Separate & Common Property: What are the Differences?

• 26 March 2022
• Local News
• 8720 Views

In the Civil Code of 2007, there is the matrimonial property regime which is divided into two systems: the contractual property system and the statutory property system.

For the contractual property system, a married couple shall register a marital property agreement at the Ministry of Justice before their wedding, which makes it easier to make sales and purchase transactions or divide the asset when a divorce occurs or when one party dies. (Read more)

Meanwhile, if the marital-property-agreement has not been made, all the properties of the couple will be determined in the statutory property system which is divided into two kinds:

Separate Property

According to Article 972 of the Civil Code, separate property is the property that belongs to one of the spouses alone, which includes:

A. Property held by a spouse from before the marriage. Even after the marriage, the property still belongs to that one party.

B. Property acquired by a spouse during the marriage by gift, succession, or testamentary gift. For example, after the wedding, the parents of a spouse have gifted their son one hectare of land. The object of the gift becomes the separate property of the mentioned spouse.

However, if the gift agreement refers the object of the gift to both spouses, the object will become common property.

C. Property obtained from selling property described in items (a) or (b) above.
For instance, the wife owns a piece of land, which was her personal property before she got married. During the marriage, she sells the land to buy a luxury car. The car is still the property of the wife, even though they are in a marriage.

Common Property

According to article 973 of the Civil Code, common property means property acquired during the marriage by one or both spouses, other than property described in items (b) or (c). For example, income from all sources, land or house purchased during the marriage is common property, even if these assets are acquired by any of the spouses alone.

• Laws and Regulation