Huwelijkscontract: De Sky is Bijna the Limit (Marital Contracts: The Sky is Almost the Limit)

Abstract:     
In this article I explain how marital contracts under Belgian law offer tremendous opportunities for creativity and party autonomy. After explaining the basic rules of community property regimes and separation of property contracts, also with corrective mechanisms such as participation clauses or an added internal community property system, I elaborate on the context in which a marital contract is made. More specifically I distinquuish five risks that must be answered through the contract: divorce, creditors, family estate, forced heirship claims and tax.

The paper concludes with the test of the five risks, applying all five of them to a contract of community property compared to a contract of separation with correction clauses. Maybe surprisingly the end result is clearly in favor of the latter. The final score is 4-1 or 3-2 for the separation contract, depending on the perspective one takes as to the divorce risk.

Note: Downloadable document is in Dutch.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 14

Keywords: Marital contract, Marital property law, community property, separation of property, participation clause, tax, divorce, forced heirship, creditors

JEL Classification: K11, K12

Accepted Paper Series