The number of divorces increases every year. Despite the crisis and economic malaise, people continue to separate from each other. The Central Bureau of Statistics has calculated that in 2010 more than a hundred couples divorced every day. All these divorces must be settled. Time to map out the consequences of a divorce.
Divorce
In addition to the emotional aspects of a divorce, there are a number of business aspects that you need to take into account. Matters will have to be properly arranged, especially legally and fiscally. Below, the legal aspects of marital property law will be discussed if you decide to divorce. This forms the starting point for how you can settle your joint life.
Legally
The legal consequences of a divorce depend on how you were married. Is there a community of property or prenuptial agreement? Or are you not married at all and have you not arranged anything else? In short, the first step is to gain insight into what the marital property regime means for your situation.
Community of property
Are you married in community of property? Then your total assets are 50% owned by you and 50% owned by your partner. Only if assets have been obtained from, for example, a donation or inheritance subject to an exclusion clause, can one of you have some equity. But the basics are that everything has to be added together and divided by two.
How do you know if you are married under community of property? If you got married without going to the notary beforehand , then there is community of property. Have you arranged something with the notary? Then you have probably drawn up a prenuptial agreement. After this, the prenuptial agreement will be discussed.
Prenuptial agreement
Did you draw up a prenuptial agreement when you got married? The settlement of the assets then depends on how you drafted the prenuptial agreement at the time. On the one hand, you have the version of prenuptial agreements in which any community of property is excluded. In that case, the principle is that everyone takes their own assets with them after the divorce and continues to live.
On the other hand, you have prenuptial agreements in which there is community of property, but only for a certain part of the assets.
Periodic settlement clause
Many prenuptial agreements include a so-called periodic settlement clause. The aim of this clause is to ensure that partners divide the unspent income among themselves every year. Suppose you have 5,000 left over in year 1, then each of you will receive 2,500. This means that you have to keep mutual accounts and draw up the balance sheet at the end of the year. In practice this rarely happens.
The consequence of failure to comply with a periodic settlement clause is that the prenuptial agreement no longer means anything. In that case, there is a very high risk that the judge will ultimately rule that the prenuptial agreement was never complied with and that there is therefore a community of property. In that case, a divorce is very unpleasant for the partner with the most assets.
Nothing arranged
Have you not arranged anything among yourselves? Then each of you can walk out the door with his or her own assets. Is the house only in your name? Then you walk out the door with the house, so to speak. (Make sure that the loan is also in your name, otherwise you will suffer from this!)
Are there children? Then this is too short-sighted. You are both responsible for the children. Even though you don’t make any arrangements, you will still have to make arrangements for the children. But other than that, you have little or no obligation to each other in legal terms.