Procedure for drawing up a marriage contract
You and your partner should first define how you wish to manage your matrimonial property. Matrimonial property means what belongs to whom in the marriage – and how assets and debt are to be divided in the case of divorce or death.
If you don’t set any rules?
Without a marriage contract, the law stipulates that matrimonial property shall be defined according to the principle of participation in acquired property. This means: In the event of a divorce, you receive and/or maintain the assets you brought into the marriage. The assets that you jointly earned during the marriage are divided in half. If you do not agree with this scheme, you most definitely should draw up a marriage contract. You can arrange a modified participation in acquired property, a community of property, or separation of property.
- Modified participation in acquired property: With the marriage contract, you can deviate from the legal regulations by stipulating that certain assets should not fall under joint assets, for example.
- Community of property: The total assets brought into the marriage or accumulated during the marriage fall into one basket. Only items of personal use and claims for satisfaction (e.g. from an insurance case) are not included in this basket. Debt is also borne by both parties.
- Separation of property: In this case, there are two completely separate sets of assets and each person is only responsible for their own debt.
A marriage contract must be certified by a notary – only then is the matter legally binding. Notary certification means that a notary must confirm the authenticity of the signatures. You can find details on how to draw up a marriage contract by referring to our sample documents. We would also be happy to advise you in person here.