Estonia legalizes same-sex marriage

TALLINN. June 20 (Interfax) - The Estonian parliament passed amendments to the Family Law Act and other related laws permitting adults of the same gender to get married at a hearing on Tuesday.

A total of 55 out of 101 parliamentarians voted for the package of amendments, while 34 voted against it. The vote was linked to the issue of confidence in the government.

"Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love and want to commit to. With this decision we are finally stepping among other Nordic countries as well as all the rest of the democratic countries in the world where marriage equality has been granted," Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said during the debate.

The package of amendments to the Family Law Act and to another 85 laws includes the application acts for the Registered Partnership Act. Alongside marriage, people will retain the opportunity to enter into a registered partnership. A registered partnership guarantees the right of registered partners to make decisions pertaining to each other and obtain support and benefits if necessary. Couples that entered into a registered partnership will also be able to convert their status to marriage via a simplified procedure.

Marriages and registered partnerships provide rights and obligations which couples in de facto marriages do not have. They are mostly linked to obtaining support and benefits, property, housing, and inheritance. For example, in the event of the death of a registered partner or spouse, this will help prevent situations in which the surviving partner, in the absence of a will, would have no right to inherit, and the relatives of the deceased individual would inherit all of their property.

The law will enter into force on January 1, 2024.