Prenuptial agreement

Spouses can stipulate in a prenuptial agreement that only certain property will be included in a future division of property. In such cases, the property changes from being marital property to being separate property. If there is no prenuptial agreement, all property is divided equally when the marriage is dissolved by divorce or when one of the spouses dies. This applies regardless of who bought the property, started the business, or saved the money. Conversely, a prenuptial agreement can also make individual property received by either spouse through a will or a deed of gift into marital property.

The marriage contract must meet certain formal requirements to be valid. It must clearly state that it is a marriage contract, who the marriage contract covers and what property is to be separate. It must also be in writing, dated and signed by both spouses. The signatures do not need to be witnessed. The marriage contract is valid after it has been registered at the Swedish Tax Agency. After registration, the Tax Agency enters a copy in the marriage register.

You can change an existing prenuptial agreement by drawing up a new one and registering the new one with the Swedish Tax Agency. Once registered, the new marriage contract replaces the old one.

If you want to read more about how a division of property works and what is involved in a division of property, you can do so by clicking HERE. Information on wills can be found HERE.