ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Juan McEwan and Agustín Lacoste, McEWAN
9.2 Same-Sex Marriage Argentine law recognises marriage between same-sex couples, so the same marital property regime applies in such cases. This has no special effect on the tes - tator’s will, given that they have the same inheritance rights as any other spouses in a marriage. “Marriage” is defined as a union between one person and another of the same or opposite sex in a consensual and con - tractual relationship recognised by law – the consent to which is usually expressed in the presence of a public officer. Argentine law also recognises a civil partnership, which is a legal union or contract like a marriage between two people of the same sex. 9.3 Cohabitation and Unmarried Couples The Unión Convivencial Since the Civil and Commercial Code came into force in 2015, Argentine law has recognised unmarried cohabitation as a distinct legal category – the unión convivencial – rather than leaving it unregulated. The status is available to couples of any sex and arises from fact rather than formality: a public, notorious, stable and permanent cohabitation of at least two years between two people with no legal impediment to marry. Registration of the union is permitted and is advisable for evidentiary and administrative purposes, particularly in dealings with third parties, employers and social security bodies, but registration is not con - stitutive; an unregistered couple can still be recog - nised as convivientes based on the underlying facts. Separation of property The principal divergence from marriage lies in the patrimonial regime. Marriage defaults to a commu - nity-of-acquest regime, under which assets acquired during the marriage are in principle shared on dissolu - tion, unless the spouses elect separation of property. Convivientes are not subject to any default commu - nity regime: each partner retains sole ownership and administration of their own assets, and the couple’s finances remain legally separate unless they enter into a pacto de convivencia addressing contribution to household expenses, ownership of assets and the consequences of separation. In the absence of such an agreement, the relationship is, for patrimonial pur - poses, closer to a de facto separation-of-property regime, but without the contractual clarity that an
express consent to medical acts and act as curator. However, directives related to euthanasia are null and void, and can be freely revoked. 9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children Since the enactment of Law 23.264, and pursuant to the American Convention on Human Rights ( Conven- ción Americana sobre Derechos Humanos ), Argentine law has not made a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children (those born out of wedlock). Therefore, they have the same rights to inherit or to be included in a class of beneficiaries. An adopted child is one who is taken into a family that is different from that of its natural parents, after a legal process is followed under the CCCN. Sections 594 to 637 of the CCCN distinguish between simple, full and integrative adoption. The distinction has a direct impact on the intestate inheritance rights of the adopted children, as follows: • Simple adoption ( adopción simple ) – the law grants the adopted child the same intestate inheritance rights as a biological child but does not create any relationship between the adopted child and the adoptive family. The CCCN provides the adopted child with the right of representation in the succes - sion of the ascendants of their adoptive parents, but not as forced heirs. However, the descendants of the adopted person have a right of representa - tion in the succession of the adoptive parents (in this case, as forced heirs). • Full adoption ( adopción plena ) – the relationship between the adopted child and their blood family is terminated, being replaced by a relationship with the adoptive family. This implies, on the one hand, that the fully adopted child will have no intestate inheritance rights regarding their blood family and, on the other hand, that the child will acquire the same intestate inheritance rights in the adoptive family as those of a biological child. • Integrative adoption ( adopción de integración ) – the adopted child is the son or daughter of the spouse or co-habitee.
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