LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Thomas Plattner and Fabian Jenny, Ospelt & Partner Attorneys at Law Ltd.
9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children Children born out of wedlock, adopted children and posthumously born children are treated like marriage- born children regarding inheritance. These children can also be part of the class of beneficiaries, subject to the provisions of the private foundation or the trust. Surrogate pregnancy arrangements are forbidden in Liechtenstein. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage On 1 September 2011, the Act on the registered partnership for same-sex couples entered into force. Hence, same-sex partnerships are permitted and rec - ognised in Liechtenstein. Marriage for all ( Ehe für alle ) entered into force on 1 January 2025 (LGBl 2024.261). Since then, marriage is defined in gender-neutral terms as the full and undi - vided community of life of two persons established by contract (Article 1, EheG), and is therefore open to couples irrespective of sex. As a consequence, civil- law relationships, including legal succession, tenan - cies and other personal matters, are treated equally regardless of the spouses’ sex. New registered part - nerships can no longer be entered into; existing reg - istered partnerships continue and may be converted into a marriage. 9.3 Cohabitation and Unmarried Couples Liechtenstein does not treat unmarried cohabitation ( faktische Lebensgemeinschaft ) as equivalent to mar - riage or a registered partnership for succession or tax purposes, although the ABGB increasingly recognises the Lebensgefährte as a distinct category for specific, targeted purposes. For succession, only the descendants and the spouse or registered partner of the deceased are entitled to a compulsory portion; the cohabiting partner is express - ly excluded (Section 763, ABGB, see 2.3 Forced Heirship Laws ). A cohabiting partner therefore inher - its only if named in a Will, an inheritance contract or under a specific statutory legacy. One such legacy exists under Section 677, ABGB, which grants a per - son close to the deceased, including a cohabiting partner, a statutory legacy where that person provided
the deceased with care of more than minor extent for at least six months during the last three years of their life, unless already compensated. Conversely, acts of violence or gross neglect of duty by a cohabiting part - ner towards the deceased can constitute grounds for disinheritance under Section 768, ABGB, on the same basis as apply to spouses and registered partners. Testamentary dispositions in favour of a cohabiting partner are automatically revoked on separation of the parties during the deceased’s lifetime, unless the deceased has expressly provided otherwise (Section 725, ABGB); the same rule applies to an inheritance contract between cohabiting partners, which may be unilaterally revoked upon dissolution of the relation - ship (Section 602d, ABGB). Outside succession law, cohabitation does produce some direct legal consequences. Under Article 45 Abs 2, ABGB, the rights and obligations of a residential lease pass on the tenant’s death to the cohabiting partner, provided the partner shared the household with the deceased, on the same footing as a spouse, registered partner or close relative. No comparable statutory regime of shared or accrued property exists for cohabiting partners: there is neither a default com - munity-of-property regime nor any automatic claim to assets accumulated during the relationship, in con - trast to the optional matrimonial property regimes available to spouses (see 2.4 Marital Property ). For tax purposes, cohabiting partners are assessed independently; the joint assessment available under Article 8, SteG applies only to spouses and registered partners living together, not to unmarried couples, so income and wealth are neither aggregated nor eligible for the joint basic allowance under Article 19 Abs 1 lit c, SteG. Given this absence of default protection, advis - ers generally recommend that cohabiting couples address their position expressly through a combina - tion of instruments: a Will or inheritance contract to secure succession rights beyond the statutory legacy under Section 677, ABGB, a cohabitation agreement regulating the division of jointly acquired assets on separation or death, lifetime gifts or joint ownership arrangements ( Miteigentum ) for shared property, and
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