Dissolving a civil partnership in Spain
The separation of an unmarried couple takes place simply with the cessation of the cohabitation of the couple, decision that can be taken by common agreement or unilaterally by one of the members of the couple.
We are going to focus on the unmarried couples registered in the corresponding administrative registry because, having to be registered necessarily to have the rights and obligations that the different autonomous communities grant, they demand the concurrence of causes and a precise form to undo this unmarried couple.
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Grounds for dissolving a civil partnership in Madrid
- The common agreement.
- By unilateral decision of one of the members of the union notified to the other by any of the forms admitted in Law.
- By death or declaration of death of one of the members of the de facto union.
- By separation of fact of more than six months.
- By marriage of one of the members.
In turn, according to which is the cause of the extinction of fact, it will be accredited before the person in charge of the Civil Registry. Thus, if it is by death it is enough to provide the death certificate, if it is by marriage the corresponding marriage certificate will be provided, if it is by common agreement by separation of fact of more than 6 months both spouses will appear and they will declare it freely to the Registrar.
Once the cause of dissolution has been accredited, the Registrar shall proceed, upon request of the parties, to cancel the registration.
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Civil partnerships and the absence of a national regime
One feature of Spanish law surprises almost every foreign client: there is no single national statute governing unmarried couples. Registration, requirements and effects are regulated by each autonomous region, which means that the rules in Madrid are not the same as in Catalonia, Valencia or Andalusia. Where a couple registered therefore matters, and it matters again when the relationship ends.
Equally important is what a civil partnership does not produce. Unlike marriage, it does not create a matrimonial property regime, it does not generate inheritance rights under the Civil Code, and it does not give rise to a compensatory allowance on separation. Couples who assume that living together for years gives them the same protection as a married couple often discover otherwise at the worst possible moment.
What happens to the children
Here the position is entirely different, and it is the point that matters most. Children of an unmarried couple have exactly the same rights as children born within marriage. Custody, contact arrangements, child maintenance and the use of the family home are decided under the same rules and by the same courts.
The procedural route is not the divorce procedure but an application for parental measures, which we explain on our page on parental measures.
Property and financial claims between former partners
Because no matrimonial property regime applies, property acquired during the relationship belongs to whoever holds title, unless it was purchased jointly. Where one partner has contributed to a property registered in the other’s name, the claim has to be built on general civil law principles — unjust enrichment, an implied community of property, or the terms of any cohabitation agreement — and it requires evidence.
This is precisely why a written cohabitation agreement matters far more for an unmarried couple than for a married one.
Cross-border dissolutions
Where the partners are of different nationalities, or one of them has left Spain, the first question is which court has jurisdiction and which law applies. The European regulations on divorce do not cover unmarried couples, so the answer is found in Spanish private international law and, where children are involved, in Regulation (EU) 2019/1111, which attributes jurisdiction to the courts of the State where the child is habitually resident.
Where a foreign decision needs to be recognised in Spain, see recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.