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Poland pays first benefits to same-sex married couples

18.09.2026 11:45
Poland's social insurance institution has started paying benefits to same-sex married couples, Labour Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk said on Friday.
Polands Family, Labour and Social Policy Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk.
Poland's Family, Labour and Social Policy Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk.Photo courtesy of the Polish Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy

The announcement came after new regulations took effect last month under which same-sex marriages concluded abroad can be officially recorded in Poland's civil registry.

Once registered, these couples get the same legal rights as opposite-sex unions in Poland, according to Dziemianowicz-Bąk.

The Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) was the first state body to act on this, and has begun paying care allowances—benefits given to someone looking after a sick spouse—to same-sex couples.

'Love is love, marriage is marriage'

"Love is love, marriage is marriage, and these rights will be respected," Dziemianowicz-Bąk said.

She added that officials are now discussing equal tax treatment for same-sex couples, such as filing joint returns and exemption from inheritance duty when a spouse dies.

She said she hopes this can happen next year, calling it "equal, right and just."

The changes follow a ruling by the EU's top court ordering Poland to recognise same-sex marriages registered elsewhere in the bloc, along with several decisions by domestic courts.

The most significant of these involved Jakub Cupriak-Trojan and Mateusz Trojan, who married in Berlin, Germany, in 2018.

In May, their union became the first same-sex marriage officially entered into Poland's registry.

(ał/gs)

Source: PAP