Sambo in Sweden: inheritance, property rights, taxes, and what changes when you have children

Living together as a couple in Sweden without being married is entirely normal and widely accepted — but it is not legally the same as marriage, and the differences matter far more than most couples realize until something goes wrong. This post focuses specifically on the legal and financial consequences of being sambo: what happens to your home if you separate, who inherits what if one of you dies, how children change the picture, and what documents you genuinely need to protect each other.

If you want to understand the basics of what sambo status means and how to establish it, I have a separate post covering that: Sambo in Sweden explained. This post picks up where that one leaves off.

Taxes: where sambo and marriage are actually the same

Sweden abolished joint taxation in 1971. This means both married couples and sambo couples are taxed individually — there are no joint tax returns, no household income brackets, no “marriage bonus” or “sambo penalty” in the tax system. Each person files their own inkomstdeklaration to Skatteverket every spring, based on their own income.

If you jointly own a property, both of you can deduct 30% of your individual interest payments (ränteavdrag) on your respective tax returns. You can adjust how this deduction is split between you by contacting Skatteverket — for example, if one partner has higher income and therefore benefits more from the deduction, it makes financial sense for them to claim a larger share.

Transfer of property between sambos: Unlike transfers between spouses — which are generally exempt from capital gains tax — transfers between sambos can trigger tax obligations. This is an area where the devil is in the details, and it is worth consulting a lawyer or tax advisor before transferring property between you.

Gift tax and inheritance tax: Sweden has no gift tax and abolished inheritance tax in 2004. This sounds reassuring but is somewhat misleading — because the absence of inheritance tax does not solve the fundamental problem sambos face with inheritance, as explained below.

Sambo property: the 50/50 rule and what it actually covers

When a sambo relationship ends — through separation or death — Swedish law governs the division of what is called samboegendom: sambo property. The default rule under the Sambolagen (2003:376) is a 50/50 split.

But here is the crucial point that trips up almost everyone: not all property is sambo property. The Sambolagen only covers two categories of assets, and only if they were acquired specifically for joint use:

The shared home (bostad) — a bostadsrätt, a villa, or a first-hand rental contract.

Household goods (bohag) — furniture, appliances, kitchenware, electronics bought for the home.

Everything else is excluded entirely: personal savings, bank accounts, stocks, pension funds, cars, boats, vacation homes, and personal items. These go to their sole owner regardless of what happens.

The trap that catches couples off guard

The “acquired for joint use” rule has a consequence that seems counterintuitive at first. If Partner A buys an apartment before meeting Partner B, that apartment is not sambo property. Partner A keeps it on separation.

But if Partner A buys an apartment intending for both of them to live in it together — even if only Partner A’s name is on the contract and Partner A paid 100% of the purchase price — that apartment becomes sambo property. On separation, Partner B is entitled to 50% of the net value, even though they contributed nothing financially.

This is not a loophole or an unusual outcome. It is the default rule of Swedish law. If you want to protect an unequal financial contribution, you need to act proactively.

The two documents that protect you

Samboavtal (cohabitation agreement): A written contract between you stating that the default rules of the Sambolagen will not apply to your relationship — either entirely or for specific assets. This must be written, dated, and signed by both of you. It does not need to be notarized and is not registered with any government authority. Keep the original somewhere secure.

Skuldebrev (promissory note): If you buy a home together with 50/50 ownership but unequal financial contributions — for example, one partner contributes a larger down payment — a samboavtal alone is not enough. You need a promissory note establishing that the partner who contributed less owes a specific debt to the other, settled when the home is eventually sold. Without this, the equity gets split equally regardless of who paid more.

Inheritance: the most dangerous difference between sambo and married

This is where being sambo in Sweden carries the most significant legal risk, and where the most people are caught completely unprepared.

Married couples have automatic inheritance rights under the Ärvdabalken (Swedish Inheritance Code). When one spouse dies, the surviving spouse inherits everything. Joint children do not inherit immediately — they must wait until both parents are gone (efterarvsrätt).

Sambo couples have no automatic right of inheritance whatsoever. None. Regardless of how long you have lived together, how much you have built together, or whether you have children. If one sambo dies without a will, their estate goes to their legal heirs — children first, then parents, then siblings. The surviving sambo gets nothing from the estate beyond their 50% of the sambo property (the shared home and household goods).

What this looks like in practice

Imagine you and your partner have lived together for ten years, have two children together, and jointly own your home. Your partner dies suddenly, without a will. Here is what happens:

Your partner’s 50% share of the home passes to your two children — not to you. Your children are legal heirs with the right to claim their inheritance immediately. If you cannot afford to buy out their share, the home may have to be sold. And because your children are minors, a court-appointed guardian (överförmyndare) manages their inherited share — you cannot simply hold it informally.

This outcome is not hypothetical. It happens.

The laglott problem with wills

The solution is to write a will (testamente) that leaves your share of the estate to your partner. But there is a limit on what a will can do: children always have the right to their reserved share (laglott), which is 50% of what they would normally inherit. You cannot disinherit your children entirely.

What a will can do is ensure your partner inherits the other 50% — or that the children must wait until the surviving partner also dies before collecting their share. A well-drafted will can significantly reduce the immediate financial pressure on the surviving partner, even if it cannot eliminate the laglott entirely.

Formal requirements for a will in Sweden: The will must be in writing, dated, and signed by you personally in the simultaneous presence of two independent witnesses, who must also sign. The witnesses cannot be beneficiaries or their close relatives. No notary is required. No registration with any authority is possible — store the original in a bank vault or a secure document storage service, and make sure your partner knows where it is.

Life insurance as a practical solution

Because a will cannot guarantee the surviving sambo keeps the home outright — the children’s laglott may still create pressure — life insurance (livförsäkring) is the most practical tool for filling the gap. If the deceased partner’s life insurance payout is large enough to cover the children’s inherited share, the surviving partner can buy out that share without having to sell the home. For sambo couples who jointly own property, life insurance is not optional — it is the mechanism that makes the will actually work in practice.

What changes when you have children together

Having a child together as sambos triggers immediate and important legal differences compared to married couples — and some of these surprises are positive, while others require urgent action.

Paternity and parenthood acknowledgment

For married couples, the spouse is automatically registered as the child’s legal parent at birth.

For sambo couples, only the person who gave birth is automatically recognized as a legal parent. The other partner must actively confirm parenthood through the municipality’s family law office (Familjerätten). Until this is done:

The non-birth parent has no legal rights to make medical or administrative decisions for the child.

The non-birth parent cannot receive parental leave days from Försäkringskassan.

The birth parent holds sole custody (enskild vårdnad).

Book the Familjerätten appointment as soon as possible after the birth. During that same appointment, you can apply for joint custody (gemensam vårdnad), which is what makes the legal situation for the child equivalent to that of a child born to married parents.

Note: Since a 2022 reform, joint custody is the default for registered sambo parents — but “registered” here means you have actively gone through the Familjerätten process, not simply that you share an address.

Parental leave — same rules as for married couples

Once joint parenthood and custody are established, parental leave works identically for sambo and married parents. The 480-day pool per child, the 90 non-transferable days per parent, the possibility of double days in the first 15 months — all the same. I covered the full system in detail in my post on Swedish parental leave.

Child allowance (barnbidrag — 1,250 SEK/month per child) is also paid equally regardless of marital status. More on this in my Försäkringskassan guide.

Inheritance with children: the laglott interaction

As described above, children have the right to their laglott — 50% of their inherited share — even if there is a will in favor of the surviving partner. With minor children in the picture, this means the municipal guardian (överförmyndare) becomes involved in managing the children’s inherited property, and the surviving parent has limited control over those assets.

The most effective protective combination is: a mutual will directing as much as legally possible to the surviving partner, combined with sufficient life insurance to cover the children’s laglott without requiring a property sale.

If one parent dies: custody

If one parent dies, the surviving parent automatically becomes the sole legal guardian of any minor children, regardless of marital status. This applies equally to sambo and married parents.

Separation: how sambo property is divided

Either partner can trigger a formal property division (bodelning) by requesting one — either at separation or after a partner’s death. The bodelning must be requested within one year of the relationship ending. If neither partner requests it within that window, the right to divide sambo property lapses permanently, and each person simply keeps what is in their name.

The bodelning process involves identifying what counts as samboegendom, valuing it, subtracting any debts attached to those assets, and splitting the net value 50/50. If one partner wants to keep the shared home rather than sell it, they can buy out the other’s share — and crucially, the sambo with less equity has the legal right to take over the shared home (övertaganderätten) under certain conditions, even if they do not own it.

What if no bodelning is requested?

If the one-year window passes without a request, there is no division. Each person keeps the assets in their name. This can be beneficial if the property split would have disadvantaged one partner — but it also means giving up the right to claim your 50% of jointly used property. Think carefully before letting the deadline pass.

Quick comparison: sambo vs. married

The documents every sambo couple should have

To summarize practically: here is what I would recommend every sambo couple in Sweden consider having in place.

A mutual will (inbördes testamente): Essential if you want your partner to inherit from you rather than your assets going directly to other legal heirs. Store the original securely.

A samboavtal (cohabitation agreement): If your financial contributions to the shared home or household are unequal, or if you simply want clarity about what belongs to whom.

A skuldebrev (promissory note): If one partner paid a significantly larger share of the home purchase price.

Life insurance: Particularly important if you own property together and have children. The payout should be large enough to cover the children’s laglott without forcing a home sale.

A power of attorney (fullmakt): For financial and healthcare decisions if one partner is incapacitated but not deceased — the sambo has no automatic right to make decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner without this.

Swedish family law is specific enough that the documents above — particularly the will — are worth having drafted or reviewed by a qualified Swedish family lawyer (familjerättsjurist) rather than relying on a generic template. The formal requirements are straightforward, but the interaction between a will, the laglott, and your specific asset situation is worth getting right.

If you have questions about your specific situation, leave a comment below. And if this guide was useful, the LikeSweden newsletter is a good way to stay updated as Swedish family law continues to evolve.