How to divide BSM (Community Property of Spouses)?

Act No. 40/1964 Coll. the Civil Code, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Civil Code”), regulates in the provision of Section 150 the rules that the court must take into account when settling the community property of spouses. Specific rules that would apply to a community property settlement agreement are not regulated in the Civil Code. A settlement agreement is an “agreement” precisely so that the former spouses can arrange their relations according to their own needs. When drafting the agreement, you can proceed from the following rules:

• the shares of both spouses are equal

• each spouse is entitled to demand reimbursement of what they expended from their own funds on the common property

• each spouse is obliged to reimburse what was expended from the common property on their other property

• it is necessary to take into account the needs of minor children

• it is necessary to take into account how each of the spouses cared for the family

• it is necessary to take into account how each of the spouses contributed to the acquisition and maintenance of the common things

• regard must also be paid to the care of the children and the management of the common household

It is not necessary to apply absolutely all of the rules mentioned above. Only the court has such an obligation, in the event that one of you files a lawsuit for the settlement of the community property of spouses.

Hello, the scope of the community property of spouses (hereinafter referred to as “BSM”) as well as the settlement of the BSM in the event of the dissolution of the BSM by the termination of the marriage is regulated by the Civil Code.

According to Section 143 of the Civil Code: “The community property of spouses includes everything that may be the subject of ownership and that was acquired by either spouse during the duration of the marriage, with the exception of things acquired by inheritance or gift, as well as things which by their nature serve the personal needs or the exercise of the profession of only one of the spouses, and things restored under property restitution regulations to one of the spouses who owned the restored thing prior to entering into the marriage or to whom the thing was restored as the legal successor of the original owner.”

It follows from the above that even the wage earned by the spouses during the duration of the marriage (up until the day the judgment divorcing the marriage enters into legal force), or the savings created from this wage, belong to the BSM.

The settlement of the BSM can occur by agreement or by a court decision. If you were to conclude an agreement, within this agreement you could arrange with your former wife the division of the savings belonging to the BSM.

If an agreement is not possible, the court may decide on the settlement upon the petition of either former spouse. In such a case, however, several specific circumstances of the case are taken into account; therefore, it is not possible to precisely assess what part of the savings the court would award to you and what part to your former wife in your case. It would also depend on what other property constitutes the BSM and how this other property will be divided.

In general, when dividing property, the court proceeds according to the principles enshrined in the provision of Section 150 of the Civil Code: “In the settlement, it is presumed that the shares of both spouses are equal. Each spouse is entitled to demand reimbursement of what they expended from their own funds on the common property, and is obliged to reimburse what was expended from the common property on their other property. Furthermore, regard shall be paid primarily to the needs of minor children, to how each spouse cared for the family, and to how they contributed to the acquisition and maintenance of the common things. When determining the degree of contribution, regard must also be paid to the care of the children and the management of the common household.”