How to conclude a marriage contract. When can a marriage contract be concluded? How to conclude a marriage contract correctly

06.04.202127.05.2017

Russian legislation stipulates that everything that spouses acquire during marriage is their joint property. It means that The other spouse is also responsible for the debts of one spouse, that in order to sell, say, an apartment or a car, the consent of the other spouse is required. However, I hasten to note that this mode is not convenient for every family!

In this article I will examine in detail the questions about the marriage contract: what it is, what laws it is regulated by, how and when to draw up, amend and terminate the contract, why it is needed, what clauses to include in the contract, and I will also write a number practical advice that will help you avoid mistakes in the future.

○ Part 1. Marriage agreement (general information).

So, what is it? marriage contract? In short, this is an agreement concluded by spouses during or before registration of marriage and regulating property relations between husband and wife, as well as (possibly, but not necessarily) the responsibilities of spouses in marriage and .

✔ Marriage agreement in the Family Code

The possibility of concluding a marriage contract first appeared with the adoption of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) in 1994. Art. 256 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation for the first time in Soviet and post-Soviet law provided for the ability of spouses to establish mutual property rights and obligations themselves.

The Family Code of the Russian Federation, which came into force on March 1, 1996, specified the concept of a marriage contract (sometimes also called a marriage contract), devoting an entire Chapter 8 to it (we recommend that you read it), which explained in detail how a marriage contract is concluded, what exactly it may contain , during what period it is valid, as well as many other issues that allow citizens to independently enter into or terminate such contracts.

✔ When can you conclude a marriage contract?

A prenuptial agreement can be concluded either at any time during the marriage or before the registration of the marriage - in relation to the property that the future spouses already have, as well as in relation to what they will acquire in the future.

By law, such a contract must be certified by a notary, therefore, a contract concluded by spouses during marriage comes into force from the moment the notary puts a certification mark on it. In the same case, if the future spouses enter into a contract even before registering the marriage, then, according to Part 1 of Art. 41 of the RF IC, such a contract comes into force after the marriage itself is concluded and registered with the civil registry office.

✔ Terms and period of validity of the marriage contract

The law also determines the validity period of the marriage contract. By general rule, the contract, whether it was concluded before or during marriage, valid for the entire period of marriage until divorce(in the event of the death of one of the spouses, slightly different rules regarding inheritance apply).

However, it should be noted that some provisions of the marriage contract may also apply after divorce. This happens if the spouses have provided for these conditions in advance, for example, who will support whom after the divorce and how exactly the property will be divided.

✔ Limitation period for marriage contracts

Like any other agreement, a marriage contract can be challenged. The RF IC does not specifically provide grounds for this or a special limitation period, therefore In relation to a marriage contract, the usual rules of civil law must apply.

But it's not that simple! Here we inevitably touch upon a very controversial issue, on which even professional lawyers do not have a consensus.

There are at least two possible scenarios:

1. Article 44 of the RF IC, which describes the grounds for declaring a marriage contract invalid, refers to the RF Civil Code. Therefore, on formal grounds one could conclude that a marriage contract can be challenged in court within three years from the moment of conclusion.

2. Article 9 of the RF IC provides that limitation period for cases arising from family relations, no at all, unless otherwise provided by law.

As a result, even arbitrage practice develops differently.

Here we can give only one piece of advice: when filing a lawsuit to terminate or invalidate a marriage contract, it is better to focus on a three-year period - however, the expiration of this period does not mean that everything is lost and the contract is no longer subject to challenge.

✔ Validity of the marriage contract after divorce

A prenuptial agreement is concluded during or before marriage and is valid at all times. family life up to . However, this does not mean that immediately after a divorce you can forget about the contract. The fact is that one of the most important reasons why such agreements are concluded at all is precisely to suppress possible disputes about.

In this case, the marriage contract clearly defines in what shares the property of the spouses is divided after a divorce, and, if necessary, what exactly of the property goes to each of the spouses. This is the main function of the document and is very useful when family members own not only money, but also expensive property (apartments, cars, Jewelry, antiques, etc.), as well as various types of rights to the ongoing business.

Eg:
A businessman husband can stipulate in a contract that his wife has nothing to do with shares or shares in the authorized capital - or, on the contrary, leave a specific enterprise to her.

However, due to the principle of equality of spouses in marriage enshrined in law, a rich wife also has similar rights in relation to her husband.

✔ When to enter into an agreement: before marriage or during marriage?

If the contract is concluded before the marriage is registered, then in it it is possible to provide only for the ownership of the property that (presumably) will be T acquired later during their life together.

Usually this is real estate (apartments, houses, land), movable property (cars, other vehicles, business, etc.).

Of course, no one is stopping you from transferring something to your future husband or wife even before marriage - however, these relations will be regulated by other types of contracts: those provided for by civil law. It is not recommended to include this transfer in the marriage contract..

The fact is that a marriage contract comes into force only from the moment the marriage is registered, but, for example, a contract of gift or purchase and sale of any real estate - only from the moment the transaction is registered with the relevant government agency. Confusion can arise – and it’s easier to avoid it in advance.

A prenuptial agreement can be concluded at any time after marriage. In this case, the spouses will have to describe in detail in it who exactly owns the existing property, so that there are no disputes in the future.

However, the law does not prohibit leaving part of the property in joint ownership - however, even here it is necessary to clearly describe what exactly belongs to everyone, adding to the agreement a clause with approximately the following wording: “In relation to property not specified in this agreement, the rules provided for by the current legislation."

A contract entered into during marriage details who already owns what, as well as how income is distributed.

By law, almost everything that spouses acquire is their joint property (with minor exceptions, such as clothes, shoes, gifts, intellectual property, etc.) - but at the same time, both spouses are responsible for the debts of one of the spouses at once.

If one of the married couple is an entrepreneur, then the legal regime of property can lead to the fact that after an unsuccessful transaction the whole family will find themselves in poverty. This is where a marriage contract is extremely useful: by dividing the property in advance, the spouses at least guarantee themselves that in the event of ruin, the unlucky entrepreneur risks only his share in the property, without affecting the interests of the wife (or husband).

✔ What types of marriage contracts are there?

There are two main types of prenuptial agreements:

1) An agreement under which all property is in their common joint ownership.

Such an agreement is convenient for married couples who do not want to argue about who was given what, who is responsible for what obligations - and both spouses hope that there will be no divorce and division of property. In this case, the family acts, in essence, as a single entity in property relations with third parties.

2) An agreement under which the rights to ownership of property are separate.

This option protects the second spouse from the debts of the first, and provides a clear and transparent procedure for the possible division of property. The disadvantages of this type of marriage contract include only the possible property inequality between spouses- however, if they voluntarily agree to this option, this is their purely family matter and does not concern any outsiders.

○ Part 2. Pros and cons of a prenuptial agreement.

A prenuptial agreement in Russia is no longer a new thing, but over the past years it has not become a mass phenomenon. Let's try to briefly formulate what exactly it gives to spouses, what its positive and negative sides are.

✔ Advantages of a marriage contract:

There are no disputes regarding the division of property. Anyone who has ever gotten a divorce or watched relatives or friends get divorced will confirm: very often, after the dissolution of a marriage, disputes begin, and the more was gained in the marriage, the greater the bitterness between ex-spouses. Very often, unable to reach an agreement, they are forced to go to court with a claim for division of property. (our ). A marriage contract that spells out such issues in advance will save a lot of time and nerves.
It is possible to determine which spouse is responsible for which debts. This is especially true for entrepreneurs, but is also very useful for ordinary citizens.
If expensive property was given to someone before or during marriage, you can determine in advance who it belongs to and under what conditions.

✔ Disadvantages of a marriage contract

The marriage contract is always must be certified by a notary, all changes and additions to it too. Going to a notary requires both time and money.
If the legislation changes, spouses will have to edit the contract, bringing it into compliance with new laws, otherwise the contract could easily be invalid. These are additional costs for lawyers.
Marriage contract requires spouses to have clear legal language, otherwise he himself will become a cause for controversy in the future.
Marriage contract regulates only property relations. All other conditions (for example, with whom the children will remain in the event of a divorce, which spouse is obliged to do what around the house) are invalid from the point of view of the law.
Psychologically, the marriage contract is largely prepares spouses for future divorce and destroys trust in the family.

Video

Video in the program " General interest" about the advantages and disadvantages of marriage contracts.

○ Part 3. What is desirable to include in the content of the marriage contract?

Having understood what a marriage contract is, we will explain what points the document should contain so that there are no claims in the future.

1 point: determination of ownership of property, joint property.

When drawing up a marriage contract, you should indicate What kind of property does it apply to?. In particular, if before marriage each of the spouses owned something, it is necessary to indicate whether this property, as specified in the law, remains the property of one spouse, whether it becomes joint property, or whether the other spouse is allocated a share in it (this is especially important for real estate objects: apartments, cottages, land plots).

Spouses also have the right to determine who exactly will own what is donated or inherited.

2 point: joint property.

The contract must regulate in detail the ownership of property and funds that have been received or may be received during the marriage. In law, all this must be jointly owned by the spouses, but the contract can stipulate, say, that the income of each spouse or the property acquired with it belongs only to him alone.

3 point: property expenses.

Property issues also include the costs of maintaining the property: expenses for repairs, and for housing - utility bills. Although this is not directly provided for by law, it can be included in the content of the marriage contract and the regulation of these issues. You can also arrange household expenses in an agreement, for example, by indicating that they are made at the expense of one of the spouses - or that both are obliged to participate in them jointly.

4 point: children.

Quite often, when discussing a marriage contract, issues related to children arise. Here it is necessary to clearly remember that a marriage contract regulates issues related only to property- and children, of course, are not. Therefore, it is unacceptable to include clauses in the marriage contract regarding which child will remain with which parent in the event of a divorce. This part of the contract will be invalid.

5 point: child support.

Likewise, a marriage contract cannot regulate possible child support. Spouses have the right to conclude, but only separately and after a divorce. It is better to avoid such clauses in the content of the marriage contract.

6 point: debts.

As already mentioned, a prenuptial agreement is an excellent tool for resolving possible problems with the spouses’ debts. It may provide for separate ownership of family property - and in this case, everyone will be responsible for their debts only with what belongs to them, without affecting the interests of the other spouse.

7 point: mortgage and loan.

And, since we are talking about debts, it is necessary to separately mention the costs of property purchased on credit against collateral - namely, a mortgage. There are two options here:

1. If the marriage contract is concluded before taking out a mortgage, then it is necessary to clearly state who is making payments on the loan and in what amount, and who exactly will own the purchased property. It may end up being either the property of one of the spouses (but in this case, he alone will bear the expenses), or their common property (and here it is necessary to indicate who owns what share).

2. If a marriage contract is concluded with a mortgage already taken out, then the possibilities of the spouses are limited by the existing agreement with the bank. According to the law, the acquired property is common joint property, but the debt can also be recovered from both spouses. In order to indicate any other conditions in the marriage contract, spouses you will have to obtain the bank’s consent and renew the mortgage agreement. As practice shows, banks are extremely reluctant to do this.

✔ What should not be included in the marriage contract.

Well, now let’s talk about what should under no circumstances be included in the content of the marriage contract. As already mentioned, it is impossible to indicate with whom the children will remain after a divorce - this is directly prohibited by Part 3 of Art. 42 IC RF. In addition, it is unacceptable to include in the marriage contract conditions that:

They limit the rights of spouses to work, freedom of movement, the right to go to court, etc.
For example, a contract cannot oblige a wife to give up work or study and force her to do only housework. In the same way, in the event of a divorce, one of the spouses cannot be obliged to leave for another city and no longer appear at their previous place of residence.
Regulate non-property relations.
Curious agreements, according to which the wife undertakes to monitor her appearance and regularly visit a cosmetologist, or according to which the spouses try to indicate how many times a week they are obliged to have sex, have no legal force in this part. It is also impossible to oblige spouses to remain faithful to each other. Sometimes contracts try to indicate the amount of compensation for moral damage in the form of the amount that the unfaithful spouse must pay, but this point is very controversial.
Regulate relationships with children that are not related to the costs of their maintenance.
As has already been said, it makes no sense to indicate who the children will stay with after the divorce and how they will communicate with their parents. The maximum that is possible here is in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 42 of the RF IC to provide for who and in what amount bears the costs of providing for the maintenance of a child (for example, who pays for kindergarten, paid school, university, etc.).
Limit the rights of a disabled spouse.
The RF IC directly provides that spouses are obliged to financially support each other. So if one of the spouses becomes disabled, he in any case receives the right to alimony from the second spouse - regardless of what is said about this in the marriage contract.
They place one of the spouses in extremely unequal conditions. This will be discussed in more detail below.

○ Part 4. Marriage contract and property of spouses.

Let's consider how specifically a marriage contract can regulate issues related to certain types of property

✔ Marriage agreement for an apartment and other real estate.

When describing the rights to real estate in a marriage contract, it should be remembered that it is subject to state registration.

In accordance with Part 2 of Art. 2 Federal Law“On state registration of rights to real estate and transactions with it” any change in the status of apartments, land plots and other real estate, including in connection with the conclusion of a marriage contract, must be registered with the relevant authority. Otherwise, such change will not have any legal force.

In addition, it should be noted here that when real estate is included in the marriage contract, the spouses will have to present to the notary and documents for the relevant property.

The marriage contract must also stipulate who has the right to use real estate and in what order, and who bears the costs of its maintenance.

✔ Marriage agreement for car and movable property

With regard to movable property, there are no restrictions indicated above - although there are some subtleties here too. In particular, although registering a car with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate does not affect the property rights to it, it is still better to re-register when the car is transferred under an agreement into the ownership of the other spouse.

It should also be remembered that most movable property has a limited service life, so even if it is described in detail in the contract, by the time of division these particular things may no longer be available. There are several ways you can do this:

Divide property by type(for example, indicating that computer equipment and consumer electronics belong to one spouse, and furniture, dishwashers or washing machines– to others, regardless of their brand, model and time of purchase).
Every time you purchase expensive items that may cause a dispute, amend the marriage contract. This is far from the most the best option, but it is acceptable.
Determine the identity of each item depending on whose funds it was purchased with. This option is acceptable if the marriage contract provides for separate ownership of property.
Do not indicate specific things, but provide in the contract for the share in the total value of the spouses’ property belonging to each of them. The disadvantage of this method is the need for an independent assessment or the absence of a dispute about the value between the spouses.

Unfortunately, there is no single solution, and when concluding a marriage contract, spouses should independently choose one of these methods or come up with their own.

✔ Marriage agreement for debts, loans, mortgages.

A prenuptial agreement is an excellent tool for settlement possible problems with debts. Depending on the property ownership regime chosen by the spouses, three options can be distinguished:

1. Common joint property– both spouses are equally responsible for debts.

2. Common shared ownership– each spouse is liable for debts only to the extent of the value of his share in the family property, and an amount of debt greater than this share cannot be recovered from the second spouse.

3. Separate property- in this case, each spouse is responsible for the debts himself, and the second has nothing to do with them.

However, with regard to those debts that already exist at the time of concluding the marriage contract, it should be remembered: in accordance with Art. 46 of the RF IC about the conclusion, amendment or termination of a marriage contract, the debtor spouse is obliged to notify all his creditors. If he did not do this, then the debts will be collected in the manner prescribed by law - and no one will be interested in the contents of the marriage contract.

Moreover, creditors in accordance with Art. 451 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Part 2 of Art. 46 IC RF may demand through the court a change in the conditions or termination of the marriage contract, if circumstances have changed significantly (for example, with the separate property of the spouses, the debtor spouse has lost his ability to work and can no longer independently answer for the contract).

Video

Lawyer Yaroslav Mukhin answers citizens' questions about the marriage contract and the nuances of its preparation.

○ Part 5. How to conclude a marriage contract?

So, you have decided to enter into a prenuptial agreement. What do you need to know for this?

✔ Conditions for concluding a marriage contract.

1) Age of majority and legal capacity of the parties. A prenuptial agreement (as well as a marriage in general) cannot be concluded if at least one of the parties has not reached 18 years of age (if there are good reasons and with the consent of local authorities - 16 years of age), or is declared incompetent by the court.

2) The absence of already registered marriages with other persons of any of the spouses. IN Russian Federation Polygamy and polyandry are not allowed, so in this case neither the marriage nor the marriage contract will have legal force.

3) No consanguinity or adoption between the parties. Since a prenuptial agreement is concluded only together with the conclusion of a marriage, the same restrictions apply here: it is unacceptable to conclude a marriage or a prenuptial agreement between parents and children, brothers and sisters, etc. Also, adoptive parents and adopted children cannot be parties.

According to the Family Code, a marriage contract can exclusively regulate property relations between spouses. Therefore, it is not allowed to include in the contract provisions regarding personal relationships and the procedure for regulating relations with minor children (for example, with whom the child will remain after a divorce).

Features of drawing up a marriage contract:

the marriage contract is subject to mandatory notarization;
both persons planning to get married and spouses who are already married can enter into an agreement;
if an agreement is concluded before the parties enter into marriage, it will enter into legal force after the conclusion of the marriage union;
in a marriage contract it is not allowed to indicate clauses limiting the personal rights of spouses, their legal capacity, legal capacity and the right to conclude transactions;
A marriage contract cannot regulate the personal relations of the spouses: the opinion that the contract can indicate how much time the spouses should spend together, the regularity of giving mutual gifts, etc. is a myth;
a marriage contract can be changed or terminated if the spouses violate its clauses, upon reaching a mutual agreement or other conditions provided for by law.

Through a marriage contract, you can determine the property regime of the spouses, divide loan obligations, establish the procedure for distributing family income and provide for other nuances property relations.

Is cheating on one of the spouses grounds for terminating the contract?

According to the Family Code of the Russian Federation, in paragraph 3 of Article 42 of which it is stated that a marriage contract is a means of regulating exclusively property relations between spouses, infidelity by one of the spouses will not be a sufficient basis for terminating or changing the marriage contract.

Cheating is the result of personal relationships between married persons. It may be grounds for divorce, but it cannot influence the property relations established by the marriage contract.

Marriage agreement and mortgage

If a family is planning to purchase an apartment with a mortgage, it makes sense to think about concluding a prenuptial agreement. This is especially true if the spouses contributed unequal amounts of money to pay the down payment, or the mortgage was repaid at the expense of one of the spouses, and the other abstained from payments.

In a marriage contract, you can indicate which spouse will repay the mortgage debt and receive the right to a larger share of the property, indicate that one spouse will have ownership of the property, and the other will receive monetary compensation for your share and indicate the amount of this compensation.

Let's look at several typical situations in which it makes sense to enter into a prenuptial agreement.

1. The apartment was purchased with a mortgage after the wedding.

An apartment, the ownership of which was registered when the spouses had already entered into marriage, in any case will be considered the common and jointly acquired property of the spouses, according to the Family Code. This does not take into account that the down payment on the mortgage could have been made by one of the spouses before the wedding. Therefore, a prenuptial agreement in this particular case is clearly necessary to ensure the retention of property rights of the spouse who has invested most of the funds in purchasing the apartment.

It is necessary to indicate in the provisions of the marriage contract that the ownership of the mortgaged apartment will fully belong to the spouse who made the down payment and made payments to repay the mortgage.

2. The apartment was purchased with a mortgage using funds from the parents of one of the spouses.

The conditions for obtaining a mortgage loan in our country are such that a bank client who has reached a certain age cannot receive funds to purchase a home. Therefore, parents who want to help financially new family, simply provide money for the down payment and help pay off the mortgage payments.

IN in this case The mortgage and ownership of the apartment will be issued to one of the spouses, which deprives the parents of the rights to the acquired property. Therefore, it makes sense to conclude a marriage contract, indicating in it that in the event of a divorce, ownership of the apartment will remain with the spouse whose parents actually purchased the property.

3. Paying off mortgage debt after divorce

By default, loan debts are distributed equally between spouses. This procedure is established by the Family Code. Moreover, if one of the spouses evades his part of the mortgage debts, the second will have to pay the debts for both, and then, through the court, seek compensation from the negligent other half.

To avoid such a problem, you can conclude a prenuptial agreement, indicating in it which spouse will pay off mortgage debts, and who will be fully or partially released from financial responsibility.

Marriage agreement establishing a separate property regime

According to the Family Code, all property acquired during marriage is the common property of the spouses and is divided in equal shares upon divorce. Thanks to the conclusion of a marriage contract, this procedure can be changed by establishing a completely separate regime of joint ownership.

The following points can be included in such an agreement:

In the event of a divorce, the property will go to the spouse to whom the ownership of this property was registered;
if the property is not subject to state registration, it will go to the spouse who invested in the acquisition of this property;
property received by one of the spouses under contracts of gift or inheritance will be his personal property after a divorce;
if the value of the property was increased due to investments of one of the spouses, upon divorce it will belong to him;
earmarked income will belong to the spouse to whom it was paid upon divorce;
bank deposits, together with interest on them, will be the property of the spouse in whose name they were registered;
Luxury items and personal items will become the property of the spouse who invested in their acquisition during a divorce;
the spouse who owns the residential premises grants the right to use this premises to his other half for the period of marriage, and in the event of a divorce this right of use is revoked;
the spouse is exempt from liability for transactions made by the other party without his written consent;
Collection of obligations is borne only by the spouse who owns the property on which the penalty is imposed.

Thus, conclusion of a marriage contract- an excellent way to regulate property relations between spouses, allowing you to avoid mutual disagreements during divorce and controversial issues in the process of dividing property.

I told you how property is divided between former spouses according to the law.

Daria Kulinich

Today we’ll talk about the division of property if the husband and wife have entered into a marriage contract.

We know what a marriage contract is from American films and magazines. And if we lived in the USA, then our ideas would be completely would correspond reality. But we live in Russia, and our marriage contract is different from their marriage contract.

A prenuptial agreement is an agreement between spouses or future spouses about how premarital or marital property will be divided.

Spouses enter into a marriage contract if they do not want to divide property as written in the law - that is, in half. A marriage contract has priority over the family code: when dividing property, the court will be guided primarily by the marriage contract and only then by the law.

A marriage contract is needed in cases where the division of property according to the law will not be fair. Or when the court can divide property in several ways, but the husband and wife are satisfied with only one.

In what cases does a prenuptial agreement make life easier?

How to draw up an agreement

Reason 1

Buying an apartment in a building under construction

Albert invested money in the construction of a two-room apartment in South Butovo. He will receive the keys and certificate of ownership in two years. And he will marry Masha within a year. Formally, the new apartment will become their common property. To prevent the court from dividing this apartment between the spouses during a divorce, Albert needs to prove that he bought it with his personal money.

A simple solution: Albert and Masha enter into a marriage contract, where they indicate that the two-room apartment in South Butovo belongs only to Albert.

Reason 2

Real estate gift for wedding

Parents gave Anya and Denis a house in the suburbs for their wedding St. Petersburg. Six million were invested by the parents on the bride's side, three million on the groom's side. The newlyweds received a certificate of ownership after the wedding. By default, in a divorce, the court will divide this house in half.

A simple solution: Anya and Denis stipulated in the marriage contract that Anya owns ⅔ of the house, and Denis - ⅓.

Reason 3

Premarital business

Maxim is a successful businessman, and his wife Katya is a student. Max created his own business long before meeting Katya, but he began to make profits only after marriage. They have not yet acquired joint property, but they plan to buy a car and an apartment in the future. All acquired property will automatically become common, regardless of the financial contribution of each spouse.

A simple solution: With the help of a marriage contract, Maxim and Katya agreed that the car they would buy would belong to Katya, and the apartment would belong to Maxim. The rest of the property that they acquire will become common, which is fair, because by that time Katya will graduate from university and start working.

Reason 4

Separate budget

Natalya and Sergey are actively pursuing their careers, both earn good money, but maintain separate budgets. Sergey bought himself an expensive SUV, and Natalya invested money in a house in the near Moscow region. According to the law, Natasha owns half of the jeep, and Sergei owns ½ of the house in the village.

A simple solution: In order to eliminate disputes about property, Natasha and Sergei entered into a marriage contract, according to which each spouse becomes the sole owner of the property that is registered in their name. Everyone is also responsible for their own loans.

Reason 5

Property purchased with personal money

After the wedding, Ruslan decided to sell his bachelor sports car and buy a minivan, which is more suitable for family travel and transportation of building materials to the country. The new car is automatically considered the joint property of Ruslan and his wife. In the event of a divorce, Ruslan would have to prove that the minivan was purchased with money from the sale of his personal car, so that the court would not divide this property in half.

A simple solution: Ruslan and his wife wrote in the marriage contract that the car belongs only to Ruslan, in order to save him from the need to collect and store evidence.

Reason 6

Property cannot be divided in reality

Pasha and Marina bought a one-room apartment in Lyubertsy. They have no other joint property. In the event of a divorce, they will have to agree on how to divide the one-room apartment.

A simple solution: to protect yourself from unpleasant consequences section of the one-room apartment, when buying an apartment, Pavel and Marina entered into a marriage contract, according to which, in the event of a divorce, Marina would become the owner of the apartment. And as compensation, she will pay Pavel 2.5 million, which she will take on credit.

How to conclude a marriage contract

First you need to draw up the text of the marriage contract. You can do this in three ways:

download the template and rework the terms of the marriage contract to suit your needs;
contact a lawyer for drafting;
draw up the text at the notary.

500 R

state fee for notarization of a marriage contract

When the text of the agreement is drawn up, you need to have it certified by a notary.

The Family Code allows the inclusion in a marriage contract only of conditions relating to personal and common property that already exists or will appear in the future. It is impossible to write down in a contract conditions relating to third parties (children, relatives) and personal non-property relations of spouses.

What conditions can and cannot be included in a marriage contract?

share an apartment, house, cars, yachts, planes, money in accounts, debts, loans

include terms about who the children will stay with after the divorce;
that part of the property will go to the mother-in-law;
how often should you have sex;
that after a divorce one cannot remarry;
that in case of betrayal, monetary compensation is paid

Agree whether premarital property will be divided if the second spouse has invested money in it and increased its value

Determine whether the disabled spouse or the one with whom they share children will receive monthly maintenance

Establish who will share how much of the overall costs

Agree on how you will separate in the event of a divorce

Determine whether the other spouse will repay your loan and, conversely, whether the bank will be able to take your personal property to pay off your spouse's debt

Be sure to have your marriage contract certified by a notary

This contract establishes shared ownership of common property - clause 1.1.

Determine the specific sizes of shares - clause 1.2.

Write down which property will not be divided, but will become the personal property of the person in whose name it is registered - paragraphs. 2.1-2.5.

Agree whether premarital property will be divided if the second spouse has invested money in it and increased its value - clause 2.6.

Determine whether the disabled spouse or the one with whom they have common children will receive monthly maintenance - clause 3.2.

Establish who will participate in what amount in the general expenses - clause 4.1.

Agree on how you will separate in the event of a divorce - clause 5.1.

Determine whether the second spouse will repay your loan and, conversely, whether the bank will be able to take your personal property to pay off your spouse’s debt - clause 6.2.

Be sure to have the marriage contract certified by a notary.

What documents will be needed

A prenuptial agreement requires a certain set of documents:

Identification documents of both spouses.
Marriage registration certificate, if it has already been concluded.
Birth certificates of children, if available.
Documents confirming ownership of property, if the procedure for dividing already acquired property is established.

The price of drawing up a marriage contract

The state has established only the amount of the fee for notarization of a marriage contract. The cost of services of a law firm or notary for the preparation of its text is not regulated in any way. The price of such a service depends on the complexity of the contract and the courage of a particular law firm or notary in setting prices and can range from 5 thousand to 50 thousand rubles.

Whether to pay intermediaries or draw up the text of the marriage contract themselves is the choice of the spouses. Sometimes notaries refuse to certify a marriage contract because it was drawn up with errors. For example, the parties included in it conditions that cannot be included by law - about who will take out the garbage, or how much compensation the wife will receive if she catches her husband cheating.

When does it start and stop working?

If a contract is concluded by spouses, then it begins to operate from the moment of conclusion. If future spouses - then from the moment of marriage registration. If the wedding is cancelled, then the marriage contract does not come into force. This means that a marriage contract cannot be concluded by people who live without registering their marriage.

With the help of a prenuptial agreement, a husband and wife can divide property without a divorce. In the contract, spouses can write that separate ownership of property is established from the moment the contract is signed or another specific date, and is not associated with the fact of divorce.

The prenuptial agreement ceases to be valid at the time of divorce. But this does not apply to those conditions that establish the rights and obligations of the parties after a divorce. For example, payment of alimony or compensation for a share in a jointly purchased apartment.

If one of the spouses dies, this also entails the dissolution of the marriage and the marriage contract. The surviving spouse receives the property specified in the marriage contract. The remaining property of the deceased is distributed among the heirs. The surviving spouse is also one of them.

How to change the terms or terminate a marriage contract

You can change or terminate the contract at any time. To do this, you need to prepare an agreement to change the marriage contract or an agreement to terminate it and register it again with a notary. Such a certificate will cost 200 RUR. There is no set form of agreement; you can download a template on the Internet or draw it up yourself.

Everything becomes more complicated if only one of the spouses wants to change the terms of the contract or terminate it, and the other is against it. Then the initiator will have to achieve what he wants through the court. For this you need at least one of the reasons:

violation of the legitimate interests of the spouse by the second spouse. For example, according to the contract, the husband is assigned ownership of an apartment, and the wife is assigned ownership of a car, but the husband uses the car and he does not allow the wife to use it;
a significant change in the circumstances from which the spouses proceeded when concluding the contract. For example, according to the contract, a husband is obliged to pay alimony to his wife after a divorce, but he had an accident, became disabled and can no longer work;
conditions under which the contract is changed or terminated, if this is provided for in the contract itself.

When a marriage contract does not provide guarantees

If the spouses included prohibited conditions in the marriage contract, such conditions are considered invalid, but not the entire contract. The court may declare a marriage contract completely invalid if, under its terms, one of the parties is at an extreme disadvantage. It is impossible to stipulate in the contract that one party gets everything in a divorce, the other gets nothing.

The British say: “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” No one can control the outcome of a marriage because it is impossible to control the spouse. The good news is that a husband and wife can control the financial consequences of their marriage if they enter into a prenuptial agreement. Should I do it or hope for the best? personal choice everyone.

conclusions

Decide is not it you need a prenuptial agreement.
Secure in the marriage contract the status of property acquired with personal money.
If you invest unequally in property, determine the shares in the common property in the marriage contract.
If you do not want to divide the property, agree in the prenuptial agreement who will receive the property and who will receive the money.
Have the marriage contract certified by a notary.

Valeria Protasova

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The Family Code of the Russian Federation, legislation and judicial precedents do not use the expression “marriage contract”, but use the expression “nuptial agreement”. But among the people, the expression “marriage contract” is common.

What is it, who benefits from it, and why create it at all?

The essence of a prenuptial agreement – how does family law define a prenuptial agreement?

Marriage contract- This is a voluntary agreement between a married couple, drawn up in writing and certified by a notary. It comes into force after the official marriage.

The clear concept and very essence of a marriage contract are described in Chapter 8 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation in articles 40 - 46.

The marriage contract clearly states property powers of spouses. Moreover, it can be concluded both after the marriage union and before it. Unlike defined by law procedure for the dissolution of property between a married couple, thanks to a marriage contract, a married couple can establish their rights to jointly owned property .

Simply put, in a marriage contract, a married couple can predetermine all their current property and the property that they plan to acquire in the future, or certain types of property, as well as the property before marriage of each of the couple, as joint, separate or shared property. A prenuptial agreement allows you to touch upon issues of both already acquired property and the totality of things that the spouses are going to acquire in the future.

A prenuptial agreement makes it possible to stipulate and formulate on paper such issues as:

Distribution of family expenses.
Mutual maintenance: what rights and obligations does each of the married couple have?
Determine the property with which each of the married couple will remain in the event of a divorce.
Options for the involvement of each of the couple in the family’s income sector.
Include any of your suggestions that affect the property side of the spouses.

Defined by the marriage contract obligations and rights must be limited to designated periods of time or conditions , the occurrence of which is indicated when drawing up the marriage contract.

In the marriage contract there should not be requirements that discriminate against the legal capacity of any of the spouses or will place one of them in a very disadvantageous position. And also it should not contain conditions that contradict the main principles of family law (voluntary marriage, registration of marriage in the registry office, monogamy).

The marriage contract regulates only property issues married couple and does not affect their other rights regarding the rights to appeal to the courts, non-property relations between the married couple, as well as the obligations of the spouses regarding their children, etc.

Marriage contract - pros and cons

The marriage contract is not a popular phenomenon in Russia, but it has both pros and cons.

Here are a few reasons why Russians do not draw up prenuptial agreements:

For the majority of people It is considered shameful to discuss the material side of a marriage. For many Russians, a marriage contract is considered a manifestation of self-interest, greed and malice. Although, in essence, a marriage contract indicates an honest relationship between the spouses.
Those getting married do not have such a high income to draw up a marriage contract, this is simply not relevant for them.
Many people associate a prenuptial agreement with divorce proceedings., division of property. Each of the lovers thinks that their marriage is the first and last, that divorce will never affect them, so there is no point in spending time, effort and financial assets on concluding a marriage contract.
All conditions in the marriage contract must be clear and understandable, otherwise vague wording will make it possible to challenge it in court, and the contract will be declared unlawful. To avoid subsequent litigation, it is necessary that the marriage contract be drawn up by a competent lawyer (lawyer) - which in itself is not cheap.

The advantages of a marriage contract include the following:

Each of their spouses clearly understands what will he be left with after the divorce?, i.e. There is a clear orderliness in material relations in a married couple.
Each spouse has the ability to reserve the prerogative to manage property acquired before marriage, after divorce. This applies mainly to those who already have personal property, a profitable business, etc. and, tying himself with the knot of Hymen, in case of divorce, do not share this with his ex-wife.
A husband or wife may transfer his property acquired before marriage to his wife or husband, while stipulating in the contract the reasons and situations when this decision will come into force. For example, determine in advance that “in the event of a divorce, a three-room apartment will belong to the spouse with whom the common child will live” or “in the event of a divorce, the car will go to the spouse.”
Possibility to retain property if claims regarding debts arise one of the spouses.

In what cases is it worth concluding a marriage contract in Russia?

According to statistics, marriage contracts in Russia are concluded only 4-7% of the country's residents enter into marriage . Moreover, the dominant persons are those who are not bound by marriage for the first time. For comparison, in the European Union countries, concluding a marriage contract is a traditional phenomenon, and it is drawn up 70% of those getting married .

Marriage contract it is profitable to enter into agreements with people who are far from poor . And also those who enters into an unequal property marriage , i.e. to someone who had sufficient financial wealth before marriage.

It will also be important for:

Private entrepreneurs and large owners who do not want to lose part of their property in a divorce.
, moreover, if one of them has a significant financial base and the presence of children from previous marriages.

Concluding a marriage contract is not a cheap matter and is not intended for the mass consumer. A marriage contract is beneficial only to wealthy people, and for those married couples whose financial situation was the same before marriage, the regime established by law is suitable - without a marriage contract. If such a marriage breaks up, then after the divorce the jointly acquired property will be divided equally.

Whether it was worth concluding a marriage contract or not is up to you to decide. But, do not forget that it regulates purely property relations - both after the breakup of a family and in a marriage . And its registration is not at all the first step to divorce, but the first step towards a modern solution to property problems between spouses.