{"id":472,"date":"2017-03-30T07:51:17","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T05:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/uncategorized\/huwelijksgoederengemeenschap-beperkt\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T10:32:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T09:32:56","slug":"limited-community-of-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/huwelijksgoederengemeenschap-beperkt\/","title":{"rendered":"Limited community of property"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"limited<\/p>\n

On 28 March 2017, the Senate adopted the private member\u2019s bill<\/a> concerning the restriction of the community of matrimonial property<\/strong> adopted. As a general rule, when two people marry, a community of property is still established. However, the scope of that community no longer encompasses the spouses\u2019 total assets. Naturally, it remains possible to agree on the financial arrangements between the spouses before or during the marriage in prenuptial agreement<\/strong> to record.<\/p>\n

New marriages<\/h4>\n

It is not yet known exactly when the legislative amendment will come into force. The new rules will not apply to marriages that have already taken place by the time the amendment comes into force. In such cases, the current rules governing the community of property will continue to apply. If a prenuptial agreement has been drawn up, it will remain in force.<\/p>\n

The rules governing the community of property apply in full to the registered partnership<\/strong>. For the sake of clarity, we will use only the term \u2018marriage\u2019 in this article.<\/p>\n

Limited community of property<\/h4>\n

In the Netherlands, the creation of a community of property remains the general rule upon entering into marriage. At present, this community comprises the spouses\u2019 total assets. Following the entry into force of the legislative amendment, the community of property will no longer include assets which a spouse:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • property already owned at the time of the marriage (except where the spouses hold such property jointly);<\/li>\n
  • receives from an inheritance;<\/li>\n
  • receives as a gift (donation).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    All property acquired during the marriage by one of the spouses or by the spouses jointly forms part of the community of property.<\/p>\n

    Inclusion clause<\/h4>\n

    At present, so-called exclusion clauses are often included in wills and deeds of gift. These clauses ensure that the inheritance or gift does not form part of the heir\u2019s or donee\u2019s current or future community of property (including matrimonial property). If the marriage was contracted under the new regime, an exclusion clause is not necessary. This is because, by law, the assets acquired through the inheritance or gift do not form part of the community of property. If desired, the will or deed of gift may stipulate that the inheritance or gift does form part of the community of property. This is known as an inclusion clause.<\/p>\n

    As the new rules on the community of property apply only to new marriages, exclusion clauses naturally remain relevant. Furthermore, such a clause may be necessary to keep an inheritance or gift outside the community of property of unmarried cohabitants.<\/p>\n

    Company<\/h4>\n

    Under the rules outlined above, a business owned by one of the spouses may fall outside the community of property. This applies regardless of whether it is a sole trader\u2019s business, a stake in a partnership or a general partnership, or shares in a private limited company.<\/p>\n

    The community of property shall then include reasonable compensation for the knowledge, skills and labour that a spouse has contributed to that business. This shall not apply to the extent that such compensation has already accrued to the benefit of both spouses in some other way.<\/p>\n

    Proof<\/h4>\n

    If neither spouse can prove that an asset belongs to them, it is deemed to be community property. However, this presumption cannot work to the detriment of the spouses\u2019 creditors.<\/p>\n

    Planning<\/h4>\n

    The changes to the rules governing the community of property are relevant to various tax arrangements. In addition, the change has implications for your financial and estate planning. Fortunately, this does not apply to existing marriages. However, if you are planning to get married or enter into a civil partnership, it is advisable to set out (or have someone set out) the implications of the legislative change.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Op 28 maart 2017 heeft de Eerste Kamer het initiatiefwetsvoorstel inzake beperking van de huwelijksgoederengemeenschap aangenomen. Wanneer twee mensen trouwen, ontstaat als hoofdregel nog wel een huwelijksgoederengemeenschap (gemeenschap van goederen). Maar de omvang van die gemeenschap omvat niet meer het totale vermogen van de echtgenoten. Uiteraard blijft het mogelijk om voor of tijdens het huwelijk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}