8 What does the law provide for the property of registered and non-registered partners?
If persons of the same sex register their partnership, their property relations and inheritance rights are governed by the same rules as apply to married spouses. A registered partnership is also dissolved by way of divorce and the partners can conclude a marital contract. All of what is stated above on the property of spouses and its division is also applicable to registered partnerships. In Finland, both heterosexuals and homosexuals can live in a non-registered partnership. If the non-registered partnership has lasted for less than five years, and the partners do not have a common child, disputes over the partners' property are solved on the basis of the general legal provisions. For example, if a non-registered partnership has ended, a partner can claim the return of an unjustified benefit. Other practically relevant legal remedies are claims for payment, verification of ownership, and restitution of possession. If the non-registered partnership has lasted for longer than five years, or if the partners have or have had a common child, the "Act on the dissolution of the household of cohabiting partners", which took effect on 1 April 2011, is applicable. According to this act, after the partnership has been dissolved, a partner is entitled to receive compensation from the other partner if he/she has helped the other partner to accumulate or retain his/her property with the contribution that he/she has made for the benefit of the common household, so that the distribution of property exclusively based upon ownership would lead to the reception of an unjustifiable benefit by one partner at the cost of the other. There is no right to compensation if the unjustifiable benefit received from the contribution made for the benefit of the shared household is, all things considered, minimal.