COLOMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Rodrigo Castillo Cottin, Ana María López and Alejandra Becerra, Rimon, P.C.
9.2 Same-Sex Marriage A progressive recognition of legal rights for same-sex couples has taken place through case law. Currently, same-sex couples: • can constitute de facto marital unions; • may formalise their union before a judge or notary public; and • have the same pension, social security, property and inheritance, and adoption rights as hetero - sexual couples. The most recent legal development took place with Ruling SU-214/2016, whereby the Constitutional Court accepted same-sex marriages. The CTC establishes that non-profit corporations, foundations and associations are subject to a special tax regime with respect to income tax (20% rate) and complementary taxes, provided that they comply with the following conditions: • they are incorporated under Colombian law; • their main purpose and resources are directed towards health, primary education, formal educa - tion, college education, sports education, culture, scientific or technological advances, ecological research, environmental protection or social devel - opment programmes; • their activities are of general interest and may be freely accessed by the community; • their capital contribution or surpluses cannot be distributed; and • their surpluses are reinvested, in their entirety, in the activity of the entity’s corporate purpose and such corporate purpose corresponds to the activi - ties mentioned in the preceding clause. 10. Charitable Planning 10.1 Charitable Giving Further to this, there is an annual registration require - ment. The entity must file a yearly online request to continue benefiting from the special tax regimen. Otherwise, it will be subject to the general corporate income tax rate (35% from FY 2023 onwards).
4. Voluntary savings pillar This final pillar remains unchanged and allows individ - uals to make additional contributions to supplement their retirement savings. Transition Measures To safeguard acquired rights, the law includes a tran - sition regime: individuals close to retirement – that is, women with 750+ weeks and men with 900+ weeks of contributions by 1 July 2025, will remain under the previous legal framework. Additional provisions for women include a 50-week credit per child (up to three) and a gradual reduction of the contribution require - ment to 1,000 weeks by 2036. Legal Challenges and Institutional Uncertainty Despite its scheduled implementation, the law’s future remains partially uncertain. Several constitutional claims have been filed, primarily questioning the leg - islative process that led to its approval. In June 2025, the Constitutional Court identified pro - cedural flaws in the legislative process, specifically in the final voting session, and suspended the law’s implementation, returning it to Congress for recon - sideration. The court has given Congress 30 work - ing days to rectify the issue before reconfirming the reform’s constitutionality. This “technical pause” delays the reform’s roll-out, maintains only narrow exceptions (eg, the transfer window and institutional set-up provisions), and leaves full implementation contingent on completing a fresh parliamentary vote and possible new judicial review. 9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children There is no legal distinction for natural or adopted chil - dren, or those born out of wedlock, in terms of estate and succession planning. In accordance with Law 29 of 1982, natural and adopted children have the same rights and obligations. This would also be the case for posthumously conceived children.
144 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook