Matrimonial property regime

The matrimonial property regime sets the rules applying to spouses' assets during marriage and upon its end. The statutory regime is participation in acquired property: assets obtained during marriage through work or income are acquired property and their surplus value is shared at liquidation.

Personal assets fall outside division: property owned before the marriage, assets received by inheritance or gift, items of personal use and non-pecuniary damages awards. The spouses may instead choose one of the other regimes listed by statute through a notarised contract, separation of property being the most common choice.

Upon a final divorce, the regime ends retroactively as of the date the divorce action was filed; liquidation is claimed in a separate action subject to the statutory limitation period running from finality. That assets acquired before the statutory regime's entry into force are governed by the previous regime is the most technical aspect of liquidations in long marriages.