Does an unmarried partner inherit in Peru?

What counts as a unión de hecho

Article 326 of the Civil Code defines it with four conditions, all in its first sentence:

• voluntarily formed and maintained by a man and a woman;
• both free of any marital impediment (neither married to someone else);
• with purposes and duties similar to those of marriage;
• lasting at least two continuous years.

When those are met, the union creates a community of property under the sociedad de gananciales regime. That is what the Code has said since 1984. What it did not say was anything about inheritance.

Note the wording: a man and a woman. As written, the article does not cover a same-sex couple. We report the statute as it stands.

What Ley 30007 changed

Ley 30007, published on 17 April 2013, closed the gap. Its articles do three things:

1. Set the conditions (arts. 2 and 3): the union must meet article 326, be in force at the moment of death, and be registered with Registros Públicos or judicially recognised. If it was not registered, the survivor may seek judicial recognition.
2. Add a paragraph to article 326 (art. 4): unions meeting those conditions produce “derechos y deberes sucesorios, similares a los del matrimonio”, and Civil Code articles 725, 727, 730, 731, 732 and 822 to 825 apply to them.
3. Rewrite articles 724 and 816 (arts. 5 and 6) to place the “integrante sobreviviente de la unión de hecho” next to the spouse, and add item 10 to article 2030 (art. 7) so that a union recognised by a notary or a court is a registrable act in the Registro Personal.

The result: a partner who meets the conditions is a forced heir, sits in the third order of succession and concurs with children and with parents, exactly like a spouse.

How much the partner inherits

The same rules as a spouse. With children, a share equal to one child’s, with the option of a usufruct over one third; with parents or ascendants, a share equal to one of them. And on the testator’s side, the two-thirds legítima applies when the forced heir is the partner. The shares are on the intestate succession page and the limits on a will on the forced heirship page.

The three ways to lose everything

1. Not registering or obtaining recognition. The most common mistake. A real twenty-year cohabitation, with no registration and no judgment, forces the survivor to litigate recognition against the other heirs — usually the deceased’s children or parents.
2. A marital impediment. If either partner was still married to a third person, there is no unión de hecho with legal effect. A pending divorce is not a divorce.
3. A union that ended before death. The law requires it to be in force at the moment of death. Separating without formalising anything does not preserve the right.

The unsettled point: unions predating 2013

Ley 30007 does not say clearly whether it reaches unions that began — or whose deceased partner died — before it entered into force. The Supreme Court has ruled both ways:

• Casación 6-2019 Lima: unions predating Ley 30007 do not generate succession rights.
• Casación 2867-2017 La Libertad: they do.

There is no binding precedent settling the question. We present it as it stands: open. If your case involves a death before April 2013, the outcome depends on the judge and on how it is argued. We did not read either ruling directly; the reference comes from the information we were given.

Foreign residents

Nothing in Ley 30007 or article 326 requires Peruvian nationality. What counts for the succession is the deceased’s last domicile (art. 2100 of the Civil Code, explained on the forced heirship page). A foreigner domiciled in Peru with a unión de hecho registered here leaves their partner in the same position as a spouse. If the couple formed abroad and never registered in Peru, the route is judicial recognition, with the proof of cohabitation that implies. Ley 30007 names two routes, registration in the Registro Personal and judicial recognition; a registration made only in another country is neither, and we have not verified how Sunarp or the courts treat it. And if the deceased’s last domicile was outside Peru, it is that country’s law that decides whether the partner inherits (article 2100).