Romantic relationship in Luxembourg

Dating, partner choice, expectations, intimacy and shared life usually develop through private agreements rather than a national dating procedure or registry. Planning Familial offers confidential medical, psychological, sexological and relationship counselling, including support for communication problems, separation, divorce, sexual orientation, violence and coercion. Consultations may be free, and psychological contributions can be adjusted to income; access is also possible without health insurance. CIGALE provides individual and community support for LGBTIQ+ people and their close contacts, as well as free anonymous testing for HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis at its stated service times. Consent must be assessed from the circumstances and cannot be inferred from silence or the absence of resistance. A person can withdraw consent at any time, and marriage, a PACS or cohabitation does not create an exception. Sexual acts without consent are criminalised, with aggravating circumstances for a spouse, former spouse or cohabiting partner. For specified sexual acts, people under 16 generally lack capacity; an exception for ages 13 to 15 applies only when the age gap is no more than four years. Luxembourg's CNS covers contraception at 100% for a person with a valid Luxembourg social-security card when it is obtained through a doctor, pharmacist or midwife. Covered methods include the pill, mini-pill, emergency pill, patch, ring, injection, implant and intrauterine device. Planning Familial provides free condoms and lubricant, STI screening and counselling, and support concerning pregnancy, sexuality and violence. HIV or STI testing is also available through a general practitioner, HIV Berodung, Planning Familial, Jugend an Drogenhëllef and Abrigado. Voluntary termination of pregnancy generally takes place no later than 12 weeks of pregnancy or 14 weeks of amenorrhoea, with a specialist consultation at least three days beforehand; psychosocial support is available. A PACS can be registered by partners of any nationality or gender who legally reside in Luxembourg and live together. Both partners make a joint declaration in person at the administration communale of their common residence. They need legal capacity, must not already be married or in another partnership, and must not fall within prohibited kinship categories. Typical documents include identity documents, birth certificates issued less than three months earlier in Luxembourg or France or less than six months earlier elsewhere, declarations and, where relevant, foreign civil-status or partnership certificates. The commune sets appointment details. No fixed national registration fee is identified, but translation, notarial and certificate costs may arise. A PACS can affect civil status, tax and social-security treatment, creates mutual material assistance and household-cost duties, and creates joint liability for certain household, shared-housing and jointly incurred debts. It also protects the shared home and may support survivor-pension or tax relief under the applicable conditions. A PACS does not permit a shared household of more than two people. Civil marriage is available to couples of any nationality or gender. At least one partner must be officially resident in Luxembourg, and the civil registrar of the resident partner's commune handles the ceremony. Both partners generally need to be at least 18, unless a guardianship judge authorises otherwise. The file must normally be submitted at least one month before the ceremony; publication lasts ten days, and the ceremony must take place within twelve months after the publication period. A religious ceremony may take place only after the civil marriage. Without a matrimonial contract, the statutory matrimonial regime is community of property. A notary is required for a marriage contract or a later change to it, and notarial fees apply. Municipal procedures and any ceremony charges can vary. Unregistered cohabitation has no general equivalent to PACS rights. Housing, ownership, debts, inheritance, tax, pension protection, immigration and the shared residence therefore depend on contracts, joint ownership, beneficiary designations and other separate legal arrangements. A spouse or legal partner must apply to CNAP for a survivor pension; general conditions include a union lasting at least one year at death and, for an active insured person, at least twelve months of affiliation during the preceding three years. Survivor protection is not automatic for every unmarried cohabiting partner. Planning Familial can help with relationship or sexual conflict. Family mediation can support separation and divorce when both sides participate voluntarily and in good faith. The CMCC process normally lasts no more than three months unless the parties agree to extend it, and a written settlement may be submitted for approval and enforcement. The JAF, the juge aux affaires familiales, may allow up to one month to learn about mediation. Violence changes the appropriate pathway: ordinary relationship mediation is unsuitable where safety, coercion or intimidation is present. Physical, psychological, sexual and economic violence within a relationship requires a safety response. Immediate danger should be reported to the Police at 113, available around the clock. The Helpline Violence domestique at 2060 1060 provides 24-hour listening and direction. The police informs the Parquet, and an alleged perpetrator may be expelled for up to fourteen days with a ban on approaching or contacting the victim. CNVV offers direct and free 24-hour support, while SAVVD supports adult victims and SAV or SCAS can provide free psychological or psychotherapeutic assistance after a crime. Services also exist for witnesses, minors and perpetrators. A PACS can end through a joint or unilateral declaration. A unilateral declaration first requires service by a huissier de justice and is then made in person before the registrar who recorded the PACS. The registrar forwards it to the Service du répertoire civil within three working days. The end takes effect between the partners when received and against third parties after entry in the register. Within three months, either partner can request urgent or provisional measures from the justice de paix concerning the shared residence, people, property and contractual or legal duties; such measures can remain valid for up to one year. Marriage can end through divorce by mutual consent or divorce based on irretrievable breakdown before the Tribunal d'arrondissement and the JAF. A contested or irretrievable-breakdown case requires one or two lawyers according to the procedure, while a mutual-consent agreement can be prepared through an avocat à la Cour or a notary. Divorce may require liquidation of the matrimonial regime and arrangements concerning housing, maintenance and children. Legal separation ends the duty to live together but does not end the marriage. Tax treatment changes after the year of dissolution or separation, although tax class 2 may continue for three years under stated conditions. Justice's family-law information service provides free, confidential information for women and men. Legal aid may be available subject to conditions, while lawyer, notary, huissier, translation and mediation costs depend on the case. In 2024 Luxembourg recorded 2,567 marriages, including 89 same-sex marriages, and 1,197 divorces. The 2025 population snapshot recorded 47% married people, 5.3% in a civil partnership and 33.2% single people, while the 2021 census found that 63.1% of households were couple-based regardless of legal status. These figures do not determine an individual couple's rights; the decisive factors are the partners' legal status, agreements, residence, safety and the specific service or procedure involved.