Norway assesses new cohabitation law
Norwegian Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl. Photo Facebook, Emilie Enger Mehl
Northern Europe
In Norway, a new committee will examine whether the country needs a new law for cohabitating spouses. The regulation would be to protect the finances of cohabitants both while living together or in the case of a breakup.
The government appointed the new committee on Friday, Vart Land reports. It did so after the Storting had asked the government to look into possibilities for a new cohabitation law. The committee is tasked with the assessment of the need for regulations but also with designing draft rules.
According to Vart Land, the assessment may not result in a new cohabitation law. It could also be that the current legislation is changed to protect children better in case of a breakup and that spouses have better rules to regulate their finances during their cohabitation or after separation.
Emilie Enger Mehl, Norwegian Justice Minister, explains that divorces often have negative financial consequences for “the financially weaker party”, which is, according to her, usually a woman. “She unexpectedly ends up financially poor when cohabitants separate”, the Minister says in a press release. Therefore, she sees cohabitation as a challenge to equality.
In addition, she points out that more than half of Norwegian children are born to unmarried mothers who live in a cohabitation relationship. Therefore, she pleads for more consideration for children when assessing the need for a new regulation.
It is also possible that the committee will advise the government to make more customised laws for different groups of people, for example, couples with and without children.
The committee consists of several law experts and must present its findings on May 1, 2025.
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