This status means that the couple are no longer living together, but their marriage is still legally valid because they have not yet been divorced. Marital separation can be the result of a court decision or an agreement between spouses.

The definition is given in § 116 of the Civil Code: "A close person is a relative in the direct line, sibling and spouse; other persons in a family or similar relationship are considered to be close to each other, if the injury suffered by one of them is reasonably felt by the other as their own injury." - the second part of the sentence marked in bold applies to the partner. When examining whether someone is in the position of a close person, he looks in particular at whether these persons share and take care of a joint household together, whether they jointly manage financial resources, whether they know each other's health status, and whether they represent each other in carrying out both ordinary and non-ordinary things. Based on these points, the facticity of the relationship is demonstrated. In addition to proving the facticity of the relationship, it is also necessary to fulfill the condition that the person would reasonably feel the harm suffered by another person as his own. This feeling must be mutual. It should be assessed whether persons show mutual interest or whether they help each other.

Examples of legal rights of relatives:the right to transfer co-ownership shares in real estate to each other regardless of the co-ownership rights of other co-owners (without the need to offer co-ownership shares to other co-owners),the right to refuse to testify in court if it could cause a close person the danger of criminal prosecution,the right to refuse to give an explanation to a police officer against a close person,as persons who live together in a common household are considered by law to be family members and are entitled to leave from work to accompany the other to a medical facility, as well as in other cases foreseen by the Labor Code, including corresponding wage compensation,the right to be notified of the death of a partner in a medical institution of institutional care,the right to inherit in the second and third inheritance groups, unless the inheritance is covered by a will,the right to be appointed as the administrator of the inheritance after the latter as the testator,the right to information from the health documentation after the death of the other person, if he is not a spouse, child or parent,the right to report the death of a partner in a medical institution of institutional care (hospital) and in custody,the right to request from the labor inspectorate one copy of the report from the investigation of the cause of the occupational accident of the other employee, if he died as a result of this occupational accident,the right to be appointed as the procedural guardian of the other in civil court proceedings.