Marriage contract

MARRIAGE CONTRACT

 

Introduction – Matchmaking/Prenuptial Agreement

Until recently, matrimonial property regimes (the same applies to cohabited partners and partners of a same-sex partnership) were governed by the ZZZDR, which governed this area in a cogent way, which means that contractual modification of the legal provisions was not possible. By contrast, the Family Code (DZ), which entered into force in 2019, brings about significant changes in this area. DZ allows spouses or partners to freely arrange their property regimes.

A contract for the organisation of matrimonial property regimes, for which the concept of marriage contract has stabilised in their daily lives (but is better known abroad as a prenuptial agreement), is a contract by which the spouses agree on the content of their matrimonial regime, which is different from the legal one. This means that if the spouses do not agree anything, the arrangements laid down in the Family Code will apply. If the (future) spouses or partners decide to enter into a contract, they can arrange property rights with them for the duration of the marriage and in the event of divorce, but not in the event of death.

 

What is the arrangements in case the spouses or partners do not enter into a prenut?

The family code divides the spouses’ property into common property and special property. The special property of the spouse is that acquired before the marriage or free of charge during the duration of the marriage (e.g. gifts, inheritances, prizes, etc.). That property belongs exclusively to that spouse and will therefore not be the subject of division in the event of divorce. A different regime is subject to common assets consisting of all property rights acquired by work or for good during the duration of the marriage and the life of the marriage. These assets belong to the spouses together and the spouses’ shares are indeterminate (the spouses share the common property), with the division of the joint property subject to a legal presumption of equality of interests in it. The spouses can prove that they contributed to the common property in a different relationship.

Therefore, in the event that the legal regime under the DZ is subject to legal arrangements, everything the spouses or partners obtain through work or for amort interest (wages, sale of assets, etc.) during the life of the life partnership will therefore constitute their common property and thus belong to the two together. In the event of divorce or the disintegration of the consensual, the spouses will be able to distribute these assets by mutual agreement, and if they are unable to reach an agreement, the property will be distributed by the court at the request of the spouse.

 

Matrimonial property regime

Marriage agreements can be entered into by future spouses as well as spouses during the marriage, as well as by cohabited partners and partners of a same-sex partnership (both concluded and unconsqued). If the spouses decide to enter into a contract to settle their mutual matrimonial property regime, the contractual regime will apply to them from the conclusion of the contract, with a different arrangement possible. If the contract is concluded between the future spouses, the contract will take effect from the date of the marriage.

It is important that the spouses inform each other of their financial situation before concluding the contract, since otherwise the contract is vocale. It is advisable for the parties to draw up such a contract by a lawyer. If the spouse is not honest in the face of his financial situation, the other spouse will have the opportunity to contest such a contract within one year of finding out the grounds for action and at the latest within three years of the conclusion of the contract.

Once your lawyer has drawn up your marriage contract, it will still have to be entered in the Register of Contracts for the Regulation of Matrimonial Relationships, which is run by the Notary Chamber of Slovenia.

 

Why enter into a match-and-file agreement (“prenuptial agreement”)?

At first glance, the conclusion of a prenunation may seem like a somewhat unromantic move, as it forces the (future) spouses to discuss their divorce before the marriage. However, the conclusion of such a contract brings many advantages. It allows spouses or partners to freely dispose of and manage their own assets. At the same time, the contract allows a person with a large amount of property to protect that property and to retain it (in full) even in the event of a divorce. The advantage will also be demonstrated in that this aspect will already be relieved of this aspect in the case of divorce, so that the spouses will not have to wait for the court to distribute their assets, thus avoiding lengthy proceedings and lawyers’ and court fees. The divorce or the break-up of the community will thus be simpler and faster, and most likely more favourable for the parties involved, as the parties will not be in uncertainty about their financial situation.

 

We have already drawn up several pre-wedding contracts for our clients at the law firm Križanec.  For more information, you can contact us via email: info@odvetnik-krizanec.si or call us on + 386 41 534 931.

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