Same-sex couples legal protection
We provide legal support to same-sex couples who wish to enter into a civil partnership or marriage abroad or secure their legal situation e.g.in the event of death.
Legal protection of the LGBT families in Poland is still very limited. Same-sex couples do not have a possibility to get married or enter into a civil partnership. It is only natural, that they build their family life abroad, in countries where all their rights are equally assured. We specialize in the provision of legal assistance to such couples, especially in cross-border cases, that require not only the knowledge of Polish law, but also European Union and international law, as well as national law of countries where same-sex couples decide to formalize their relationship.
Among others, we specialize in the following cases:
- entering into civil partnership or marriage abroad and change of last name in Poland – we provide legal advice on the possibility of entering into a civil partnership and marriage abroad; we also conduct proceedings in cases of recognition in Poland of such marriages and partnerships, as well as proceedings concerning the change of surname to the name of the partner;
- power of attorney, property relations between partners and wills – we help to secure legal relations between people living in same-sex marriages in Poland, in particular by formulating detailed power of attorney documents, agreements that regulate property rights and wills.
Our experience:
- changing the last name to same-sex partner’s last name or adopting the common name by a same-sex couple,
- transcription – transposition of foreign marriage certificates to the Polish register of civil status [more about one of our cases];
- marriage equality – proceedings aimed at enabling same-sex couples to get married in Poland [more about the Coalition for civil partnership and marriage equality].
What else we can do for you?
We provide comprehensive tax support to same-sex couples who, despite the lack of general solutions in the form of civil unions or marital equality, want to secure their finances (joint investments, financial protection for children, security clauses in the event of relationship’s dissolution of partner’s death).
We provide legal support in securing the legal status of children born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy, including in LGBT families.
We support victims of discrimination, in particular on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, e.g. in employment, access to services, healthcare or education, as well as victims of crimes motivated by prejudice, including hate speech.