You have a right to freely choose whom you wish to marry. However, the Lithuanian law provide certain restrictions regarding the choice of your spouse.
You have the right to marry a partner of your choice regardless of their origin or nationality. Legal provisions may restrict your choice, but this can only be done to protect important and legitimate interests. In Lithuania, you cannot marry various categories of persons, such as your close relatives or persons of the same sex as you.
Relatives
Marriage is prohibited between close blood relatives in a direct line (parents, grandparents, children, etc.), brothers and sisters, as well as between half-brothers and half-sisters.
Marriage cannot be concluded between an adoptive parent and an adoptee and, similarly between a legal guardian and his or her ward if the guardianship is not terminated.
note In Lithuania, you can marry certain more distant relatives such second line cousins (but not in the church).
Same-sex partners
The Lithuanian Constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and the Civil Code states the same. Therefore, a marriage between partners of the same sex is not recognized by law.
However, the European Court of Human Rights has recognized that same-sex couples are just as capable of entering into stable, committed relationships as opposite-sex couples, and in certain situations may have a right to request legal recognition of their relationship. There is an emerging trend towards the legal recognition of same-sex couples in many European countries.
note Same sex marriage is recognized in several countries in Europe, like Belgium, France, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Other states also provide alternative forms of recognition of the relationship between same-sex couples, such as a civil partnership (union). Read more about a factual relationship between homosexual partners and other issues related to this relationship that are not regulated in Lithuanian law.
Transgender people
Persons who have officially changed their gender have the same rights and restrictions regarding a marriage procedure as any other person. Their marriage with a partner of the opposite sex will be officially recognized in Lithuania.
important Please note that the state can require the dissolution of a marriage or may recognize it as legally invalid, if you have changed your gender but remain married to a partner who is of the same sex.