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If you’re in a long-term relationship but not officially married or registered as a pareja de hecho (civil partnership), and you have children together, new changes might soon make it easier to claim your partner’s widow’s pension in Spain.

 

Currently, to qualify for a widow's pension when living as a common-law couple, you usually need to prove your relationship through official paperwork, like registration in public records or a formal civil partnership. But the government is proposing a reform that would exempt undocumented couples with children from that requirement.

 

Instead, these couples would only need to prove they have lived together for at least two uninterrupted years immediately before their partner’s death. This proof could come simply from a certificate of residence issued by their town hall. No need to rush down the aisle, register at the town hall, visit a notary, or provide any public document besides this simple certificate.

 

The draft royal decree law presented last Monday by the Ministry of Social Security makes clear that this new rule applies only to couples with at least one child together. Couples without children will still need official proof of cohabitation or marriage to access the pension.

 

This change responds to recent debates and legal cases, including one where a woman who lived with her partner for over 20 years and had two children with him was denied a widow’s pension because they never registered their partnership officially. If approved by Congress, such cases will no longer be excluded.

 

The proposed reform would grant widows or widowers in these situations an average pension of over 930 euros per month, providing important financial support after bereavement.

 

The final decision rests with Parliament, but if passed, this would mark a significant shift toward recognising diverse family situations across Spain, giving peace of mind to those in committed relationships without formal paperwork.

 

 

 

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