Can I still enter a registered partnership in Liechtenstein?
No — since 1 January 2025 no new registered partnership can be entered in Liechtenstein. With marriage for all, marriage is now open to same-sex couples too, and the Partnership Act (PartG, LR 212.41) of 2011 has been closed to new registrations. Existing registered partnerships remain valid; the couples can keep them or have them converted into a marriage at the Civil Registry Office. The myth: 'Same-sex couples in Liechtenstein have to make do with a partnership.' Wrong — the opposite has happened: the partnership has become a phase-out model and marriage is the new default. Like Switzerland, which closed its partnerships already in 2022, Liechtenstein has a law of the same name but its own number — yet the opening came here only in 2025, as the last German-speaking country.
📋 The rules
- No new registrations: Since 1 January 2025 the Civil Registry Office no longer accepts new registered partnerships. The reason is the opening of marriage, which makes the Partnership Act (LR 212.41) redundant for the future.
- Existing ones stay valid: Whoever registered a partnership before 2025 remains lawfully partnered. Nobody is forced to convert — the partnership continues unchanged until those involved wish otherwise.
- Conversion into a marriage: Registered couples can have their partnership converted into a marriage at the Civil Registry Office. From then on the rules of marriage law apply to them instead of those of the Partnership Act.
- Marriage instead of partnership: For same-sex couples marriage has been the regular route since 2025. It now also covers areas once denied to the partnership, such as joint adoption.
- Same name, own number: Like Switzerland, Liechtenstein has a Partnership Act (PartG) — but it is a separate national law (LR 212.41), not the Swiss one (SR 211.231), and it was introduced and closed later.
🔓 Exceptions
- Conversion is voluntary: There is no deadline and no compulsion to turn an existing partnership into a marriage — whoever wishes to stay partnered may do so indefinitely.
- Foreign partnerships: Partnerships entered abroad are recognised under the rules of private international law; whether and how they are registered or converted here has to be clarified case by case.
- Dissolution as before: An existing partnership is not 'divorced' but dissolved under the Partnership Act — with its own conditions that resemble the divorce rules.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
Whoever tries to register a 'new' partnership despite the closed regime is simply turned away — that is not punished. More relevant in practice are the consequences of the transition: whoever assumes their old partnership automatically became a marriage with marriage for all is mistaken — without an active conversion it legally remains a partnership, with differences in name, adoption and sometimes abroad. That can weigh unexpectedly on inheritance, pensions or a trip abroad. Whoever wants to dissolve the partnership goes through a formal procedure with division of property and any maintenance; if an agreement is broken, debt collection and wage garnishment follow. And whoever relies on recognition of their status abroad should check first whether the destination country even knows the Liechtenstein partnership.
📎 Official sources
- LILEX — Partnership Act (PartG, LR 212.41) (legal register home) →
- Civil Registry Office — marriage for all and registered partnership (national administration) →
- Serviceportal Liechtenstein — marriage and registered partnership (national administration) →
❓ Frequently asked
Can I still enter a registered partnership in Liechtenstein?
No, since 1 January 2025 no new registered partnerships are recorded any more. Same-sex couples now marry through the regular marriage procedure at the Civil Registry Office, exactly like everyone else, and the partnership route is closed.
What happens to my existing registered partnership?
It remains fully valid, and you need do nothing if you wish to stay partnered. On request, however, you can have the partnership converted into a marriage at the Civil Registry Office at any time.
Does my partnership automatically become a marriage?
No, an automatic conversion does not take place and must be actively applied for. Without this step your status legally remains a registered partnership with its own rules on name, adoption and dissolution.
Is this different from Switzerland?
Both countries closed their partnerships to new registrations when they opened marriage, Switzerland already in 2022 and Liechtenstein in 2025. The Liechtenstein Partnership Act is, however, a separate law with its own number and not the Swiss one.
Can partnered couples now adopt jointly?
By converting into a marriage they gain the same rights as married couples, including joint adoption. Step-child adoption has moreover been open to same-sex couples since 2023 already, following a Constitutional Court ruling.
🔎 Common searches
What people search to land here:
- “registered partnership liechtenstein”
- “marriage for all liechtenstein”
- “convert partnership into marriage liechtenstein”
- “same-sex marriage liechtenstein”
- “partnership act liechtenstein”
- “civil partnership liechtenstein 2025”