Marriage

The rules in Sweden governing marriage have been gender-neutral since 2009, which means that also two people of the same sex can get married. The Registered Partnership Act, which was in force before this change, was repealed after the change was made. It is therefore no longer possible to enter into a registered partnership in Sweden. A registered partnership can be converted into a marriage if the partners jointly notify the Swedish Tax Agency that they wish to do so. 

Throughout these pages, ‘spouses’ is used to refer to both married couples and registered partners.

Who can get married?

Two adults, regardless of their sex, can get married. 

Previously, two adults of the same sex could enter into a registered partnership and with some exceptions, this was equivalent to a marriage. Since 2009, two adults of the same sex can get married, and therefore the option of a registered partnership has been removed as it is no longer needed.

A marriage may not always be desirable for societal or medical reasons, and therefore there are rules governing impediments to marriage. 

To be able to marry in Sweden, you must be 18 years old. This rule applies without exception. 

To get married in Sweden,
you must be 18 years old.

Two people who are related to one another in a direct ascending or descending line, such as a father and his daughter, are not permitted to marry. Full siblings (brothers and sisters) are also not permitted to marry. However, following an application to the county administrative board (länsstyrelsen), half-brothers and half-sisters may be granted permission to marry. 

Two people who are related to one another in a direct ascending or descending line through adoption are also not permitted to marry. However, two adopted siblings or an adopted child and a child in common of the adoptive parents may be granted permission by the county administrative board to marry.

A person who is already married or a registered partner may not get married to someone else while their previous marriage or registered partnership remains in force.

Inquiry into impediments to marriage

Before you can get married, an inquiry to determine whether there are impediments to your marriage must be carried out by the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket). This inquiry (hindersprövning) must be requested jointly by the couple who wish to marry.

The Swedish Tax Agency checks that there are no impediments to the marriage, and the couple receives a certificate confirming this. The certificate of no impediment to marriage (intyg om hindersprövning) is valid for four months and must be presented to the officiant, who is the person legally authorised to marry the couple.

Church or civil ceremony 

A marriage can be entered into either through a church or a civil marriage ceremony. 

Church marriages are performed within a religious community that has received permission from the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency (Kammarkollegiet) to perform marriage ceremonies. Around 40 different religious communities have been granted this permission. A church marriage ceremony is conducted in accordance with the rites of the religious community. Contact the religious community for more information. 

Civil marriages are performed by a special officer appointed by the county administrative board to perform civil marriage ceremonies. There are two forms of civil marriage ceremony with different wordings. One is a more solemn form while the other contains only the basic elements of the marriage ceremony. The couple chooses which wording they wish to use. Contact the municipality for more information. 

Both church and civil marriages must be preceded by an inquiry into impediments to marriage. 

Surnames of the spouses

A marriage does not mean an automatic change in the spouses’ surnames. The starting point is that the spouses retain their own surnames when they marry. However, anyone who wants to may change their surname to their spouse’s surname. One or both spouses can also choose to have both surnames, which is often called a double-barrelled surname. You need to apply to the Swedish Tax Agency for this name change. If the application is made no later than on the day of the marriage ceremony, the surname is deemed to be acquired in conjunction with the marriage ceremony. The spouses can also apply to the Swedish Tax Agency to change their surnames to a new surname in common. 

Couples can change their surname more than once during their marriage. 

Previously, there were rules concerning middle names.  For example, a spouse could take the other spouse’s last name as a middle name. This option ceased to exist on 1 July 2017, but anyone who has already taken a middle name may retain it. 

After divorce, each divorced spouse retains the surname they had during the marriage. Each divorced spouse can also change their surname by applying for the change with the Swedish Tax Agency.

Maintenance obligations between spouses

During the marriage

Each spouse is responsible for their own and their spouse’s maintenance during the marriage. Performing domestic tasks in the home is a means of contributing to the other spouse’s maintenance. The law requires both spouses to take responsibility for the family’s finances and domestic chores. The spouses are also liable to provide each other with the information necessary to enable the family’s finances to be assessed. 

If one spouse cannot provide for themself entirely, the other spouse is liable to help provide for their personal needs. Money or other support that one spouse receives from the other for their personal needs becomes the property of that person. If the spouses have a child, they are liable to provide for the child’s maintenance. 

Even if the spouses live separately, for example during the reconsideration period pending a divorce, they are still liable to contribute to each other’s maintenance.

After a divorce 

Each spouse is normally responsible for their own support after a divorce. For more information, see the section on division of property below. 

However, if one spouse needs money for their maintenance during a transition period, they may be entitled to an allowance from the other spouse. A maintenance allowance may be necessary, for example, to give the spouse in need chances to acquire gainful employment or improve their income through education or retraining. The length of the transition period is assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

Where the spouse in need finds it difficult to support themself after the dissolution of a long marriage, in exceptional cases they may receive a maintenance allowance for longer than just a transition period. 

In all cases, the spouses can conclude an agreement on a maintenance allowance and change it freely. If the spouses agree on a change, they can simply enter into a new agreement. This applies even when the previous maintenance allowance was determined in a judgment by a court. 

If the spouses are unable to agree on a matter related to the maintenance obligation, they should contact a solicitor or other lawyer for advice and assistance. If no agreement can be reached between the spouses, a court will adjudicate the dispute. 

The maintenance allowance to a spouse is index-linked, that is, adjusted to the price trend. The index follows the changes in the price base amount under the Social Insurance Code. 

Current price base amount, Statistics Sweden's website

However, this does not apply if other rules for indexing have been laid down in the judgment of the court, or an agreement that regulates the allowance.

A spouse who is liable to pay a maintenance allowance to the other spouse may deduct the entire amount of the allowance paid when preparing and submitting their income tax return. The spouse who receives the maintenance allowance is taxed on what they have received.

Assets and liabilities of the spouses

Property of the spouses – marital property and separate property 

A spouse’s property can be of two types: marital property or separate property. Marital property is assets that are covered by the right to marital property which, as a general rule, means that the property must be included in a division of property between the spouses. Everything that is not separate property is marital property. Marital property is the most common type and the default type when nothing specific has been determined. 

A spouse’s property can become separate property in various ways. One way is through a marital property agreement, which is a kind of contract between the spouses. A marital property agreement must be in writing and registered with the Swedish Tax Agency. No witnesses are required. Another way is through the terms of a gift, terms of a will or terms concerning the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, an accident insurance policy, a sickness insurance policy, or an individual pension savings scheme. 

If property owned separately is substituted for other property, the new property also becomes separate property. However, it may be decided – in a marital property agreement, terms of a gift or a will – that the new property is to be marital property, in which case that will apply. 

The yield on separate property, such as bank interest, only becomes separate property if this has been specifically set out in the marital property agreement, terms of a gift, or a will. 

All property
that is not separate property
is marital property.

The spouses’ debts 

Each of the spouses is liable for their own debts. This means that a spouse’s creditors have no right to claim payment for these debts from the other spouse’s property, whether it is marital property or separate property. 

In the event of attachment of debts against a spouse who lives permanently together with the other spouse, the Swedish Enforcement Agency (Kronofogdemyndigheten) will assume that all the moveable property that the spouses have access to belongs to the debtor spouse. The Enforcement Agency then has the right to seize this property. If the other spouse owns the property, they must provide proof of this in order to prevent it from being seized, for example by means of receipts, a bill of sale or a deed of gift. If they can show that they own the property together, for example by means of an invoice which names both spouses as the purchasers, only the debtor spouse’s share of the property is seized.

Property of the spouses during the marriage 

During the marriage, each spouse makes decisions about their own property. In principle, neither spouse has any say concerning the assets of the other spouse. However, in order to protect other family members, certain measures may not be taken without the consent of the other spouse. 

A spouse may not sell, give away, pledge or rent out the couple’s common dwelling and household goods without the consent of the other spouse. This applies even if the spouse is the sole owner of the property and irrespective of whether the dwelling is a detached real property unit, an owner-occupied apartment (bostadsrättslägenhet) or a rented apartment (hyreslägenhet). The only exception is property that is separate under the terms of a gift or in a will. However, property that is separate under a marital property agreement is subject to the requirement of consent. 

The consent of the other spouse is needed in the first instance regarding the couple’s joint home. But other real property units may not be sold without the approval of the other spouse if they constitute marital property. 

Consent is not required if the other spouse is incapable of providing valid consent, for example due to illness. If a spouse refuses to agree to a particular measure without reasonable grounds, the district court may grant permission to carry out the measure.

The spouses’ property when the marriage is dissolved 

A marriage can be dissolved in two ways: by the death of one spouse or by divorce. In both cases, there must be a division of property between the spouses. 

Information about divorce and the division of property can be found on the website of Sveriges Domstolar (National Courts Administration). This information is only available in Swedish.

Information about divorce and the division of property, National Courts Administration's website

About the division of property generally 

The main rule is that marital property is susceptible to the division of property, but there are several exceptions to the main rule. 

Each spouse may set aside from their marital property a portion equivalent to their debts. Some debts must first be settled against separate property, if such exists. Each spouse may also set aside clothing and other property that they personally use, as well as personal presents. 

Pension entitlements from employers or from the State, and to some extent private pension schemes, also fall outside the scope of the division of property. 

There are also rules that sometimes require supplementing the marital property to be included in the division of property. If, during the three years immediately preceding the divorce, one spouse has substantially reduced their marital property, for example by giving away property or by paying into a pension insurance scheme for their own benefit, that spouse’s marital property will be calculated as if the property used up in such ways was still available.

The main rule in the division of property is
that the spouses split equally what remains
of the marital property after their debts have been settled.

In principle, what remains of the marital property after the settlement of debts is split equally between the spouses. There are some exceptions to this fifty-fifty split rule. 

If the division of property is due to divorce, the spouse with the most marital property may retain more of their property if a fifty-fifty split would be unreasonable. This is called an adjustment (jämkning). The reasonableness assessment must consider the length of the marriage, the finances of the spouses, and other circumstances. In certain cases, the adjustment may go so far that each spouse simply retains their own property. 

Division of property after a death - special provisions 

If one of the spouses dies, it is their heirs who must divide the property with the surviving spouse. 

The surviving spouse may decide that the deceased spouse and the surviving spouse retain their property in the division of property. The surviving spouse may also decide that both should retain, for example, one quarter of their property and that the rest is distributed according to the fifty-fifty split rule. 

When one spouse dies, a special ‘base amount rule’ applies that benefits the surviving spouse.

Current price base amount, Statistics Sweden's website

The spouses’ joint dwelling and household goods in a division of property

In the division of property, the spouses’ joint dwelling and household goods, such as furniture and appliances and utensils, should be distributed to the spouse who needs the property the most. This applies even if the property is wholly owned by the other spouse. However, this right to take over the property does not cover property that is separate property as a result of the terms of a gift or in a will. 

If the value of the property to be distributed to one spouse in this way exceeds that spouse’s share of the division of property, the spouse is nevertheless entitled to get the property, provided they pay the difference to the other spouse or their heirs. There are some options for being granted an extension of time to make such a payment.

Division of property during the marriage 

Spouses can also divide the property during their marriage, provided that they are in agreement about how such a division of property should be done. The main rule is that it is the spouses’ marital property that is distributed through the division of property. The spouses may agree that property which they have made separate property through a marital property agreement should also be included. However, the spouses cannot include property that is separate under the terms of a gift or in a will.

Gifts between spouses

A gift that one spouse gives the other spouse is binding between the spouses in accordance with the same rules as apply for persons other than spouses. Unless the gift is registered with the Swedish Tax Agency, it will be regarded as an asset belonging to the giver in a situation where the giver has debts that must be paid. If the gift is a personal present that is proportionate to the giver’s finances, it does not need to be registered. Marital property agreements should not be used for gifts between spouses.

Divorce of spouses

The district court makes the decision to grant a divorce. A spouse who wishes to divorce has the right to apply to the court to get a divorce without providing any reasons for this. There are no rules in the Marriage Code that require the court to consider the spouses’ personal relationship with each other.

A spouse who wishes to divorce
has the right to get a divorce
without providing any reasons for wanting a divorce.

Spouses who have agreed to get a divorce may obtain a divorce immediately. If only one of the spouses wishes to divorce, they are entitled to divorce after a six-month reconsideration period.

A divorce must also be preceded by a reconsideration period of at least six months if either of the spouses lives permanently with a child of theirs under the age of 16 who is in the custody of that spouse. Furthermore, the spouses have the right to a reconsideration period if they request it themselves. 

If the spouses have been separated for at least two years, each of them has the right to a divorce without a reconsideration period, even if they disagree on the divorce, and even if there are children under the age of 16 who are in the custody of one of the spouses.

The reconsideration period starts from the date on which the spouses’ joint application for a divorce is submitted to the court. If only one spouse wishes to divorce, the reconsideration period starts from the date on which the other spouse received notification of the application (service of proceedings or delgivning). 

The spouses do not need to live in different dwellings during the reconsideration period. The court can make a temporary decision on interim maintenance obligations until the divorce is finalised and determine which of the spouses should be allowed to go on living in the couples’ home until a division of property has been finalised. The court can also issue an order prohibiting the spouses from visiting each other. 

Once the reconsideration period has ended, one of the spouses must confirm that they still want to divorce. If the court does not receive such a confirmation within one year of the commencement of the reconsideration period, no divorce is granted. 

If the spouses change their minds during the reconsideration period and no longer wish to divorce, they can jointly withdraw their application to the court.

Custody of children in connection with divorce

Parents who are considering divorce should carefully consider how custody of their children should be arranged after the divorce. Normally, both parents retain custody of the children during the reconsideration period. No separate custody decision is required if the parents agree that they should share legal custody (known as ‘joint custody’) even after the divorce. However, if one of the parents considers that it is not possible to continue to have joint custody of their children after the divorce, they can apply to the district court to dissolve their joint custody. See also the section on changing custody on the page About children.

International relationships and marriage

Special rules apply in the case of relationships where one of the spouses is a citizen or a permanent resident of another country. 

If two people wish to be married at a Swedish embassy or consulate abroad, Swedish law requires that an inquiry into impediments to marriage be carried out first. If neither of them are Swedish citizens or live in Sweden, in addition there must be an inquiry into the right of each of the individuals to marry under the law of the country where they are citizens or permanent residents. In this situation, they may be required to present documents that show their citizenship or permanent residence, such as a passport or certificate of permanent residence, and certification from a foreign authority that there is no impediment to the marriage under the law of that country. This is called a marriage license (äktenskapscertifikat).

In some cases, there is a risk that the marriage will not be deemed valid in the other country. For example, if the inquiry into impediments to marriage has been carried out in accordance with Swedish law, and there are additional impediments to marriage under the law of the other country, if banns of marriage are required under the law of the other country, or if the other country only accepts a particular form of marriage ceremony. 

It is difficult to predict the extent to which a same-sex marriage entered into before a person authorised in Sweden to officiate at marriage ceremonies will be recognised in another country. The legal effects that such a marriage may have abroad depend upon the rules under the law applicable in the other country. 

Before the marriage ceremony, the couple should therefore find out what the law says concerning marriage in the other country. Contact a lawyer, the embassy of the country in question, or the Swedish Tax Agency for more information.