Marriage Agreements in Barcelona

The Civil Code states that the prenuptial agreements establish the economic regime to which the spouses adhere during their married life and after their separation. These marital agreements may include as many prenuptial agreements or arrangements as deemed necessary. They also include pre-established pacts, in case a separation occurs.

These are examples of prenuptial agreements in Spain:

• Separation of assets
• Community property
• Joint ownership regime
• Participation regime

A marriage with prenuptial agreements can have different economic regimes, all of them included in the Civil Code. Each of them can choose the one that suits them best, with the limits that they are made with equal rights and that they do not contradict the law.

Separation of property is the economic regime where each spouse has total independence. In Catalonia, this regime of separation is applied automatically by law, but in the rest of the Autonomous Communities, it is necessary and mandatory to grant prenuptial agreements. It should be noted that the family home is not freely disposable, that is, neither spouse can rent or sell it without the consent of the other.

However, although in Catalonia the matrimonial regime applied by law is directly the Catalan separation of property, it is highly recommended to sign prenuptial agreements, as rules can be established for the case of separation or divorce, for example, establishing between two working spouses that in the event of divorce neither shall pay the other a lifelong pension.

Marrying under the community property regime means that everything earned during the marriage is jointly owned. And this, regardless of who earns it. It does not include assets that were owned separately before the marriage, which are called separate property.

Therefore, one of the main differences with the separation of assets regime is that, under the community property regime, the estate is divided equally between the two.

The community of property is another example of matrimonial agreements that exists when several people jointly own a right or an asset pro indiviso. Marriages in this situation will have rights and obligations, according to their share of participation. There are regional legal systems that are organised following the principles of communities of property.

Another important economic regime that can arise from a matrimonial agreement is the participation regime, which is always established by contract. Regarding its content, it is similar to the separation of assets, but if the couple separates, they share both the decrease and the increase that has occurred in the estate.

The types of marital property regimes that apply in each autonomous community are as follows:

• Catalonia and Balearic Islands: Separation of property
• Aragon: Marital consortium.
• Navarra: Legal society of acquisitions.
• Vizcaya: Foral communication.
• Rest of the Communities: Community property regime

How is this marriage contract processed to formally choose the economic regime?

Marriage settlements are carried out at a notary's office. In this way, the legality of the document and the agreement are guaranteed in case of possible future disagreements. To process marriage settlements in Barcelona, the members of a couple must go there to formalise a public deed before a Notary.

It will be necessary to provide:

• DNI, NIE, passport or residence card of both parties involved.
• If necessary, the list of assets that are to be kept separate and those that are intended to be shared.

Once the documents have been presented, the Notary will explain the different examples of prenuptial agreements and their types in order to choose the economic regime. Additionally, they will advise on the most appropriate one depending on each case.

Once chosen, the document that contains them will be drafted and it will be read aloud to correct any possible errors. If there are no mistakes, agreement will be expressed on the clauses and the signing will proceed.

The Civil Code determines that the type of matrimonial contract can be stipulated before or after a solemnised marriage. If the agreements are made before the wedding, they are known as prenuptial agreements and, in this case, no period longer than one year should elapse before the wedding ceremony as they would be declared null and void.

However, if the matrimonial agreements take place after the marriage ceremony, they can be drawn up at any time. Agreements signed after the marriage are known as postnuptial agreements.

The public deed of matrimonial capitulation drafted by a Notary must be registered in the Civil Registry. To do this, three copies of the deeds must be obtained and submitted to the Civil Registry where the spouses are registered, in order for them to be legalised. One of the copies will remain in the Registry, while each of the spouses must keep one of them.

If the prenuptial agreements are not registered in the corresponding Civil Registry, it is considered that such prenuptial agreement has not been established. Within Spain, this means that the community property regime applies by default. However, if located in Aragón, Cataluñya, Baleares, Navarra or Bizcaya, the separation of property will apply.

You have a period of 3 months from the date they were signed to register them.

The price of notarial acts is regulated by the Government and complies with the regulatory legislation of the NOTARIAL FEE SCHEDULE (RD 1426/1989, of 17 November, regulating the Notaries' Fee Schedule). However, the exact price of a notarial document cannot be calculated until its specific content is known, that is, until it is signed, as there are many circumstances that can cause it to vary, such as the number of copies, the pages it contains, or possible additions.

As a guideline, we can inform you that, according to the current regulatory legislation, the usual price of a document of prenuptial agreements, which includes 2 authorised copies and 2 simple copies, is around €185. While that of postnuptial agreements, with the same number of simple and authorised copies, is about €205. Contact us to obtain a detailed quote.

In the case of divorce before a Notary with prenuptial agreements, if both parties agree to the separation, they can quickly dissolve their union at a notary's office by public deed if they do not have minor or dependent children. If they have minor or dependent children, the divorce must be carried out through the courts.