Legal cohabitation

Under the legal cohabitation system a couple may be recognised as cohabitants, provided they are adults and are not connected by marriage or any other legal cohabitation.
The law does not set any opposite-sex (gender) or non-kinship conditions, so legal cohabitation is open, for example, to a homosexual couple, an unmarried heterosexual couple, a sibling (brother and sister, two brothers or sisters ), a couple who a relative in the ascendant-descendant line (parent or grand-parent with an adult child or grandchild).
Legal cohabitation is the result of a legal cohabitation declaration provided in writing and with acknowledgment of receipt to the registrar of births, marriages and deaths for the shared residence. This document features in particular the following information :

• date of the declaration;
• the surnames, first names, places and dates of birth, signatures of the two parties;
• address of the shared residence ;
• a reference to the willingness of the parties to cohabit legally;
• where appropriate, a reference to the agreement concluded between the parties.

Once the registrar of births, marriages and death has made sure the conditions have been met, the official records the declaration in the population register.

Legal rights and duties

The legal cohabitants are required to contribute to the costs of conjugal life according to their means.
Any debt one of the legal cohabitants incurs for the requirements of the conjugal life and the children being brought up is jointly binding on the other cohabitant but the latter is not bound by debts regarded as excessive in the light of the resources of the cohabitants.
Each of the legal cohabitants retains the assets that he/she can prove belong to him/her, the income generated by these assets and earned income. When assets and the income they generate cannot be proved to belong to one or the other of the legal cohabitants they are deemed to be owned on an undivided basis (i.e. the individuals enjoy in their respect the same rights).

The legal cohabitation declaration ensures :

The protection of the family home: the property serving as a congregate dwelling and its furniture may not be sold, given or used as a guarantee (mortgage) by one of the cohabitants without the prior consent of the other cohabitant. In the event of a refusal the judge may enforce it if the refusal is unjustified;
the contribution to the costs of conjugal life : the cohabitants are required to participate in the household needs, so allocate some of their income according to their means and the common lifestyle.

The legal cohabitation agreement

The cohabitants may decide the arrangements governing their legal cohabitation on the basis of an agreement. The agreement has to be executed in authentic form before a notary (without a witness) and be featured in the population register. This cohabitation contract may not contain any clause contrary to public policy or morality, to the rules on parental authority, to the power of guardianship, to the rules governing devolution upon death.
Termination of legal cohabitation
The legal cohabitation ends when one of the parties gets married, dies or when it is terminated pursuant to this paragraph.
The legal cohabitation may be terminated by the common consent of the cohabitants, unilaterally or by one of the cohabitants by means of a written declaration provided with acknowledgment of receipt to the registrar of births, marriages and deaths pursuant to the provisions in the following paragraph.
The declaration on the termination of the legal cohabitation has to feature :

• the date of the declaration;
• the surnames, first names, places and dates of birth of the two parties and their signatures or the signature of the cohabitant making the unilateral declaration;
• the determination of the residence of the two parties;
• a reference to the willingness to terminate the cohabitation.

The declaration concerning termination by mutual consent has to be provided to the registrar of births, marriages and deaths for the municipality covering the residence of the two parties or, should the parties not be domiciled in the same municipality, to the registrar of births, marriages and deaths for the municipality covering the residence of one of the two cohabitants. In this case, the registrar of births, marriages and deaths takes steps within eight days to send a registered letter to notify the termination to the registrar of births, marriages and deaths for the municipality covering the residence of the other party.
The unilateral declaration of termination is provided to the registrar of births, marriages and deaths for the municipality covering the residence of the two parties or, when the parties are not domiciled in the same municipality, to the registrar of births, marriages and deaths for the municipality covering the residence of the party making the declaration. The registrar of births, marriages and deaths notifies the termination to the other party within eight days and does so by a process served by a bailiff and, where appropriate, the registrar acts within the same period of time to send a registered letter to notify the registrar of births, marriages and deaths for the municipality covering the residence of the other party.
In any event, the costs of notification have to be paid beforehand by the parties making the declaration.
The registrar of births, marriages and deaths records the termination of the legal cohabitation in the population register.

In the event of a problem

Should the agreement between the legal cohabitants be seriously disrupted, the justice of the peace may act, in response to a request by the parties, to order urgent and provisional measures concerning the occupation of the shared residence, the person and property of the cohabitants and children and the legal and contract-based obligations of the two cohabitants. The justice of the peace will decide how long the measures called for will apply.

References :

Law of 23 November 1998 (Belgian Official Gazette of 12 January 1999)
Civil Code: articles 1475 to 1479