Couples in Slovakia

Last updated on: 11.05.2022

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1.1. Which law is applicable to a couple´s property? Which criteria/rules are used to determine the applicable law? Which international conventions have to be respected with regard to certain countries?

The personal and property relations of spouses are governed by the law of the state of which the spouses are citizens. If the spouses are citizens of different states, these relations are governed by Slovak law. Marital agreements are governed by the law applicable to the spouses’ property relations at the time the agreement is concluded (§ 21 Zákona o medzinárodnom práve súkromnom a procesnom (ZMPS) – Act on International Private and Procedural Law).

1.2. Do the spouses have the option of choosing the applicable law? If so, by which principles is this choice governed (e.g. the laws to be chosen, formal requirements, retro-activity)?

The choice of law is not possible in Slovakia.

2.1. Please describe the general principles: Which goods are part of community property? Which goods are part of the separate estates of the spouses?

According to the Civil Code, the spouses have undivided co-ownership of the community property, which means that the spouses’ ownership shares are not quantitatively determined. All tangible assets (movable and immovable), rights and other property titles lawfully obtained by one of the spouses during the marriage are subject to the community property, except for:

Assets obtained by inheritance;
Assets obtained as a gift;
Assets which, when considering their nature, serve the personal needs or the profession of only one spouse;
Assets returned under the regulations on property restitution to one spouse who owned the returned asset before concluding the marriage or to whom the asset was returned as the legal successor of the original owner. (§ 143 Občianskeho zákonníka (OZ) – Civil Code)

2.2. Are there legal assumptions concerning the attribution of property?

No such legal presumptions exist.

2.3. Should the spouses establish an inventory of assets? If so, when and how?

There is no requirement to draw up an inventory of assets.

2.4. Who is in charge of the administration of the property? Who is entitled to dispose of the property? May one spouse dispose of/administer the property alone or is the consent of the other spouse necessary (e.g. in cases of disposal of the spouses’ home)? What effect does the missing consent have on the validity of a legal transaction and on opposability towards a third party?

Assets belonging to the community property may be used by both spouses if they do not stipulate otherwise.

Furthermore, the spouses share the costs spent on the common assets or their use or maintenance (§ 144 OZ). If only one spouse has covered the costs from his/her own property, he/she may claim reimbursement of his/her expenses in the course of the division of the community property.

If the spouses do not agree about the way of using a common asset or about the settlement of costs which must be spent on the asset, any spouse may apply to the court to decide the disputed matter. Ordinary matters concerning the community property may be settled by either of the spouses. The term “ordinary matter” is not defined in the Civil Code, so the legal practice and the circumstances of a particular case must be considered. Legal practice for example does not consider as an ordinary matter the conclusion of a rental contract, the acquisition or sale of real-estate or other valuable assets. In other matters, the consent of both spouses is required, otherwise the legal transaction is invalid, provided the other spouse or the addressee of the legal transaction claims the invalidity.

2.5. Are any legal transactions made by one spouse also binding on the other?

Legal transactions involving community property which concern ordinary matters may be concluded by either of the spouses and oblige both spouses jointly and severally.

2.6. Who is liable for debts incurred during the marriage? Which property may be used by creditors to satisfy their claims?

Concerning legal transactions related to community property, both spouses are entitled and obliged jointly and severally (§ 145 ods.2 OZ). For example, each spouse is obliged to pay the full amount of the debt relating to community property and the creditor is entitled to claim the debt from both spouses independently or together. The spouses act independently outside the sphere of community property. The law allows for the claim of one spouse´s creditor, which was established during the marriage, to be satisfied during the enforcement proceedings from the community property. When the community property is later divided, each of the spouses has to compensate what was used from the community property for his/her personal property (§ 150 OZ) (see under 5.1).

3.1. Which provisions can be modified by a contract and which cannot? Which matrimonial property regimes may be chosen?

After concluding the marriage, the spouses may agree to extend or reduce the community property determined by law.

Extending means the spouses may agree that the community property shall also include the property that would otherwise belong to the separate estates of the spouses (for example property obtained as a gift, by inheritance or as a substitute for property obtained before concluding the marriage). Reducing means the spouses may agree that parts of the community property (for example returns, benefits and accruals of an asset belonging exclusively to a spouse) shall be excluded from the community property.

Similarly the spouses may agree on the management of community property (§ 143a ods.1 OZ), for example they can stipulate that community property or specific assets shall be managed by both spouses or only by one of them. When a spouse disposes of the property excluded from the joint management, the other spouse will not be able to claim invalidity of the disposal. These modifications of the statutory scope of the community property only apply to property acquired after an agreement has been concluded.

The spouses may agree a deferred community of property, in which the community property is not established until the day the marriage ceases to exist. In that case the agreement does not amend the extent of community property, but the time of its establishment. During the marriage each of the spouses therefore obtains the exclusive ownership of an asset and only at the moment the marriage ceases to exist, all things and titles create the complex of community property, which is then settled.

3.2. What are the formal requirements and who should I contact?

For the conclusion, amendment or cancellation of the marital agreements described above, an authentic instrument drawn up by a civil notary is required.

3.3. When may the contract be concluded and when does it come into effect?

Slovak law does not provide for prenuptial agreements. The marital agreements therefore may be concluded only after the marriage has been entered into. If the agreement concerns real estate, it becomes effective only after registration in the real estate cadastre.

3.4. May an existing contract be modified by the spouses? If so, under what conditions?

The agreement may be changed at any time during the marriage. Also, the modified agreement must have the form of an authentic instrument drawn up by a civil law notary to be valid.

3.5. Can a matrimonial contract be given retroactive effect according to the national law in your country, when spouses conclude this contract during marriage?

The Slovak legal system recognises only agreements on the extension or reduction of the legal matrimonial regime. These agreements do not have retroactive effect and can only be concluded during the marriage.

5.1. How is the property (rights in rem) divided?

In the absence of an agreement stating otherwise, termination of the marriage also means termination of the community of property regime, which leads to the division of the community property (§ 148 ods.1 OZ). The division is done by way of agreement between the spouses or by the court upon application by one spouse. In both cases it has to be considered that the shares of both spouses are equal. Each of the spouses is entitled to claim the reimbursement of costs spent from his/her personal property on the community property and vice versa is obliged to compensate what was spent from the community property on his/her personal property. For the distribution of the community property, particularly the needs of minor children have to be taken into consideration, in addition to how each of the spouses took care of the family and how they contributed to the acquisition and maintenance of community property. When considering the degree of endeavour, care for the common children and management of the common household must also be taken into account (§ 150 OZ).

If within three years from the termination of the community of property regime no agreement on the division was concluded and none of the spouses made an application to the court for a decision on the division of the community property, then it is assumed that the movables of the community property belong to the spouse who uses them for his/her needs, for the needs of the family or for the household exclusively as the owner. Considering the other movables and the immovable property, they are in co-ownership and shares of the spouses are equal. The same applies to the other common property rights of the spouses, such as the rights over common deposits and claims (§ 149 ods. 4 OZ).

5.2. Who is liable for existing debts after the divorce/separation?

Vain lapsing of the three year period for the division establishes the legal presumption that the former spouses are obliged in the same proportion considering the debts. In the case of an agreement between the spouses outside of court or in the proceedings at the court, the debts incurred during the marriage and originating from their common management are also settled. This settlement is only effective between the spouses, not in relation to third parties. Therefore third parties have the right to claim the payment of a debt from either of the former spouses.

5.3. Does one spouse have a claim to an equalisation payment?

Each of the spouses is entitled to request reimbursement of costs spent on the community property from his/her personal property. This claim should be settled from the other spouse’s share in the community property. When settling the community property the assets should be divided between the spouses in the proportion corresponding to the sizes of their shares. If the value of the assets assigned to a spouse is higher than his/her share in the community property, he/she is obliged to compensate the difference to the other spouse in money.