Cohabitation agreement for unmarried partners (Austria)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
An agreement for partners living together in Austria without marriage or a registered partnership: the home and how long one partner has to move out after a separation, sharing household costs, a list of each partner's property and of what they own together, work in the other's business, dividing things up after a separation, and maintenance. No notarial deed is needed; the agreement deliberately contains no promise of a gift without handover (§ 1 Abs 1 lit d NotAktsG, the Austrian Notarial Deeds Act) and no transfer of land. With notes on a survivor's rights under the Austrian Civil Code (§§ 745, 748 ABGB). In German, signed by both.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- First partner
- First partner's academic degree
- First partner's date of birth
- First partner's address
- Second partner
- Second partner's academic degree
- Second partner's date of birth
- Second partner's address
- Start date
- Address of the flat (with staircase and door number)
- Legal title to the home (e.g. ownership, lease)
- Time to move out after separating
- How living costs are shared
- Each partner's personal property
- Property acquired together, and the shares in it
- Work in the other partner's business, and how it is paid for
- Time to settle up after separating
- Other terms
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Does a cohabitation agreement in Austria need a notary?
- No. Partners who live together can in principle agree their affairs without any formality; both signing the same paper serves as proof. A notarial deed is needed, however, for a promise of a gift without actual handover (§ 1 Abs 1 lit d NotAktsG), and an entry in the land register needs certified signatures (§ 31 GBG). This agreement deliberately contains neither. Unlike spouses, unmarried partners may also lend each other money or sell each other things without a notary.
- What does an unmarried partner inherit in Austria without a will?
- As a rule, nothing: unmarried partners are not heirs by law. Only where no heir by law takes the estate does the partner inherit, provided the couple had lived in a shared household for at least the last three years (§ 748 ABGB). Whether or not the survivor inherits, after at least three years in a shared household they may go on using the shared home for one year (§ 745 Abs 2 ABGB). Anyone who wants to provide for a partner makes a will; the partner cannot be one of its witnesses (§ 588 ABGB), and a joint will is open only to spouses and registered partners (§ 586 ABGB).
- Is a registered partnership in Austria an alternative to a cohabitation agreement?
- Yes. Since 1 January 2019 the registered partnership under the Austrian Registered Partnership Act (EPG) has been open to all couples, including couples of different sexes. It brings rights and duties similar to marriage, such as maintenance, a right to inherit by law and a compulsory share. Couples who do not want that arrange their life together with this agreement; maintenance and inheritance do not follow from it automatically, they have to be agreed or left by will.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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