Claim to participation in acquired property

The participation claim arises at the liquidation of the statutory regime from each spouse's share in the surplus value of the other's acquired property. The statute fixes the share at half of the surplus value.

The calculation values the acquired assets as of liquidation, adds back the values the statute requires and processes equalisations, deducts the debts attached to the assets and divides the remaining surplus. The claim is monetary, not proprietary: a spouse may demand their share of the value, not the asset itself. In divorces based on adultery or attempt on life, the court may reduce or eliminate the faulty spouse's share.

The claim is subject to the statutory limitation period running from the divorce's finality and is pursued in a liquidation action. Add-back rules protect against transfers made to diminish the claim, and an action against third-party recipients is also provided.