Do civil partners inherit from each other?

The partners are considered as being part of a single household. All of the household’s resources are taken into account to determine: the amount of family benefits, housing allowances, allowance for adults with disabilities, income support (RSA).

Health

Since the entry into force of universal coverage, everyone has the right to social security cover for sickness and/or maternity expenses.

Partners often have the opportunity to allow their partner to benefit from their health insurance coverage.

French Labour law

  • Partners have four days’ leave when they enter into a civil partnership.
  • The partner of a pregnant woman has three authorised days of absence to attend the compulsory medical examinations.
  • In the private sector, the civil partner can exceptionally qualify for unemployment benefits when they resign to live with their partner in another region. The partner subject to the status of civil servants also benefits from a transfer priority in order to change regions to live with their partner.
  • In the event of a death, the surviving partner is automatically entitled to 3 days of authorised absence.

Death benefit

Partners are entitled to the award of death benefit insurance paid by social security but they are not entitled to a survivor’s pension.

Children of partners

The civil partnership does not concern children. When a child is born to a couple in a civil partnership, the law does not establish automatic parentage with the father as in a married couple. The father must recognise the child with the general registry in the year following their birth. Otherwise, only the mother has parental authority.

The civil partnership and the right of residence

The civil partnership does not in itself confer a right to obtain a residence permit on the partner of foreign nationality nor a right to French nationality. However, it is a factor taken into account for obtaining the “private and family life” residence permit with a minimum period of cohabitation fixed at one year, before or since the conclusion of a civil partnership.

Worth knowing

The conclusion of a civil partnership means that partners lose the benefit of certain allowances, in particular family support allowance and the widowhood allowance and any survivor’s pension linked to a previous marital union.
Reference text:

Article 515-1 et seq. of the French Civil Code