For Croatian citizens, the procedure for entering into a life partnership is relatively straightforward. Persons intending to enter into a life partnership must personally submit their application to the registrar’s office in the city or municipality where they wish to have the ceremony.
The application must include personal details and valid identification documents. The registrar will verify whether all legal conditions are met. After that, the date and place of the ceremony are agreed upon, usually between 30 and 45 days after the application. The ceremony can be scheduled earlier through an expedited procedure if there are valid reasons and with the registrar’s approval.
If one or both partners are foreign nationals, in addition of a proof of identity, foreigners must submit a proof of citizenship (both can be their passport), certificate of no impediment to marriage and a birth certificate issued by the competent authority of their country of birth.
A certified translator for Croatian may be present during all interactions with the registrar, including on the day of the ceremony.
Some countries that do not recognize same-sex family unions may present bureaucratic obstacles when issuing the required documentation, especially the certificate of no impediment to marriage.
The life partnership ceremony is performed publicly and in a formal manner, usually on the official premises of the registrar’s office. Most registrar’s offices have a designated wedding hall for such occasions.
It is also possible to hold the ceremony at another location, subject to the registrar’s approval upon the couple’s request. In that case, additional fees apply.
On the day of the ceremony, at the scheduled time, the registrar announces that both persons entering into the life partnership and the witnesses are present, and that no legal impediments exist for the partnership to be concluded.
The registrar then delivers a short address, informing the couple about the provisions of the Life Partnership Act, their rights and duties, and the significance of the partnership. The content and tone of this speech may vary depending on the registrar’s personal style. Some are touching or inspiring, but registrars are not required to be either. Their duty is to carry out the wedding ceremony in accordance with the law.
A life partnership is concluded when the partners declare their consent to enter into the partnership, after which the registrar announces that the partnership has been officially concluded, naming both partners. The declaration of consent is then signed by both partners, two witnesses, and the registrar.
The registrar records the partnership in the life partnership register. During this registration, the registrar enters the personal details of the partners, including their full names, legally registered sex, date and place of birth, personal identification number (OIB), nationality, date and place of the ceremony, and any joint declaration on surnames after the partnership. The registrar also records the names of the partners’ parents, witnesses, and their own name, as well as the name of the court interpreter if one was required. For example, when one or both partners do not speak Croatian.
After the registration, the partners receive an extract from the life partnership register, which can also be downloaded through the e-Građani online system.
The Constitutional Court has already reviewed several requests to assess the constitutionality of the Life Partnership Act, submitted by associations related to political Catholicism (“In the Name of the Family,” “Apologetic Association Blessed Ivan Merz,” and a private citizen, Petar Marija Radelj).
All argued that the Act violated religious freedoms of the registrars, the constitutional definition of marriage as a union between a woman and a man, and the “will of the people” expressed in the referendum. The Court rejected all claims, finding that the Act is fully consistent with the Constitution and was adopted in a lawful procedure.
In its reasoning, the Court stated that the constitutional definition of marriage does not prevent the legislator from recognizing and regulating other forms of family life. Marriage is one form of family, but not the only one the state may protect. The Court confirmed that the Act is also in line with the European Court of Human Rights case law and that it does not violate freedom of religion.
For Croatian citizens:
- Proof of identity (for example, a national ID card or passport)
For foreign nationals:
- Birth certificate issued by the country of birth
- Certificate of no impediment to marriage issued by the country of citizenship
- Proof of identity (for example, a passport)
- Proof of citizenship (for example, a passport)
For documents issued by the member states of the European Union or the European Economic Area, the procedure is simplified and does not require legalization, only a certified translation into Croatian.
If the country is not a member of the European Union or the European Economic Area but is a signatory to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, the document must bear an apostille stamp.
If the document originates from a country that is neither a member of the European Union or the European Economic Area nor a signatory to the Hague Convention, diplomatic legalization is required.
Yes. All persons, regardless of nationality, may enter into a life partnership or marriage in the Republic of Croatia.
In other words, couples in which one or both partners are foreign nationals may marry or enter into a life partnership under the same conditions as Croatian citizens.
The minimum administrative fee is 27.87 euros, which covers the conclusion of a life partnership in the registrar’s office during regular working hours. Fees can also be paid online through the e-Pristojbe system using a bank or credit card, without the need for tax stamps or payment slips.
The cost may increase if the ceremony is held outside the registrar’s office, depending on the location’s distance, whether it takes place outside regular working hours, on a public holiday, or under similar circumstances. You can check the exact price and available options directly with the registrar when scheduling the wedding ceremony.
Yes. It is called the Certificate of Life Partnership. It is issued based on the entry in the Life Partnership Register. It is also available in electronic form (e-Potvrda) through the e-Građani system.
You will also receive the certificate directly from the registrar after the partnership is entered into the register.
No. There is no legal basis for that.
Public officials are required to apply the law and serve all citizens.
Refusing to perform a life partnership ceremony would constitute discrimination and a violation of the law, and may be grounds for an anti-discrimination lawsuit.
Registrars in Croatia are generally professional in their work, and couples consistently report positive experiences with their conduct and approach.
No. The status of a life partnership is public, but this personal data may be used only for purposes explicitly prescribed by law. The general public, of course, doesn’t have access to this information.
All state institutions and public authorities can have access to this information, but may use it only when necessary to exercise your rights or legitimate interests.
Public authorities and civil servants are not authorized to share this data with third parties or use it for purposes not defined by law.
If you believe your rights have been violated, contact us so we can help protect them.
Yes. Life partners have the right to choose their surnames when entering into a life partnership.
In practice, all combinations are possible:
- each partner may keep their own surname
- choose one shared surname, use both surnames in any order
- each may add the other partner’s surname and decide which one to use first
We strongly recommend that the partner does not change their surname when entering into a life partnership. Changing the surname in Croatia requires updating all personal documents issued in the Russian Federation, which is very difficult or nearly impossible in practice, as Russian authorities do not recognize same-sex partnerships as a valid basis for changing personal data.
By keeping their surname, the partner avoids later complications with aligning personal documents and legal status in both countries, as well as potential difficulties when renewing residence in Croatia.
Since the Russian Federation is no longer a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, there is no international legal mechanism to challenge the refusal of Russian authorities to change personal data due to a life partnership.
This is a common situation and does not prevent the conclusion of a life partnership in Croatia.
Registrar offices in Croatia accept a certificate of no impediment issued for the purpose of “marriage”, as the document serves the same function of confirming that you are single.
The music played is the one you agree on with the registrar.
If the ceremony takes place in the registrar’s official premises, it follows a formal protocol that generally applies to all couples, with a selection of approved background music provided by the office.
No. Diplomatic or consular staff cannot perform marriages or life partnerships.
A life partnership can only be entered into in Croatia and be concluded only by a registrar, a civil servant employed in the state administration of the Republic of Croatia.
No. Residence in the Republic of Croatia is not a requirement for entering into a life partnership.
Ne moraš. Boravište u Republici Hrvatskoj ne predstavlja uvjet za sklapanje životnog partnerstva.
Yes. If a trans person and their partner are of the same legal sex, they may enter into a life partnership in the Republic of Croatia.
If a trans person and their partner are of different legal sex, they may enter into a different-sex marriage in the Republic of Croatia.
No. Croatian Citizenship is not a requirement for entering into a life partnership.
Yes. After entering into a life partnership, your partner may apply to the Ministry of the Interior for temporary residence in the Republic of Croatia in order to exercise the right to family reunification.
Temporary residence is granted for one year and may be extended, but only if you both live together in Croatia.
A family member of a Croatian citizen who is not a citizen of an EU or EEA member state and intends to stay in Croatia for more than three months must submit an application for a residence card at the competent police administration or police station according to the place of residence.
The residence card is issued for a period of up to five years, or for a shorter duration if your partner intends to stay in Croatia for less time.
Your partner may also apply for permanent residence after five years of continuous residence in Croatia.
Yes. Acquiring Croatian citizenship is a right granted to life partners under the same conditions as to common-law or married spouses.
A partner of a Croatian citizen who entered into a marriage or registered partnership abroad may also acquire Croatian citizenship, but the partnership must first be entered into the birth register of the Croatian citizen.
First, you must request registration in the Croatian birth register by submitting to the registrar an authorized copy of your Argentine birth certificate translated into Croatian.
Once you are entered into the Croatian birth register as a Croatian citizen born abroad, the procedure for entering into a life partnership is the same as for a partnership between a Croatian citizen and a foreign national.
Same-sex marriages or partnerships of Croatian citizens concluded abroad are entered into the Croatian’s Life Partnership Register based on an official public document issued by the foreign authority, such as a marriage certificate or a partnership certificate. After the registration, a note on the concluded life partnership is entered into the Croatian citizen’s birth register.
Since Australia is not a member of the European Union or the European Economic Area, your marriage in Croatia has the legal effect of a life partnership. This means that once it is registered in the birth register of the Croatian citizen, you acquire all rights and obligations arising from the Life Partnership Act.
If you plan to live in Croatia, it is recommended that you submit your Australian marriage certificate with a certified translation into Croatian and an apostille stamp so that it can be entered into the register and used to exercise your rights, including the right to family reunification.
Because Australia is a signatory to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, diplomatic legalization is not required.
Yes. Croatian Citizenship is not a requirement for entering into a life partnership.
Note that the Republic of Serbia currently does not recognize life partnerships concluded abroad. Montenegro does, under its Life Partnership Act, which allows the registration of partnerships of Montenegrin citizens concluded abroad in its partnership register. However, the law does not define the procedure or the legal effects of such registration, and recognition of Croatian partnerships in practice has not been confirmed.
If you plan to live in the European Union or the European Economic Area, a Croatian life partnership is recognized within the areas falling under EU law, such as freedom of movement, residence, and employment. In other words, if one partner obtains a job or enrolls in studies in an EU or EEA member state, the other partner, as a family member, also has the right to reside and live with them in that country.
For your partner to obtain residence in an EU member state as a family member of a Croatian citizen, your partnership must first be recognized by the Croatian authorities. This is done by registering the life partnership concluded in Chile in the Croatia’s Life Partnership Register.
The procedure can be carried out in Croatia at the competent registrar’s office or at a Croatian embassy in the country where you currently reside. However, embassy procedures often take longer than those in Croatia, so if you need faster processing, you may authorize someone in Croatia to complete the registration on your behalf.
Once the life partnership is registered in Croatia, your partner is recognized throughout the European Union as a family member of a Croatian citizen and is entitled to a residence permit under EU rules on the freedom of movement and residence of citizens and their family members.
Since you entered into a marriage in an EU member state, the Republic of Croatia must recognize your status as spouses. For all rights governed by EU law, you have the same status as married couples in Croatia. In matters under Croatian national law, you have the same status as life partners.
In practice, your marriage will be recorded in the Life Partnership Register, and a note on the partnership will be entered in the birth register.
This means that in Croatia, as a same-sex couple registered as life partners, you are treated differently from opposite-sex married couples whose marriages are recognized as such. You do not have the right to adopt children, whether individually or jointly, as this area falls outside EU competence. For all other rights, your status is the same as life partnerships concluded in Croatia.
Since you do not intend to reside in Croatia, your rights and family status are governed by the laws of the Kingdom of Denmark, your country of residence. The Croatian entry serves only as a record, without further legal effect beyond what Croatian law provides.
The child is entitled to Croatian citizenship through the mother who gave birth. However, the process of registration and recognition of citizenship in Croatia is humiliating and discriminatory because of the legal restrictions of the Family Act, the State Registers Act, and their implementing regulations.
You can report the birth in Croatia by submitting the foreign birth certificate with a certified translation into Croatian. If the certificate is issued in an EU or EEA member state, an apostille or further legalization is not required.
In the Croatian birth register, the child will be recorded with only one parent, the mother who gave birth, because Croatian law does not allow the registration of two parents of the same legal sex. Once the birth is registered, the child automatically becomes a Croatian citizen through the mother who gave birth and is added to the citizenship register.
The other mother, although listed in the foreign birth certificate, cannot be entered as a parent in the Croatian birth register. She may apply for recognition of legal status as a partner guardian, but she will not be recognized as such automatically. A joint application must be filed before the municipal court, which will seek an opinion from the Center for Social Welfare and initiate the procedure for granting partner custody.
Only after the court’s decision does the other mother, the partner guardian, obtain parental rights and responsibilities, and her name is entered into the child’s birth record as a note.
If your rainbow family continues to live abroad, your daily parental rights and obligations are governed by the laws of that country. Croatia, in such cases, recognizes the child as a Croatian citizen and records the birth but does not recognize the second mother as a legal parent or establish a family-law relationship between her and the child before the court’s decision on partner custody.
When the court grants partner custody, a permanent legal relationship of kinship is created between the partner guardian (the second mother) and the child and the child’s descendants. However, no kinship is created between the child and the parents of the partner guardian. Therefore, we advise to regulate inheritance rights in favor of the child through a will or contract.
IMPORTANT NOTE for rainbow families whose child’s foreign birth certificate does not show the same last name as the mother who gave birth to the child (for example, the child carries both mothers’ last names).
The partnership certificate issued in Austria must be translated into Croatian by a certified court translator who will verify the translation.
You should then submit the original document with the certified translation to the registrar’s office to register the life partnership in Croatia’s Life Partnership Register and request the change of surname.
After registration, a note on the partnership will be entered in the birth register of the Croatian citizen.
Based on the extract from the birth register containing the note on the life partnership and the new surname, you can then request new personal documents at the police administration.
If your child is legally recognized as having only one parent, for example, you as the mother, you can ask the municipal court (with jurisdiction based on the child’s place of residence) to grant the other mother the status of partner guardian.
The court will request an opinion from the competent Center for Social Welfare and then issue a final decision in a procedure which looks like the adoption process.
By obtaining partner guardianship, the partner gains permanent parental custody and all related rights and responsibilities.
However, it is important to know that partner guardianship is recorded in the child’s birth certificate as a note; the field for the other parent remains blank, and the legal effects of partner guardianship differ slightly from those of adoption.
The partner guardian has the same rights and duties as a parent, including maintenance, inheritance, and legal relations with the child and the child’s descendants, but not kinship with other members of the second mother’s/partner-guardian’s family.
Partner guardianship does not end with the dissolution of the life partnership, but unlike parenthood, it may be terminated at the request of the partner guardian, the legal parent, or the child if this is in the best interest of the child.
Yes. Everyone has the right to regulate their property relations and shared assets, as well as any other matters related to their partnership.
Life partners may have shared property (partnership assets) and personal property. Partnership assets are property acquired through work during the life partnership or derived from such property.
Life partners are equal co-owners of the partnership assets unless they agreed otherwise beforehand. Income from copyright or related rights is considered partnership property, as is, for example, lottery winnings. Property owned by one partner at the time the life partnership is entered into remains that partner’s personal property.
Personal property also includes property acquired during the partnership that was not gained through work. For example, authorship rights are considered personal property of the partner who created it.
Life partners may regulate their property relations in various ways through a written property agreement. The signatures of both partners must be certified by a notary public.
It is important to note that a property agreement between life partners cannot stipulate the application of foreign law to their property relations.
You are entitled to health insurance through your employed partner, exemption from paying tax if your partner gifts you real estate or movable property, the right to a survivor’s pension in case of your partner’s death, and all other benefits related to the status of unemployed persons that are also available to common-law spouses under the Income Tax Act.
According to the 2021 Croatian Census, there were a total of 722 same-sex life partnerships recorded. Of these, 161 were life partnerships without children, 22 with children, 514 informal life partnerships without children, and 25 informal life partnerships with children.
According to statistical data collected and processed by the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, from the entry into force of the Act until the end of 2025, a total of 746 life partnerships have been concluded in Croatia. While partnerships between Croatian citizens predominate, there has been a steady increase of those in which one partner is a foreign national (ranging from 25 to 35 per year), averaging about 35% of the total number.
Yes, you should.
The Life Partnership Act and the General Tax Act clearly state that all tax rights and provisions applying to married and common-law spouses also apply to life partners and informal life partners.
The Tax Administration’s refusal to recognize your statement confirming that you live in an informal partnership represents an incorrect application of the law and is very likely discrimination.
Zagreb Pride can provide legal support and free representation through our lawyers, who may initiate an administrative procedure on the grounds of misapplication of the law and possible discrimination.
A life partnership can be dissolved through the court or by submitting a joint declaration to the registrar if there is no minor child living in the household.
The procedure before the registrar is much faster and less expensive than going to court. But both partners must appear in person at the registrar’s office with an extract from Croatia’s Life Partnership Register that is not older than six months.
If you and your partner cannot come to Croatia in person, the partnership can only be dissolved through court proceedings.
In that case, there are two options:
1) one partner files a lawsuit requesting the dissolution,
or
2) both partners submit a joint request for dissolution.
An authorized lawyer (one power of attorney in the first option or two in the second) can initiate the procedure on your behalf. You only need to provide an extract from Croatia’s Life Partnership Register, not older than six months.
The extract from the Life Partnership Register can also be requested online through the e-Građani system.
Yes. A life partnership concluded in Croatia is recognized in the member states of the European Union in areas falling under EU law, such as freedom of movement, residence, employment, and family reunification. In these areas, partners enjoy the same rights as married spouses under EU law and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In other matters, such as personal status and family law, the recognition of a Croatian life partnership depends on the national legislation of each country. If one partner has permanent residence or citizenship in a particular state, that country’s laws apply.
If you have not already done so, the German life partnership must first be registered in the Croatia’s Life Partnership Register. To register it, you need to submit an extract from the German partnership register with a certified translation into Croatian.
Once the partnership is registered, you can dissolve it by submitting a joint declaration of dissolution before the registrar. The condition for dissolution before the registrar is that there are no minor children.
The dissolution is recorded in the register with the date of the declaration, after which the partnership ceases to have legal effect in Croatia.
A death must be reported to the registrar’s office within three days of the date of death.
The registrar’s office is determined by the place where the death occurred or where the deceased was found. If the death occurred in a public institution such as a hospital, prison, or the military, the report will be made by the institution itself.
When reporting the death, you must submit a death certificate issued by a doctor or another authorized person.
The registrar’s office, receiving the report, will prepare a death record, including details about your deceased partner, their property, and their heirs, and forward it to the court or public notary to initiate inheritance proceedings. The death record can also be issued to you if you request it.
Since this concerns an informal life partnership, the registrar will require a notarized statement confirming that you and your partner were in one. You can make this statement even after your partner’s death if it did not exist before. It is advisable to have two witnesses, preferably people close to your partner, confirm it.
Afterward, the registrar will enter your personal details in the death record under the section “relationship to the deceased”.
