaining monetary compensation in the event of the death of a serviceman, or other issues related to family or civil relations. In each specific situation, the court decides the issue of establishing the fact of cohabitation based on the specific circumstances of the case and in accordance with the requirements of the law. In most cases, this process should be accompanied by a family lawyers in order to obtain a positive result.
The analysis of judicial practice regarding the recognition of a civil marriage as the fact of cohabitation of a man and a woman gives reason to believe that the signs of a de facto family, which constitutes a de facto marriage between a man and a woman, are: cohabitation of a man and a woman; common life; mutual rights and obligations. All these aspects of cohabitation must be proven in court without any doubt. In addition, if you intend to establish the fact of cohabitation in order to inherit, the duration of the specified residence must be at least 5 years in a row.
Recognition of the fact of cohabitation of a man and a woman as a civil marriage is an important tool for regulating various legal aspects, such as property relations, inheritance, children's rights and other aspects of family life. In case of disputed situations, the court can consider all the circumstances of the case to determine whether a particular cohabitation can really be a civil marriage.
