Family
Código de las Familias with free unions equal to marriage
Ley 603, the Código de las Familias y del Proceso Familiar of 2014, replaced the older family code and gives unión libre the same effects as marriage once cohabitation is stable and monogamous. Divorce is available on the ground of irreparable breakdown without proof of fault. Same-sex marriage is not recognised, though free unions between same-sex couples have been registered following constitutional litigation.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National substantive and procedural family law
- Deadline — Divorce: available on unilateral petition alleging breakdown, no separation period
- Deadline — Family proceedings follow the oral hearings set by Ley 603
Governing law
- Ley 603 - Código de las Familias y del Proceso Familiar2014
- Ley 348violence against women
In practice
Ley 603 is notable for containing both substantive family law and its own procedural rules, with oral hearings, in a single code. In 2020 the Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional upheld the registration of a same-sex free union, relying on Inter-American standards, which created recognition of same-sex partnerships through adjudication despite the constitutional text defining marriage as between a man and a woman.