MOSCOW, January 22 (RAPSI) – The Federation Council member Anton Belyakov has submitted a bill defining “actual marriage” term to the State Duma, his official page on VKontakte social network reads.

According to the bill, “actual marriages” may be recognized by state authorities as official if a man and a woman live together for five years in a common household. If they have a child, they need to live with him or her for two years.

Official statistics show that in 2016 amount of registered marriages in Russia was the lowest in the last 20 years, the senator noted. He added that most Russians don’t believe official registration is required for creation of a healthy family. Belyakov expressed his belief that institution of actual marriages should be protected by the state as it is the case in other countries like Sweden, the Netherlands and others.

One of the steps to achieve that goal is to treat property obtained by spouses in actual marriages the same way as if it was obtained in an official marriage, the senator stated. According to Belyakov, if a man and a woman did not sign a contract, all property obtained by them within two and five years is to be classified as their mutual property.