Getting married and registering a relationship If dating leads to a more permanent relationship, you should be aware that the form of the relationship – common law, marriage, registered relationship – may affect the management of property and inheritance, as well as custody and maintenance of children. Samesex partners in registered relationships are primarily governed by the same legislation as those in a marriage. People may get married in a church or at the register office. Before the marriage, couples must request a certificate of an investigation of impediments from the register office or the church. The investigation makes sure that the marriage is lawful. Anyone planning to get married must also sign a declaration of no impedimentsto the planned marriage. Impediments include being married already, as bigamy is forbidden in Finland. Impediments of a foreigner are investigated when at least one of the people getting married is a Finnish citizen or has a domicile in Finland. Foreign law is only applied if neither person has this kind of connection with Finland. In order to marry a couple in Finland, the marriage must always be lawful in Finland even if the couple is foreign. That is why any foreigners planning to marry must have a certificate of no impediments to the marriage issued by the authorities in their own country. When the person investigating the impediments has stated that there are no impediments to the marriage, the couple receives a certificate that is valid for four months. If the marriage does not take place within four months, the investigation of impediments must be performed again.
Anyone who is over the age of 18 and is not married or in a registered relationship may enter a marriage. Anyone under the age of 18 may enter a marriage with permission from the Ministry of Justice. Marriage between close relatives is not allowed. Marriage is in fact forbidden in the following situations: • between a child and their parent, sibling or half-sibling • between the children of a brother or sister • between a foster child and a foster parent Special permission may be applied from the Ministry of Justice in the last two situations. Register offices and the Evangelical Lutheran, Orthodox and Catholic churches, as well as those registered religious communities that have been granted the right by the Ministry of Justice, have the right to officiate at weddings. Civil marriages are officiated at register offices. Two witnesses must be present in both church and register office ceremonies. The spouses may choose to use the current last name in the marriage or use a shared last name. A hyphenated last name is also an option, i.e. one of the spouses may use their previous last name in front of the shared last name. The officiant must be informed of the new last names before the ceremony. Spouses may draft a written prenuptial agreement either before or after the ceremony, with which the spouses may agree on how to divide property in case of a divorce, for example. Two unimpeded people must certify the agreement. A prenuptial agreement is only valid after it has been authorised by the register office. It is recommended that a lawyer be consulted when making a prenuptial agreement. Anyone forming a blended family should determine the legal issues related to the family, such as obligation to provide
28 | Life in Finland | Finnish life
INFO: • https://oikeus.fi/en/index/esitteet/ avioliittolaki.html • w ww.maistraatti.fi/fi/Palvelut/ vihkiminen_ ja_parisuhteen_ rekisterointi/Vihkiminen/
maintenance and inheritance issues. International marriages entered into in Finland usually comply with Finnish law, because the deciding factor is the person’s domicile or place of residence rather than their nationality. In practice this means that foreigners living in Finland permanently are governed by Finnish law in issues related to property, marriage and inheritance. The spouses may in some cases agree on different procedures. Same-sex couples may register their relationship at the register office. The register office also conducts the investigation of impediments preceding the marriage. Registering a relationship is in principle a similar legal agreement to a marriage. In Finland, the gender-neutral marriage act will come into effect in March 2017, after which same-sex couples may enter a marriage.
Marriage – Spousal rights and responsibilities The Marriage Act determines the spouses’ rights and obligations to each other. It states that spouses are equal. The principle of the law is that spouses should demonstrate mutual trust and act together for the benefit of the family. Both spouses have the right to decide