The essence of marriage is the formation of a basically lifelong union of the spouses, whereby lifelong does not mean inseparable, of course. In principle, spouses are obligated to comprehensive marital partnership, in particular to live together, to be faithful, to be decent to each other, and to provide mutual assistance.
As of January 1, 2019, opposite-sex is no longer an essential characteristic of marriage, which means that same-sex marriages are also possible.
