Thousands of de facto couples in Catalonia with two years of cohabitation or children in common but who have not formalized their relationship in front of a notary or at the City Council could lose their rights and be unprotected if the Constitutional Court overturns part of the Catalan rule. A litigation that is currently in the courts and that affects a couple that had not formalized the five years of cohabitation could trigger the pronouncement of unconstitutionality. Those affected, who number in the thousands, would be left helpless and no longer have the right to compensation or widowhood.
The vice-president of the Catalan Society of Family Lawyers, Ramon Quintano, explains that two years of cohabitation or a child together do not show the unequivocal desire to be a couple, but “they simply live together”. That is why he warns that, if these two cases are declared unconstitutional, a “vast majority” of de facto couples will be “helpless”. The lawyer recommends that, if you want rights and duties, it is better to get married or formalize the couple in front of a notary or at the Town Hall.
Lawyers have been protesting for some time because of the first two controversial assumptions of the Catalan de facto couples law, the first of which was made in 1998, explains Quintano. These assumptions (the a and the ) give as valid a de facto couple after two years of cohabitation or with children in common. With the Catalan Civil Code, these couples have rights similar to those of marriages that could disappear. A first warning that part of the rule was faltering took place in 2013, when the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the law in Navarre that recognized as valid a stable union with a year of cohabitation or a child in common because it considered that it was contrary to the ‘article 10.1 and “that they had not demonstrated the unequivocal will to constitute themselves as couples”, explains the lawyer.
When this declaration of unconstitutionality took place in Navarre, the family lawyers already warned that the Catalan law was “at risk”, explains Quintano. And that’s what seems to be happening in a lawsuit that could overturn a good part of a law that regulates as stable couples: a cohabitation of more than two years, having children in common or having formalized the relationship before a notary or in the ‘Town hall. The case that could shake the law is that of a couple who lived together for five years without children and who did not formalize their relationship. One of the members died without leaving a will and the mother claimed the property. The couple applied for annulment and a court ruled in their favor, but the mother raised a question of unconstitutionality.
Javier Pérez’s partner, Montse, died in 2019 a few weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. They had two daughters in common, but they had not formalized the 18 years of stable marriage and Javier was left without a widow’s pension. This 55-year-old stonemason explains that it was his partner who insisted the most on making the union legal, but that due to the maelstrom of day-to-day life they did not do so. “It was a serious mistake”. With the hard time of the loss and two daughters to take care of, it was Javier’s turn to litigate to get the widow’s pension. But he didn’t get it.
Marta Loza, the lawyer who brought the case, assures that Javier’s is “bloody”, because with the diagnosis of his partner’s illness, the last thing his client thought about was getting married. Loza, however, explains that, in addition to not having the registration of a partner, the deceased did not contribute 50% of the income, something that until 2021 was also a requirement in the case of de facto couples to deny widowhood .
“I have suffered with one’s salary to support my daughters”, explains this construction worker. “She paid my freelancers”, remembers Javier. But neither that, nor proving the payment of the rent and other shared expenses, nor the neighbors who went to the trial to testify that Montse and Javier were a couple, nor the two daughters were enough for the judge to grant her widowhood. Javier regrets the lack of information on the rights of couples. Luckily, the daughters of Javier and Montse are entitled to the orphan’s pension and are “good students”, but Javier explains the economic decline caused by not being widowed: “I’m with water up to my neck “.
“If you want to have rights and duties, the most recommended thing is to go to the notary”, recommends Ramon Quintano. The lawyers ask the Catalan legislator to thread the needle “if he wants to continue protecting, because we have a problem”.
