- fr
- en
Jurisdiction: Sweden
Source: H. Ytterberg, "Formalisation of legal family formats in Sweden". In: K. Waaldijk et al. (eds.), The LawsAndFamilies Database – Aspects of legal family formats for same-sex and different-sex couples. Paris: INED, 2017, www.LawsAndFamilies.eu, LawsAndFamilies-SE-Section1.pdf (please use this full citation when citing any information from this table).
Section: 1 - Formalisation
Question: 1.01 - Legal family formats
Which of the three legal family formats mentioned here are available to different-sex and/or same-sex couples?
(For the distinction between registered partnership and cohabitation, see section e of the Guidance for experts answering questions in the questionnaire. If there are two or more formats available for informally cohabiting couples, then please mention these formats separately in the explanation to this question.)
| Marriage | Registered partnership | Cohabitation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| diff.-sex | same-sex | diff.-sex | same-sex | diff.-sex | same-sex |
| 2015 Yes 0000 | 2015 Yes 2009 | 2015 No 1995 | 2015 No, but 2009 | 2015 Yes 2003 | 2015 Yes 2003 |
| No 0000 | No 0000 | Yes 1995 | Yes 1988 | Yes, but 1988 | |
| No 0000 | Yes 1974 | No 1974 | |||
| No 0000 | No 0000 | ||||
| References to legal sources: Art. 1(2)of chapter 1 of the Marriage Code (1987:230)[Äktenskapsbalk]as amended by law (2009:253), in force from 1 May 2009, https://www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/lag/19870230.htm. (All the www.notisum.se links to legal information on the internet are provided by the company NOTISUM, P.O. Box 146, SE-421 22 VÄSTRA FRÖLUNDA, Sweden.) | References to legal sources: Art. 1 of chapter 1 of the Registered Partnership Act (1994:1117) [Lag om registrerat partnerskap]. In force from 1 January 1995 until 30 April 2009, https://www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/lag/19941117.htm. Art.1 of the Act (2009:260) Repealing the Registered Partnership Act (1994:1117)[Lag om upphävande av lagen (1994:1117) om registrerat partnerskap], in force 1 May 2009. https://www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/lag/20090260.htm | References to legal sources: Art. 1 of the Cohabitation Act (2003:376)[Sambolag], in force from 1 July 2003, www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/lag/20030376.HTM. Art. 1 of the Joint Home of Cohabitants (Different-Sex) Act (1987:232) [Lag om sambors gemensamma hem], in force from 1 January 1988 to 30 June 2003. Single art. of the Homosexual Cohabitants Act (1987:813) [Lag om homosexuella sambor], in force from 1 January 1988 to 30 June 2003, www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/lag/19870813.htm. Art. 1 of the Joint Home of Unmarried Cohabiting Persons Act (1973:651) [Lag om ogifta samboendes gemensamma hem), in force from 1 January 1974 to 31 December 1987. | |||
| Explanations and nuances: The Marriage Code was made gender neutral as from 1 May 2009. | Explanations and nuances: The Registered Partnership Act entered into force in 1995 and was open only to same-sex couples. When the gender neutral Marriage Code entered into force in 2009, the Act was repealed, but remains in force for those couples who had already registered their partnership under Swedish law before 1 May 2009. | Explanations and nuances: The present Cohabitation Act from 2003 is gender neutral. The Homosexual Cohabitants Act had a narrower scope of application than all the scattered statutory provisions applicable to different-sex cohabiting couples taken together. The Joint Home of Cohabitants (Different-Sex) Act of 1988 as well as the Joint Home of Unmarried Cohabiting Persons Act of 1974 applied to different-sex couples only. Before 1974 there were no statutory rules on cohabiting couples, regardless of sex. | |||
In the six time-lines in this table the year below an answer indicates that this answer applied since a certain day in that year. The year "0000" means that the answer applied since a certain day in an unknown year before 1965. An "X" means that this question was not asked for this legal family format. For an explanation of the possible answers (Yes; Yes, but; No; No, but; Doubt; ?; N/A) see the Guidance for experts answering questions in the questionnaire.