Marriage / prenuptial contracts

Hlavní informace

Once married, the spouses acquire property in joint ownership. This is a statutory regime under the Civil Code and, in simplified terms, with exceptions such as inheritance or gifts, any assets acquired during the marriage are jointly owned by both spouses.

Spouses who wish to acquire property in a manner other than that provided for by law can regulate (modify) mutual property relationships by a contract in the form of a public deed – a notarial deed drawn up by any notary.

Spouses or fiancés can choose from several schemes:

1. Reduced joint property regime. Under this regime, the spouses may provide for mutual rights over those assets (movable and immovable) which they acquired in joint ownership during the marriage. For example, they can determine that specific items (car, apartment) are no longer part of the joint property. The agreement may specify what (formerly joint) property will now become the exclusive property of one of the spouses (e.g., the car will continue to be owned only by the husband), or it may be settled so that some of the property will remain in their joint ownership. Furthermore, it can be arranged, for the future, that certain item(s) that may be acquired at some point in the future will never become part of the joint property of the spouses.
2. Separate property regime. Under this regime, the joint property regime never comes into existence. Nothing changes for the spouses in terms of owning property upon marriage and they will acquire assets and bear liabilities in the same way as before the marriage. The separate ownership regime can also be established at any time during the marriage and, as a rule, any and all assets already acquired by the spouses in the joint property regime will be settled first.
3. Reserving the creation of joint property for the dissolution of the marriage. The principle is that during the marriage the spouses acquire property as if it were exclusive property. It is only at the time of the dissolution of the marriage (divorce, death of one of the spouses) that the property becomes joint property, and then only in order for the spouses to effect a settlement. It is only on the dissolution of the marriage that the spouses' property is regarded as belonging to the joint property.
4. Extending the joint property of the spouses allows the spouses to include in the joint property regime those assets which had so far been in the exclusive ownership of either one of them, or that had been co-owned by specific share(s).

Contracts on matrimonial property regimes may be entered in the List of Matrimonial Property Agreements maintained by the Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic, either if directly stipulated therein or otherwise at the request of both spouses. The legal effect of such registration is that the spouses may always invoke these agreements against third parties, even if these third parties have not been informed of their contents; they are therefore effective against third parties without further action. This is also due to the fact that this list is publicly accessible via the website of the Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic.

Týká se vás to pokud

you are spouses or spouses-to-be who wish to acquire property in a manner other than that provided for by law and be able to regulate (modify) mutual property relationships by a contract in the form of a public deed – a notarial deed.

Kdy službu řešit

Before the marriage, or at any time during the marriage.

Vyřízení služby

Co potřebujete pokud službu řešíte

The following must be provided to the notary you choose:

• information on the desired modification of the matrimonial property regime;
• your identity with a valid official ID (ID card, passport, etc.) for identification and verification;
• your marriage certificate if the marriage contract is concluded during the marriage;
• information on the details of assets to be covered by the contract, or other documents as may be agreed with the notary.

Kde a jak službu řešit

Any notary public.

Contacts for individual notaries are available in the list of notaries on the website of the Notary Chamber of the Czech Republic: https://www.nkcr.cz/seznam-notaru

Kolik budete platit

The amount of the notary's remuneration is calculated by the notary according to the Decree of the Ministry of Justice No. 196/2001 Coll., on remuneration and compensation of notaries, administrators of the estate and the Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic (notarial tariff).

Doplňující informace

Jaký má služba benefit

By concluding a marriage contract you can regulate your property relationships in a manner other than that provided for by law.

Možnosti odvolání

There is no appeal procedure.