Intl. Marriages And Law Clashes?

[Girino]

I am curious about international marriages and law clashes.

For example, what happens when A & B are married and...
1)... A & B are of the same sex, but they come from a country where SSM are not recognized. What happens to their assets in their home country?What happens if A or B needs medical assistance in their home country - could the spouse choose on his/her behalf?
2)... A or B dies, and the successions laws are different in the country where they live and the one the assets are in. Do different laws apply to their assets depending on where they are? Or does it depend on A&B's residence at the time of death?

 

[ben]

Even in the US - where states are obliged to grant 'full faith and credit' to other states' actions - this is still being sorted out.

Pretty sure that on the intl. level, everybody gets to do whatever they want to do.

 

[Dada]

I happen to personally know two same sex married couples. One male, British & Brazilian, the other female, both South African. All live in the UK, where you can't legally marry a same sex person. You can only enter a so-called registered partnership, with laws similar to married couples. However, these marriages are acknowledged if the couple married elsewhere.

As far as I know, these people generally tend to choose a country where their rights are respected, at least by most of the population. My Brazilian friend who is married to the British guy once told me that while their status is likely to ensure them some hereditary rights, they leave nothing to chance and secured these things by writing very specific testaments, granting the partner very specific rights, all registered with a local notary.

 

[Girino]

In Italy SSM are not recognized (there is no civil union, either), and I clearly remember the Italian Consulate in BsAs stating they won't be accepting requests of marriage registration for SSM because pf this. However, today an Italian newspaper reported that a gay couple consisting of an Argentine and an Italo-argentine was able to obtain an Italian residency permit for the Argentine spouse. This doesn't mean that the marriage was recognized by the registry, as residency permits are handled by the police. However, it is a step ahead that poses further questions.

Similar cases happened in the past, some were slips (e.g. when one of the spouse's name was Andrea, which in Italy is exclusively a male name), some were individual initiative of civil registrars.... and then later were annulled by someone higher than them.

I was wondering: what if they buy a home in Italy and on of the two dies? Will the Argentine law prevail? Will the Italian one prevail?
What if one of them fall sick and is hospitalized - can the spouse decide for him?

AFAIK, in Argentina and in Italy you can dispose with a testament only for part of your assets, not all. Will your friend's UK testament supersede Brazilian laws (supposed they are different than UK's law)?

 

[Dada]

I'm no lawyer, but I would expect the valid laws of the country where they are living to prevail. Some countries will prioritize the interests of one of the partners' eventual children over the partner. But then again, these people have rich experience with all kinds of discrimination, and have learnt their way around. As far as I know, they are far from expecting a marriage certificate to sort them out. When they buy a shared property, for example, they are very specific about the terms, just like two friends or business partners would.

It would really surprise me if, for example, an Argentinian SSM partner is granted a right to deal with a deceased partner's assets in Italy. Unless it's clearly stated in a testament, and even then it would qualify for a miracle category. Which is not exclusive to gay couples, I'm afraid. Opposite sex couples often face the same problems, if one is a foreigner, with limited rights in the country where the assets are.

 

[Girino]

On a side note, the quota available to be freely disposed of in the testament was increased from 20% to 30%.

http://www.iprofesional.com/notas/145712-Herederos-el-nuevo-Cdigo-Civil-llega-con-fuertes-cambios-para-que-usted-pueda-dejarle-ms-dinero-a-quien-prefiera

 

[nkotb]

These questions have law professors scratching their heads and I doubt that we have a deep enough bench of international lawyers here on the forum to answer them competently. If you're really curious go to the library and look for an transnational family law journal.