COLOMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Rodrigo Castillo Cottin, Ana María López and Alejandra Becerra, Rimon, P.C.
been filed, primarily questioning the legislative pro - cess 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 reconsid - eration. The House of Representatives re-approved the pension reform on 28 June 2025 – however, the suspension remains in effect until the Constitutional Court issues its final ruling on the law’s constitutional - ity (at the time of publication of this guide, the court had not yet ruled on this matter). Implementation measures tied to pension transfers have also been challenged under litigation: in April 2026, the Council of State provisionally suspended Decree 415 of 2026, which ordered private pension funds to transfer certain assets to Colpensiones , after finding that the forced transfer of resources for indi - viduals who have not yet consolidated their pension entitlement exceeded the government’s regulatory authority and contradicted the law’s own transitional framework (Article 76, Law 2381 of 2024; Decree 1225 of 2024). As a result, most of Law 2381 of 2024 remains sus - pended, with narrow exceptions continuing to apply. Full implementation remains contingent on the Con - stitutional Court’s final decision and the resolution of related judicial proceedings. 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. 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. 9.3 Cohabitation and Unmarried Couples In Colombia, unmarried couples may acquire legal recognition if they constitute a de facto marital union, defined under Law 54 of 1990 as a permanent and singular community of life between two adults not married to each other. Same-sex couples have been included since 2007 through Constitutional Court rul - ing C-075 of 2007. Succession A patrimonial partnership is presumed after at least two years of cohabitation or may be declared by pub - lic deed, conciliation agreement or judicial decision (Law 979 of 2005). For succession purposes, per - manent partners have been progressively equated with spouses through Constitutional Court decisions (C-283 of 2011, C-238 of 2012 and C-456 of 2020), extending intestate succession rights and other civil law references to “spouse” to permanent partners of both different-sex and same-sex couples, on equal terms. Tax Implications From a tax perspective, permanent partners receive substantially the same treatment as married spouses. They qualify as dependants for income tax purposes, benefit from equivalent occasional-gains thresholds on inherited assets, and may be designated as benefi - ciaries under insurance and pension instruments with
no adverse tax differentiation. Reason to Formalise the Union
Compared with marriage, a de facto marital union may produce equivalent patrimonial, succession and tax effects, but generally requires formal declaration to be enforceable against third parties. Mere cohabita - tion without the elements of a permanent and singular
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