Prenuptial Agreements in Germany (Ehevertrag)

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What happens if you sign nothing

Couples who marry in Germany without a contract live in the default property regime, the community of accrued gains (Zugewinngemeinschaft). The name is misleading. Nothing becomes joint property: your savings, your car and your apartment remain yours, and so does everything you buy in your own name during the marriage.¹ The sharing comes only at the end.

On divorce: for each spouse, the court compares the net assets at the start of the marriage with the net assets on the day the divorce application was served. The increase is that spouse’s accrued gain. An inheritance or a gift received during the marriage counts toward the starting assets, so it is not shared — but any growth in its value is.² The spouse with the larger gain pays the other half of the difference, in money.³

On death: if one spouse dies, the gains are not calculated. Instead, the surviving spouse’s statutory share of the estate rises by one quarter, whether or not there was any gain.⁴

During the marriage: a spouse who wants to sell or give away all or nearly all of their assets needs the other spouse’s consent.⁵ This rule matters most for people whose business is their main asset.

What a prenup can regulate

A marriage contract (Ehevertrag) lets the two of you replace or adjust the default rules.⁶ The common choices:

Separation of property is what you get when you simply exclude the default regime.⁷ Each of you keeps what you earn, and there is nothing to equalize when the marriage ends.⁸ On death, the flat extra quarter falls away and the general inheritance rules apply.⁸

A modified community of accrued gains keeps the default regime but changes parts of it: the law lets spouses make arrangements other than the statutory ones within a property regime.⁸ A clause can, for example, keep a business, a rental property or an expected inheritance out of the calculation.

Community of property pools most assets as joint property managed together.⁹ A Franco-German optional regime exists for couples with ties to both countries.¹⁰

Pension rights: without a contract, the pension rights each spouse earned during the marriage are split in half on divorce (more in getting divorced in Germany). A contract can exclude or limit this.¹¹ Maintenance: agreements on maintenance after a divorce are allowed, and before the divorce is final they also need a notary.¹²

Where courts draw the line

A marriage contract is not a free-for-all. Germany’s Federal Court of Justice set out the test in 2004 and confirmed it as recently as May 2025.¹³

1. At signing: the court asks whether the contract was clearly one-sided from the start, looking at incomes, assets, the planned model of the marriage and its effects on children. If it was, the clause or the whole contract is void and the statutory rules apply instead. A one-sided contract alone is usually not enough, though: the court also looks for signs that one partner was in a weaker position when signing — under pressure, financially or socially dependent, or clearly less able to judge the terms.¹³
2. At the end: if the contract survives the first test, the court asks whether relying on it is unfair now — typically because life turned out differently from the plan, for example after one spouse gave up work to raise children. The court can then adjust the consequences.

The court also ranked what can be waived. Maintenance for a parent who cares for a child is at the core and is hardest to exclude. Maintenance for illness or old age and the splitting of pension rights come next. The sharing of accrued gains is the most open to contract.¹³ For pension agreements, the law itself requires that they pass this fairness check.¹¹

So a separation of property between two spouses who both work is the least likely to be struck down. A waiver of maintenance for a parent caring for a child is the most likely. The circumstances of signing count too: the court quoted the Federal Constitutional Court, which named an unmarried pregnant woman pressed into a one-sided contract as a typical case of unequal bargaining power.¹³

Form: notary, both present

The contract must be recorded by a German notary while both of you are present at the same time.¹⁴ You cannot sign separately, by mail or in writing alone. Preparing the draft is part of the notary’s work and is covered by the notary’s fee. Ask for the draft in advance so you can read it and raise questions before the appointment.

If you don’t speak German well: deeds are drawn up in German. A notary who speaks your language well enough can draw up the deed in another language on request. Otherwise, the deed must be translated for you at the appointment — by the notary or by an interpreter — and you can ask for a written translation.¹⁵ Say so when you book.

Same-sex couples follow exactly the same rules (see same-sex marriage in Germany).

What a notary charges

German notary fees are set by law. A notary may not agree to a different fee, so the same contract costs the same everywhere.¹⁶ The fee depends on the value of the contract: the present assets of both spouses combined, minus each spouse’s debts. Debts are deducted only up to half of the asset value.¹⁷ If the contract concerns only certain assets, such as a company, only their value counts.¹⁷

For a marriage contract, the notary charges twice the base fee from the official fee table, at least €120.¹⁸ Expenses and VAT come on top.¹⁸¹⁹

If the same deed also includes a choice of law, it counts as a separate item valued at 30% of the property value, which raises the fee.²⁰ A lawyer of your own, if you want independent advice on the draft, is not part of the notary fee.

International couples: which country’s law applies

The German default regime only applies if German law governs your property. For international couples, that is decided by an EU regulation used in 18 EU countries, including Germany.²¹

Without a choice, the law of the first country where both of you had your habitual residence after the wedding applies. If there is none, the law of your common nationality applies, and failing that, the law of the country with which you are most closely connected.²² A couple living in Munich who marry there are under German law, whatever their passports say. A couple who married while both lived in Canada, and moved to Germany later, may still be under Canadian property law — the rules also point to the law of countries outside the EU.²²

With a choice, you can pick the law of the country where one of you lives or the law of a country whose citizen one of you is.²³ A change made during the marriage applies only for the future, unless you agree otherwise.²³ The choice must be in writing, dated and signed by both of you, plus any extra formalities of the country where you live. If you both live in Germany, that means a notary.²⁴

Older marriages: these EU rules cover couples who married on or after 29 January 2019, or who chose a law after that date. For earlier marriages, Germany’s previous rules still decide.²⁵ A notary can tell you which law applies to you before you draft anything else.

Before or after the wedding

You can sign a marriage contract before the wedding and at any time during the marriage.⁶ A contract signed before the wedding takes effect with the marriage. During the marriage, a switch to separation of property ends the default regime; the gains made until then are equalized like on a divorce, unless the contract settles them differently.²⁶

Once divorce proceedings are under way, an agreement on the accrued gains still needs a notary or a settlement recorded in court.²⁷ Give yourselves time: because courts look at how the contract came about, a deal pushed through days before the wedding is easier to attack than one negotiated calmly.¹³

Planning the wedding itself? See getting married in Germany, or married abroad if you married outside Germany.

General information, not legal advice: for a contract that fits your situation, talk to a notary or a family lawyer.

Part of getting married in Germany. Before the wedding: registry office wedding · certificate of no impediment · same-sex marriage. Next: after-the-wedding checklist. See also: divorce.

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