A de facto union is an affective, public, well-known, stable and permanent relationship between two persons who live together and share a common life project without being married. The Civil and Commercial Code of Argentina (arts. 509 to 528) recognises it as a legitimate form of family organisation and grants it important legal effects: housing protection, right to alimony, succession in certain cases, agreed division of assets, and other significant rights.
An increasing number of couples choose the de facto union over marriage. We assist with every aspect: registration, drafting of cohabitation agreements, property arrangements, rights during cohabitation, and — when the time comes — dissolution and liquidation.
For cohabitation to be legally recognised as a de facto union, art. 510 of the Civil and Commercial Code requires:
Registration of the de facto union in the Civil Registry (in Buenos Aires City, the Civil Registry; in Buenos Aires Province, the Provincial Registries) serves evidentiary purposes: it facilitates proving the union before third parties (health insurers, ANSES, banks, Immigration) and eliminates the need to prove it by other means. Registration is declaratory, not constitutive: the union exists from the moment the requirements of art. 510 are met, not from the moment of registration.
Partners may enter into agreements — arts. 513 to 517 of the Civil and Commercial Code — to regulate contributions to household expenses, allocation of the home upon separation, division of assets acquired during cohabitation, and other matters. Agreements are formalised in writing and may be registered to make them enforceable against third parties. We advise on their drafting so that they clearly reflect the parties' wishes and prevent future disputes.
Neither partner may, without the consent of the other, deal with the rights over the family home (art. 522 of the Civil and Commercial Code). This also applies to the subsequent liquidation of assets (allocation of the home).
Partners must support each other and contribute according to their means to household expenses and the needs of any common children (arts. 519 and 520 of the Civil and Commercial Code).
Joint and several liability for debts incurred to meet ordinary household needs and the education of children (art. 521 of the Civil and Commercial Code).
The partner in the more vulnerable position or who has custody of the children may request exclusive use of the home for a reasonable period (art. 526 of the Civil and Commercial Code).
Applicable when the separation causes a manifest imbalance implying a worsening of position (art. 524 of the Civil and Commercial Code, in terms analogous to art. 441 for marriage).
The de facto union is extinguished by: