We married abroad with a foreign prenup. Does it hold in Germany?

Sometimes, which is the least useful answer in family law. Recognition depends on form requirements, the EU property regulations, and German public-policy review for couples now living here. International couples with a foreign agreement and a German life should have it reviewed by a notary or specialist lawyer rather than assuming either validity or invalidity.

Can we sign one after the wedding?

Yes, at any point during the marriage. German law makes no distinction in force between an agreement signed before and after the wedding; the notarization requirement is the same (Sections 1408, 1410 BGB).

Does a marriage contract cover the children?

No. Child support cannot be waived or capped by the parents' agreement (Section 1614 BGB), and custody is not contract material. A contract shapes the finances between the two adults, nothing more.

Do we each need our own lawyer?

Legally no: the notary drafts and is obliged to instruct both sides neutrally. In practice, where the stakes are lopsided, the economically weaker partner often brings own counsel to the drafting, and the court decisions striking down one-sided contracts read like arguments for doing so.

Does separation of property help at death, not just divorce?

It changes the arithmetic, sometimes against you: under the default regime, the surviving partner's statutory inheritance share is increased by a flat quarter as a lump-sum equalization of gains (Section 1371 BGB), an advantage Gütertrennung gives up. Couples choosing full separation for divorce reasons sometimes worsen their inheritance and inheritance-tax position without noticing.

Prenups in Germany: what an Ehevertrag actually changes, and what it costs

A marriage contract does not decide who gets the house. It selects which legal defaults apply to your marriage, and German law already gives every couple a surprisingly sensible default. What the default does, what a contract can change, and where courts draw the line.

A German marriage contract (Ehevertrag) is less dramatic than the American movies suggest and more useful than its reputation. It does not decide who gets the house. It selects which of a small set of legal defaults apply to your marriage, and German law already gives every couple a surprisingly sensible default. This article explains what the default does, what a contract can change, where courts draw the line, and who actually has a reason to think about one.

This article is information, not legal advice. A marriage contract must be notarized, and the notary must impartially instruct both parties; each partner can additionally seek their own legal advice, and for anything binding, those are the conversations that count.

The default is not joint property

Marrying in Germany without a contract puts you in the Zugewinngemeinschaft, the community of accrued gains (Sections 1363 following, BGB). Despite the name, your property stays yours: what you owned before the marriage remains separate, what each of you earns and buys during it belongs to whoever acquired it. The community part only activates at the end, through divorce or death: whoever gained more wealth during the marriage owes the other half of the difference. Inheritances and gifts you received are excluded from the gain, though their growth in value is not (Section 1374 BGB). For many couples the default already does both jobs: it protects pre-marital wealth automatically and shares only what was built together.

What a contract can select instead

A notarized contract can replace or modify the default in three main areas (Sections 1408, 1410 BGB). Property regime: full separation of property (Gütertrennung, Section 1414 BGB), or a modified Zugewinngemeinschaft that excludes specific assets, most commonly a company, from the gain calculation. Pension rights: the divorce-time split of pension entitlements (Versorgungsausgleich) can be modified or waived, but a family court reviews any waiver at divorce and disregards it if it leaves one partner unfairly uncovered (Sections 6 to 8 VersAusglG). Maintenance: post-divorce spousal maintenance can be shaped within limits; child support cannot be waived at all (Section 1614 BGB).

Where courts draw the line

German courts void or correct contracts that offload the risks of the marriage onto one partner (Inhaltskontrolle, established by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2001 and the Federal Court of Justice from 2004 onward; BVerfG 1 BvR 12/92, BGH XII ZR 265/02, and the case line through BGH XII ZB 303/13). The classic struck-down pattern: a contract signed under pressure, often during pregnancy, in which the economically weaker partner waives gains, pension split and maintenance at once, then spends fifteen years raising children. The practical reading: a contract that is fair when signed and still roughly fair when tested tends to hold; a contract designed to make one partner's parental-leave years cost only that partner tends not to. This is precisely the connection to the pension gap: the Versorgungsausgleich exists because career sacrifices inside a marriage are treated as joint investments, and waiving it without compensation is the single clause most likely to fail review.

Who typically has a real reason for one

Three situations produce most German marriage contracts. Business owners, because the default gain-sharing can force a company valuation and payout at divorce that the company cannot survive; the standard pattern excludes the company while compensating the partner differently. Couples with a large wealth or age difference, where the default's end-of-marriage arithmetic produces results neither partner intends. International couples, because without a choice-of-law clause, which country's marriage law applies depends on EU regulations and residence history, and it may not be the country either of you assumes (EU Regulation 2016/1103, Rome III Regulation 1259/2010). Symmetrically: couples of similar age, wealth and income who both keep working are the group for whom the default already does roughly what a fair contract would do.

What it costs

Notarization fees are set by law and scale with the couple's combined net assets (GNotKG): for a couple with 500,000 euro of assets, the notary fee for a marriage contract is in the low four figures. Legal advice on top is free-form. Against the sums the contract governs, the cost is rarely the deciding factor.

The simulation angle

A marriage contract allocates financial outcomes between two people across decades, which makes it a household simulation question before it is a legal one: what does the default produce in your case, at divorce or at death, and what would the modified version produce? Miravel does not model divorce law, and this article stays firmly on the information side of the line. But seeing your household's wealth trajectory, per person, is the background against which the notary conversation becomes concrete instead of hypothetical.

Sources

BGB, Sections 1363 to 1390 (property regimes), 1408 to 1414 (marriage contracts, form), 1614 (child support), 1371 (inheritance share): gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb
Versorgungsausgleichsgesetz, Sections 6 to 8: gesetze-im-internet.de/versausglg
BVerfG, judgment of 6 February 2001, 1 BvR 12/92; BGH, judgment of 11 February 2004, XII ZR 265/02; BGH XII ZB 303/13: bundesverfassungsgericht.de, bundesgerichtshof.de
EU Regulation 2016/1103 (matrimonial property) and Rome III Regulation 1259/2010 (divorce law)
GNotKG, fee schedule (notary fees): gesetze-im-internet.de/gnotkg

Frequently asked questions

We married abroad with a foreign prenup. Does it hold in Germany?: Sometimes, which is the least useful answer in family law. Recognition depends on form requirements, the EU property regulations, and German public-policy review for couples now living here. International couples with a foreign agreement and a German life should have it reviewed by a notary or specialist lawyer rather than assuming either validity or invalidity.
Can we sign one after the wedding?: Yes, at any point during the marriage. German law makes no distinction in force between an agreement signed before and after the wedding; the notarization requirement is the same (Sections 1408, 1410 BGB).
Does a marriage contract cover the children?: No. Child support cannot be waived or capped by the parents' agreement (Section 1614 BGB), and custody is not contract material. A contract shapes the finances between the two adults, nothing more.
Do we each need our own lawyer?: Legally no: the notary drafts and is obliged to instruct both sides neutrally. In practice, where the stakes are lopsided, the economically weaker partner often brings own counsel to the drafting, and the court decisions striking down one-sided contracts read like arguments for doing so.
Does separation of property help at death, not just divorce?: It changes the arithmetic, sometimes against you: under the default regime, the surviving partner's statutory inheritance share is increased by a flat quarter as a lump-sum equalization of gains (Section 1371 BGB), an advantage Gütertrennung gives up. Couples choosing full separation for divorce reasons sometimes worsen their inheritance and inheritance-tax position without noticing.

Miravel shows your household's wealth trajectory per person across the decades, the background against which the notary conversation becomes concrete. Your data stays in your browser. Start free now.