Compensation for Domestic Work in a De Facto Union: A Comparative Law Perspective

On 14 January 2021, the Portuguese Supremo Tribunal de Justiça rendered an unanimously decision concerning the acknowledgment of domestic work done within a 30 years de facto union. In particular, the Court decided that the domestic work performance, as well as the caring for, accompanying and educating of children, exclusively or essentially by one of the partners of the de facto union, without compensation, results in a real impoverishment of the latter, and the corresponding unjust enrichment of the other partner of the union, as it allows this latter to benefit from the result of carrying out these activities, without costs or contributions. This decision was the occasion to make a comparative law research on this topic in several European member states, namely Italy, Belgium, Spain and Hungary.