Same-Sex Marriage in Germany for International Couples

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Marriage for all couples since 2017

German law defines marriage as a union of two people of different or the same sex.¹ The change took effect on 1 October 2017. Since then, registered partnerships between two people of the same sex can no longer be entered into in Germany. Existing ones continue until the partners convert them or end them.²

Same-sex couples marry exactly like other couples: at a German registry office (Standesamt), under the same procedure and with the same ceremony options. The steps are in our guide to getting married in Germany. A marriage between two spouses of the same sex has the same legal effects as any other — on taxes, inheritance, health insurance, pensions and residence rights.

When your partner’s home country does not allow it

For most international weddings, each partner must be free to marry under the law of their own country. Same-sex marriages follow a different rule. Their creation is governed by the law of the country that registers the marriage.³ For a wedding at a German registry office, that is German law — even if one or both of you come from a country where same-sex marriage is not possible. The same applies when at least one spouse is neither male nor female.³

Two German rules still apply to every couple:

• Age: if a partner was under 16 at the wedding, the marriage is void in Germany; at 16 or 17 it can be annulled.⁴
• No other marriage: neither of you may be married to someone else or be in a registered partnership with a third person.⁵

The steps for an international couple

1. Register the wedding at the registry office where one of you lives. If neither of you lives in Germany, register with the registry office where you want to marry.⁶
2. Bring public documents that prove your marital status, residence and nationality. If either of you was married or in a registered partnership before, add proof of how it ended.⁶ Ask which translations, apostilles or legalizations the office needs for the foreign partner’s papers — getting them can take weeks.
3. Choose the place: once the registration is accepted, any German registry office can perform the wedding.⁶

Germany’s rules decide how your marriage counts in Germany. Whether your partner’s home country accepts it is up to that country. That matters for documents issued there, for inheritance and property in that country and for travel.

Converting a registered partnership into a marriage

A German registered partnership (Lebenspartnerschaft) from before October 2017 does not turn into a marriage on its own. It becomes one when both partners declare at the registry office, in person and at the same time, that they want to be married.⁷ You prove the partnership with public documents, for example your partnership certificate.⁸

The rules for weddings apply to the conversion, so the registry office checks the usual conditions.⁷

A partnership registered abroad — a civil union or a registered partnership in another country — keeps the effects given by the law of the country that registered it.⁹ It does not become a German marriage. If you want to be married, you can marry each other in Germany: an existing partnership between the two of you is no obstacle, only one with a third person.⁵ Ask the registry office how it handles your foreign partnership documents.

Same-sex marriages from abroad

A same-sex marriage concluded abroad counts as a marriage in Germany if it is valid under the law of the country that registered it.³ So a wedding in Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada or the US is a marriage in Germany too, not a registered partnership. This also applies to same-sex marriages concluded abroad before 1 October 2017.¹⁰

There is no recognition procedure. Like any couple married abroad, you show your marriage certificate to the registration office, the tax office and other authorities. If at least one of you is German, you can have the marriage entered in the German marriage register. Details: married abroad — is your marriage valid in Germany?

Many couples living in Germany marry in Denmark. Danish marriage law applies equally to couples of different and of the same sex.¹¹ What that route involves: getting married in Denmark from Germany.

Residence permit for a same-sex spouse

The family reunification rules protect marriage and family.¹² They speak of “spouses” without distinguishing between couples. So a same-sex spouse from outside the EU gets a residence permit under the same conditions as any spouse:

• Spouse of a German: a permit if the German partner lives in Germany.¹³
• Spouse of a foreign resident: a permit if the partner holds a suitable residence title, such as a settlement permit, an EU Blue Card or certain work permits.¹⁴
• The usual conditions: both spouses at least 18, and in most cases simple German (level A1) before entry.¹⁴

Registered partners are covered too: the law applies the same rules to them.¹² How to apply, which documents to bring and when the German test can be skipped: spouse visa for Germany.

Taxes, insurance and your surname

German tax law treats same-sex spouses as spouses: joint assessment, tax classes III/V or IV/IV and the splitting advantage apply in the same way. For couples who stayed in a registered partnership, the tax rules for spouses apply as well.¹⁵ The same goes for free family insurance in public health insurance for a spouse with little or no income.¹⁵

Surname: the name rules are the same for every married couple. You can keep your own names, choose one partner’s name as the married name, or combine both names into a double name.¹⁶ The declaration is made at the registry office, ideally at the wedding.

Children: parenthood for two mothers

For children, German law still treats two mothers differently from a married man and woman. The mother of a child is the woman who gave birth to it.¹⁷ The second parent is automatically the man married to the mother at the birth — the rule speaks of a man.¹⁷ Germany’s Federal Court of Justice decided in 2018 that the wife of the birth mother does not become a parent under this rule, neither directly nor by analogy.¹⁸

As of 25 October 2026, the wife of the birth mother therefore becomes a legal parent only through a stepchild adoption. A spouse may adopt the other spouse’s child alone. The child then has the legal position of a joint child of both spouses, and both share parental responsibility.¹⁹ The application must be notarized; the family court decides on it, and the adoption must serve the child’s welfare.¹⁹ For adopting a child who is not related to either of you, the rule for every married couple applies: spouses can only adopt together.¹⁹

International families: parentage is decided by the law of the country where the child habitually lives. In relation to each parent, it can also be decided by the law of that parent’s nationality.²⁰ If a co-mother is a citizen of a country whose law makes her a parent at birth, that law may help — talk to the registry office before the birth.

Prenups and divorce

Marriage contracts work the same way for same-sex couples (see prenuptial agreements in Germany). For divorce and for property, the same EU rules decide which country’s law applies as for any other couple.³ More in getting divorced in Germany as an expat.

General information, not legal advice: for an individual case, ask the registry office, the immigration office or a family lawyer.

Part of getting married in Germany. Before the wedding: registry office wedding · certificate of no impediment · prenuptial agreements. Next: after-the-wedding checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions