Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands In the Netherlands, same-sex marriage ( or commonly "homohuwelijk") has been legal since 1 April 2001. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. Unregistered partnerships or informal cohabitation is when same-sex or opposite-sex couples live together as a couple but they choose to keep the legal status of their relationship unregistered or informal. This means all worldwide assets that belong to a single party remain the sole property of the party with no legal entitlement by the other party, whether owned before or acquired during the relationship. This legal
Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe recognise some form of civil union, namely Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Poland recognises cohabitation for very limited purposes. Armenia and Estonia recognise same-sex marriages performed in any foreign jurisdiction where they are permitted, and Slovakia recognises same-sex marriages performed within the EU and including an EU citizen. Of the countries that recognise and perform same-sex marriages some still allow couples to enter civil unions, e.g. Benelux countries, France and the United Kingdom, whereas Germany, Ireland and the Nordic countries have terminated their pre-marriage civil union legislation so that