According to the Croatian Family Law, spouses can have matrimonial property and their own property. Matrimonial property is the property that the spouses have acquired through work during the duration of the marriage union or originates from this property. Therefore, the property owned by a spouse at the time of marriage is his own property.
It is interesting to note that the author’s work represents the own property of the spouse who created it, however, property benefits from copyright and related rights acquired during marriage represent matrimonial property, as are the winnings from games of chance.
Spouses are co-owners of the matrimonial property in equal parts unless they have agreed otherwise. Therefore, what was acquired in marriage, for example real estate, movable property, money, etc., is divided in half.
It is important to point out that not only property acquired from the moment of marriage will be considered, because property acquired during the duration of the extramarital union, i.e. life union of an unmarried woman and an unmarried man that lasts at least three years, and shorter if a child was born into it or if it was continued by marriage, is also being considered.
However, in the event of a divorce, property is not the only thing that needs to be considered when dividing.
Obligations
The other spouse is not responsible for the obligations that one spouse had before the marriage, as well as for the obligations that he/she assumed independently after the marriage, which do not relate to the ongoing needs of the marriage and family union.
However, both spouses are jointly and severally liable for the obligations assumed by one spouse in order to meet the ongoing needs of the marital and family union, as well as for the obligations assumed jointly by the spouses in connection with the matrimonial property. Spouses are equally responsible for these obligations, unless otherwise agreed.
If, in order to settle joint obligations, from the co-ownership part of the matrimonial property or from the own property of one spouse, more has been collected than his share of the debt, that spouse has towards another spouse the right to compensate that amount from his part of the matrimonial property, i.e. from his own property.
Marriage contract
A marriage contract can regulate property relations on existing or future property, and it is not uncommon to enter into an agreement on the division of marital property in divorce proceedings or after they have ended. It is advisable to contact an expert for the drafting of the contract itself.