Civil Unions in Italy

Civil Unions have been approved in Italy 

 In order to speed up the bill’s passage, Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, called a confidence vote in Italy’s lower house on Wednesday saying it was “unacceptable to have any more delays after years of failed attempts."Italy is the last major western European country to recognize civil unions for same sex couples

 Each township in Italy will now prepare to celebrate civil unions respecting of these new norms.  Let's look at what this means. 

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1. Cirinnà law: the key points

With the law on civil unions approved yesterday, Italy becomes the 27th country in Europe to legally recognise same-sex couples. The Cirinnà law requires partners in a same-sex civil union to provide mutual moral and material assistance, and to contribute to common needs. It also envisages pension rights for surviving partners and gives same-sex civil partners the same inheritance rights as married spouses. Under the law, however, partners in same-sex civil unions are not required to be faithful, and are not allowed to adopt their stepchildren. Partners will also be able to decide on their surname: keeping their own, taking the other person’s or combining the two. Finally, it will be much easier to dissolve the union than it is for marriage. The law however fails to give an official name to the members of such couples, who are not referred to as spouses or husbands and wives. The Cirinnà law also governs the rights and duties of “de facto cohabitants”, whether heterosexual or gay, “living as a couple in a stable relationship”, who now have the same access rights as a spouse in the event of incarceration or admission to hospital. Moreover, they can take over lease agreements or be entitled to remain in their partner’s property for up to 5 years in the event of their death. They will also be entitled to claim maintenance in the event of separation.

2. Children

Critics say the bill, which leaves out adoption, does not go far enough.

Parliament has not given same-sex partners the right to adopt, despite the fact that due to long-term cohabitation they may have acted as a mother or father. Once again, the courts are left with the task of interpreting the law when assessing the individual cases brought before them.

3. Duties

Civil unions regulate solely the legal relationship between persons of the same sex, and are comparable to the institution of marriage. In 99 percent of cases, those joined in a civil union acquire the same rights and obligations associated with marriage, except for the obligation to remain faithful. In financial terms, civil unions and marriages envisage the same rights and duties, without exception, such as maintenance payments, or in the event of a partner’s death, rights to a pension and severance pay, as well as general inheritance rights. Paradoxically, civil unions seem to provide even more rights than marriage, and are governed by more modern regulations. First of all, there is no obligation to publish the banns, which means less bureaucracy. In addition, there is no separation period for a couple that decides to split. The partners need merely state their intentions before the registrar, and after three months they can file for divorce, greatly cutting down on costs and time. In civil unions a couple can opt to take a single surname, which under Italian marriage law is not possible. Nor is there any obligation to be faithful in the sexual sense, as is the case for married couples, but rather a duty to provide more general, wide-ranging support. In civil unions, the absence of the obligation to be faithful and of pre-divorce separation means avoiding legal battles and the attribution of blame, as well as claims for compensation as a result of infidelity, and the involvement of private investigators. (by Gian Ettore Gassani, President of AMI, the Italian Association of Divorce Lawyers).

4. Rights

The new law, whose implementation will require further legislation, is the first step in dealing with an issue that has long been awaiting regulation and that is a social phenomenon of enormous importance, namely cohabitation, of both gays and heterosexuals. The former can be joined in civil unions governed by a series of rights and duties that make them similar to marriage (constitution of the union before a registrar, survivor’s pension, inheritance rights, obligation to provide moral and material assistance, mutual obligation to contribute to common needs), with some grey areas regarding separation, which distinguishes them from marriage.

*from Corriere.it