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Since 1 August , 2001 , Germany has allowed ''' Civil Unions ''' for same-sex couples, although outright Same-sex Marriage is not allowed. The Life Partnership Act (''Eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaft'', literally " Registered Life Partnership ") grants same-sex couples who specifically apply for it a subset of the rights and obligations connected with Marriage . On 17 July , 2002 , the Federal Constitutional Court Of Germany ruled that there are no legal obstacles to giving these civil unions the same status (with the same rights and obligations) as marriages. The main issue ruled on that day was the constitutionality of these civil unions, which was affirmed — but the ruling did more than just settle the constitutional challenge, in that it actually clarified that marriage and civil unions ''could'' be given entirely equal status in Germany. However, despite this possibility, the two unions do not currently have equal status. On 12 October , 2004 , the ''Gesetz zur Überarbeitung des Lebenspartnerschaftsrechts'' (Life Partnership Law (Revision) Act) was passed by the Bundestag , increasing the rights of registered life partners to include, among other things, the possibility of stepchild Adoption and simplier Alimony and Divorce rules, but excluding the same tax benefits as in a marriage. By October 2004, 5,000 couples had registered their partnerships. {Link without Title} SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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