Statutory system of matrimonial property rights in the Federal Republic of Germany

The legislator chose the statutory system of community of acquests. It is characterized by the separation of volumes of estates during the marriage; in consequence, also the management of the estates and the responsibility for debts are separated. However, despite the adoption of the principle of separation of estates, the law imposes some restrictions concerning legal transactions involving obligation and dispositive legal transactions with respect to the household goods and to an estate as a whole. Such transactions require the consent of the other spouse. The termination of a statutory system due to reasons other than the death of a spouse initiates the mechanism of compensating the increase of the values of the spouses' estates accrued over the period of the statutory system. It takes the form of a financial claim of one spouse against the other, i.e. the one whose acquests grew higher than the acquests of the claimant. In the case of the termination of marriage through the death of a spouse, the institution of a compensation of increase of the values of the spouses' estates is replaced with the increase of the surviving spouse's share in the inheritance. In principle, the above legislative regulations may be considered statisfactory in the case of a long-lasting marriage. It does not follow, however, that all the solutions deserve approval; in particular, some criticism may be voiced towards the solution providing for an unduly priviledged position of a spouse inheriting in conjunction with the decedent's children who are not common children of the couple. The shortcomings of the above provision become more apparent especially in the case of a marriage of a short duration, where the existing regulation may lead to unjust solutions.Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201