Drawing up or amending a marriage contract in Ghent
A marriage contract is a deed drawn up by the notary in which you and your partner set out how your property works during the marriage.
A marriage contract is also called a marital agreement and determines your matrimonial property regime. Verschaffel & Callens, associated notaries in Ghent, is a notary’s office at Vrijheidslaan 1.
On this page you can read what a marriage contract covers, which matrimonial property regimes exist and how the notary draws one up or amends it. The page explains; it does not give advice to any particular couple. For questions about your own situation, go here: Ask for advice.
Drawing up or amending a marriage contract
You draw up or amend a marriage contract with a notary, and you are free to choose your own notary.
Both drawing up and amending are done by deed. The two parts below explain how this works.
Drawing up a marriage contract before the wedding
Have your marriage contract drawn up before the wedding date, because afterwards the notary has to complete more formalities. The notary draws up the deed.
If you are planning to marry, discuss the regime with the notary before the wedding date.
In practice, there are three steps:
The notary listens to your situation.
The notary discusses the possible regimes with you, such as the statutory regime, separation of property and universal community of property.
The notary draws up the deed.
This page does not list any amounts for notary fees. If you want to know the costs, you can work them out yourself. Calculate your costs with the calculators on notaris.be.
Changing your matrimonial property regime during the marriage
You can amend your marriage contract at any time, for example after buying a home, having children or starting a business. According to notaris.be, the notary draws up a deed of amendment for this.
When switching to a completely different regime, an inventory is sometimes required. This involves more formalities than a contract made before the wedding. Every change to the marriage contract is made by a deed of amendment before the notary.
According to Fednot (2023), couples made 26,463 amendments compared with 14,271 new marriage contracts. Couples therefore amend their contract during the marriage more often than they enter into a new one.
Notary Carol Bohyn, spokesperson for notaris.be, says that it is mainly older couples who amend their contract, usually as part of their estate planning, and younger couples after the birth of their first child.
Statutory cohabitation or marriage: what is the difference?
According to notary Carol Bohyn, spokesperson for notaris.be, marriage “still offers couples the best protection”.
De facto cohabitation creates no legal obligations and no protection. Without a will, the partner inherits nothing. Couples who do not marry set out their arrangements in a cohabitation agreement.
Couples register statutory cohabitation with a declaration at the municipality. It gives limited inheritance rights: the partner receives the usufruct of the family home and its household contents. A will can take this away, and the inheritance rights are less extensive than for married couples.
The difference therefore lies mainly in inheritance rights and protection. The family home is the home where the family lives; the household contents are its furnishings.
Notaris.be explains the cohabitation agreement. A couple who want to know what applies to their situation should ask the notary: this page is for information only.
What does a marriage contract cover?
A marriage contract sets out who owns what within your marriage, who manages the assets and how you prove ownership.
The deed determines which assets belong to the joint estate and which belong to each partner’s separate estate. Assets include, for example, a home, savings and a car. These three points are set out together in one deed.
Without a marriage contract, you fall under the statutory regime. According to notaris.be, under that regime the income of both partners goes into one joint estate. A marriage contract is not compulsory. A couple who have nothing drawn up are therefore also making a choice: the statutory regime then applies automatically.
If you do want your own arrangement, you set it out in a deed before the notary. The deed describes who manages the assets and gives you proof of who owns what.
Which matrimonial property regime can you choose?
You choose between the statutory regime, separation of property and universal community of property, or you refine the statutory regime with clauses.
The statutory regime and universal community of property are community regimes. Under separation of property, each estate remains separate. The three options therefore differ in how much you share: the most under universal community, the least under separation of property. The statutory regime sits in between.
Notaris.be gives three examples.
A childless couple who want to leave everything to each other might opt for universal community of property.
A couple where one partner is self-employed, or a blended family, would rather keep their assets separate.
A couple building on a plot owned by one partner can bring that land into the joint estate with a contribution clause.
A clause refines a regime but does not change its core. Which regime suits you depends on your situation: the notary explains the options.
According to Fednot (2023), half of the couples with a new marriage contract opted for pure separation of property.