A strict prenuptial agreement can prevent a lot of misery

Married in community of property

Most couples that marry choose to marry in community of property. This means that you are both entitled to half of the property, but that you are also responsible for half of the communal debts.

Prenuptial agreement

About 30% of people married in the Netherlands choose to marry under a prenuptial agreement. In these conditions, set by the notary, the financial rules for the marriage are set. When making these agreements, notaries generally work with standard models.

It would seem that everything is arranged properly then, things can still go wrong however when facing a divorce. This is because the conditions have been set by the notary. Who has some knowledge of family law, but for whom it is not a core activity. Therefore some slack may occur in the prenuptial agreement.

There are a number of forms of the prenuptial agreement

-Exclusion of all community of property.; the partners do not share the wealth or income.

-Limited community; There is a matter of a communal part and a limited part that is not shared

-Settlement system;

*Periodical settlement clause; private wealth can be kept separate. Income from labour on the end of the will be divided fairly.

*Fiscal settlement clause; In the case of a divorce, you divide the communal wealth according to the same method that you applied if you were married in community of property. A number of affairs can be kept outside of this distribution. Such as the wealth you had before the marriage and the wealth you have inherited or that has been donated to you by other means. You can also utilize the final settlement clause if you have not upheld the periodical settlement clause during your marriage.

Turn to a lawyer

The cure is obvious, albeit anything but romantic. Couples that want to get married should advise a specialised lawyer beforehand to discuss what will happen if something goes awry. Strict prenuptial agreements can prevent arguments and save time and money. Because getting a divorce is pricy, but who turns to a lawyer before the marriage? A visit to a lawyer costs money and this happens only rarely. Apparently people do not think about this. It is considered as unromantic and embarrassing. But we still think that advising a lawyer when making your prenuptial agreement can prevent a lot of misery in the end.

Sources:

http://www.echtscheiding-wijzer.nl/huwel...
Article of FD, Saturday the 9th of February 2013