Common-law relationship

Unlike in marriage

• a common-law husband and wife have no maintenance liability to each other
• they do not inherit from each other
• a common-law husband or wife cannot receive the surviving spouse's pension if their partner dies

You can adopt a common last name if

• you have children together or
• you have lived together for at least five years

If you want to have a common last name, send an application for a change of name to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

If you and your partner permanently live in the same accommodation, you belong to the same household. This is significant, for example, when applying for housing allowance from Kela.

Read more about housing allowance for unmarried cohabitants on the InfoFinland web page Housing allowance.

A common-law relationship can be a basis for getting a residence permit. The authorities always consider the granting of a residence permit case-specifically.

Acknowledgement of paternity (Isyyden tunnustaminen)

If you are living in a common-law relationship and you have a child, the child’s paternity must be acknowledged. If paternity is not acknowledged, the child is officially fatherless and the mother is alone responsible for the child’s maintenance and care, even if you live together. You can acknowledge your paternity before the child is born at the maternity clinic (äitiysneuvola).

Acknowledgment of paternity means that you declare that you are the parent of the child being born. You must acknowledge your paternity to a public health nurse or a midwife at the maternity clinic that you have been visiting during the pregnancy. The mother must accompany you.
The Digital and Population Data Services Agency will confirm your paternity separately after the child is born.

You can also acknowledge your paternity at the child welfare supervisor's office after the child is born.  You need to make the acknowledgement in person. The child welfare supervisor will investigate paternity, after which the Digital and Population Data Services Agency will confirm it.

When paternity has been confirmed

• the child can be given the father’s name
• the father can act as the child’s guardian either together with the mother or alone. A guardian (huoltaja) is a person who is responsible for a child’s care and upbringing.
• the father is obliged to participate in the child’s maintenance
• the child has inheritance rights in relation to his or her father and paternal family and vice versa
• the child has a right to survivors' pension if the father dies

If the father does not acknowledge his paternity, the mother can bring suit against him for the confirmation of paternity.

Acknowledgement of maternity

The Maternity Act is in force in Finland. According to the Act, a child may have two mothers. The woman who gave birth to the child is always the mother of the child. A second mother may be recognised for the child if:

• the child is born as a result of fertility treatment to the mother and her female partner or spouse,
• both parents consented to the fertility treatment, and
• a father cannot be confirmed for the child.

Maternity must also be acknowledged and confirmed when the parents are married.

You can acknowledge your maternity before the child is born at the maternity clinic. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency will confirm your maternity separately after the child is born.

You can also acknowledge your maternity after the child is born at the child welfare supervisor's office of your municipality. The child welfare supervisor will investigate the maternity, after which the Digital and Population Data Services Agency will confirm it.

When maternity has been confirmed,

• the child can be given the last name of either mother or their common last name,
• both mothers must contribute to the child’s maintenance,
• the mothers may act as legal guardians of the child either jointly or alone, and
• the child has inheritance rights in relation to both his or her mothers and their families.

Child’s last name in a common-law relationship

When a child is born in a common-law relationship, the child can have

• the mother’s last name, or
• the father’s last name if paternity has been confirmed, or
• the non-birth mother’s last name if maternity has been confirmed, or
• the parents’ common last name, or
• a double last name formed by combining the parents’ last names.

If the parents do not have a common last name but they have children together, the child will have the same last name as his/her siblings.

You can apply for a common last name with your common-law spouse if

• you have lived together for at least five years, or
• you have a child together.