Did you know that until 2018, the Netherlands was almost the only country in the world that still had the community of assets system? That means that, if no prenuptial agreement was made, everything falls into a community and must be divided upon divorce. So if you and your partner lived in a house that belonged to one of you two and later married in community of property, that house simply fell into the community. Upon divorce, that then meant: divide.
As of Jan. 1, 2018, that system was changed. There is still a community of assets, but everything a person had before his or her marriage stays out of it. So in the example above, the house would not fall into the community but would remain the person's. Another important change is that gifts and inheritances a person receives also stay out of it. Previously, a so-called exclusion clause was drawn up by the donor or the person making his will, stipulating that the inheritance would not fall into the community. So now this is no longer required.
Please note that this new system applies to all marriages entered into after January 1, 2018. If you were married before that, the old system applies. For gifts or inheritances, an exclusion clause must still be made by the donor or testator, otherwise the gift or inheritance simply falls into the community.
Dividing a community assets seems easy at first glance: just divide by two and that's it. But complications can arise. For example, suppose one of you received such an inheritance under exclusion and you used that money to renovate your house (which does fall into the community)? Can you still "recover" that money in the event of a divorce? The answer is: in principle, yes. But that must be calculated according to a certain formula, which includes the increase in value of the house. This can cause quite a few discussions.
Or what about the situation where one of you receives a very large inheritance from a sugar daddy under foreclosure and pays off the entire mortgage debt at once? At the time this is done it is very nice for both of you: you then live free. But if there is a divorce this can have major consequences for how the house should be divided.
Sometimes it may be desirable to delay the division. Only recently we had a major crisis where many houses were under water. Neither of them was able to take over the mortgage debt on his/her own, and no one felt like having a residual debt. It could then be better to just "hold on" to the house for a while. But that in turn has major tax implications.
Anyway, division of a community, no matter how easy it may seem at first glance, is customized. It varies from case to case and I, as a specialist, can advise you further on this. I will gladly help you, as a lawyer or in mediation.
As of Jan. 1, 2018, that system was changed. There is still a community of assets, but everything a person had before his or her marriage stays out of it. So in the example above, the house would not fall into the community but would remain the person's. Another important change is that gifts and inheritances a person receives also stay out of it. Previously, a so-called exclusion clause was drawn up by the donor or the person making his will, stipulating that the inheritance would not fall into the community. So now this is no longer required.
Please note that this new system applies to all marriages entered into after January 1, 2018. If you were married before that, the old system applies. For gifts or inheritances, an exclusion clause must still be made by the donor or testator, otherwise the gift or inheritance simply falls into the community.
Dividing a community assets seems easy at first glance: just divide by two and that's it. But complications can arise. For example, suppose one of you received such an inheritance under exclusion and you used that money to renovate your house (which does fall into the community)? Can you still "recover" that money in the event of a divorce? The answer is: in principle, yes. But that must be calculated according to a certain formula, which includes the increase in value of the house. This can cause quite a few discussions.
Or what about the situation where one of you receives a very large inheritance from a sugar daddy under foreclosure and pays off the entire mortgage debt at once? At the time this is done it is very nice for both of you: you then live free. But if there is a divorce this can have major consequences for how the house should be divided.
Sometimes it may be desirable to delay the division. Only recently we had a major crisis where many houses were under water. Neither of them was able to take over the mortgage debt on his/her own, and no one felt like having a residual debt. It could then be better to just "hold on" to the house for a while. But that in turn has major tax implications.
Anyway, division of a community, no matter how easy it may seem at first glance, is customized. It varies from case to case and I, as a specialist, can advise you further on this. I will gladly help you, as a lawyer or in mediation.