Divorce Succession Agreements

Contract Configuration

The best solution: A consensual divorce. Every second marriage ends in divorce. In addition to the personal strains, all parties involved are often in a worse economic situation after the divorce than before it. The gentlest (and most cost-effective) solution is a consensual divorce. The spouses can regulate the essential questions of divorce by notarial contract. The divorce court can then pronounce a divorce in a simplified procedure. The divorce by mutual agreement saves time, money and above all, nerves.

The notary is, as a bearer of a public office, obligated to be impartial. He will ensure that the spouse that is inexperienced in financial matters is not disadvantaged. The notary will correct misconceptions of the parties involved and always maintains his neutrality. Through an open and intensive consultation with the notary, problems that otherwise could lead to years of divorce proceedings, can be resolved in an appropriate time and in a fair manner for both spouses.

What needs to be settled? An amicable divorce is only then possible if – with the involvement of a lawyer – one of the spouses, with the consent of the other spouse, petitions for a divorce and the spouses agree by court settlement, or a notarial divorce succession agreement on a minimum of the following points:

  • Maintenance/alimony payments for joint children,
  • Settlement on spousal support,
  • Future use of the martial home,
  • Distribution of household goods.

Since there is an obligation of representation by a lawyer, even with a consensual divorce before the family court, it is advisable to seek an attorney’s help in determining the amount of maintenance required before going to a notary.

When considering child support, an answer to the question as to who will receive the children’s benefit allowance in the future, and whether it is to be charged against the child support owed should be considered.

It would also be appropriate to take into account the tax consequences of the spouses’ maintenance payments and, if necessary, to keep the tax burden for both spouses as low as possible by means of so-called real splitting.

In the case of a spouse moving out of a rented dwelling, the dismissal of the spouse from the tenancy should be initiated with the landlord.

In addition, the following points can and should be regularly discussed and settled with the help of a notary:

  • Distribution of the assets, particularly of jointly owned and jointly inhabited home, but also life insurances, building savings contracts, and lastly distribution of the joint debts with the spouse who does not take over the debt, then being released from the liability,
  • Distribution of the pension entitlements (pension rights adjustment),
  • Inheritance matters.

Checklist

Before completing a divorce succession agreement, a detailed personal consultation should be held with the notary. For the meeting, we ask you to clarify the following questions and to bring the following documents along with you:

Personal Information

Nationality, surname, first name, name given at birth, occupation, date of birth, place of birth, registry office of the place of birth including the number, under which the birth was registered, first name, surname and first name given at birth for the parents?

Marriage Information

Date of the marriage ceremony with registry office information. Do matrimonial or testamentary contracts already exist (please bring copies)?

Information about Children

Children, also premarital children, children from the marriage and extramarital children, including first name, surname, date of birth and current place of residence?

Asset Information

Which spouse has brought which financial assets into the marriage?

Information About the Separation and Divorce

Has a divorce petition already been filed? If yes, then with which court? File numbers? Do the spouses already live in separation? Has postnuptial alimony been waived, or who should pay how much alimony to whom after the divorce? Should the pension rights adjustment be carried out? How should the assets (property, life insurance, building savings contracts, motor vehicles, etc.) and the liabilities for them be divided (please bring land charge certificate of title, statements of account as well as loan contracts)? Who will take over the marital home? Is the landlord willing to release the spouse from the tenancy? Have the household goods already been divided?

Costs

Notary fees cannot be levied or negotiated at the will of the notary; they are strictly regulated by law. Decisive is the Court and Notary Fees Act that applies throughout federal territory. Therefore, the same fees are always charged by each notary for the same notarial activity.

The notarization fees are based on the so-called commercial value. In the case of a divorce succession agreement, this is made up of the individual business values for the agreements on property law, on equalization of accrued gains, on pension rights adjustment, on maintenance, etc. Which areas need to be regulated, depends on the individual case. Therefore, no general statement can be made about the costs of a divorce succession agreement. In the above-mentioned fees, the costs for consultation and draft creation as well as changes to it are included. In addition, there are usually some additional small expenses for copies, postage and telephone as well as the statutory value-added tax.