Secret assets in marriage

The statutory property regime of the community of gains is mainly due to the Adjustment of profits in the event of divorce marked. The basic idea here is that the wealth generated by both spouses during the marriage should be divided equally in the event of divorce. Mathematically, this is achieved by the fact that the spouse who has achieved the higher profit in comparison has to pay half of the surplus to the other.

In order to determine the specific gain, the respective starting and ending assets must first be determined. What seems mathematically simple is not always easy to quantify in practice. Because often the spouses have no concrete knowledge of what the other side has achieved in the course of the marriage.

In this legal tip, we show you how you can obtain the information you need to offset your profits and ensure that it is complete and correct!

1. Initial situation: Secured assets in the community of gains

Many marriages end in divorce, contrary to the original promise. Our experience as a specialist law firm for family law shows that in the separation phase, assets are sometimes concealed and concealed in order to keep compensation obligations as low as possible.

If the statutory matrimonial property regime, the so-called community of gains, ends, the spouse who has achieved a higher gain in the course of the marriage is obliged to compensate. The following applies: The higher the final wealth and the lower the initial wealth, the higher the gain and thus the economic compensation in the course of the divorce.

Often in order to reduce the stock of the final assets, are in ignorance of the other spouse so-called unfair wealth reductions performed. Another popular strategy is to fake a larger starting wealth, which is believed to have the same effect on the size of the gain equalization payment.

The disadvantaged spouse is in a particularly unfavorable position because of the hidden assets. Because he regularly has no specific knowledge about the existence and scope of the final assets and thus the specific amount of his entitlement within the framework of the gain compensation.

2. Uncover hidden marital assets – claim information!

In order to help in this difficult situation, the legislature has one

Right to information created over wealth. In order to uncover disloyal shifts in assets, information can be requested at the time of separation, for example. The prerequisites for such a right to information due to unfair asset reductions are:

• The claimant must present specific facts that suggest disadvantageous asset shifts.

• Only the other spouse is the one who can provide information about the property dispositions.

In order to guarantee a minimum of verifiability, this right to information is supplemented by a right to Valuation and submission of documents.

3. Implementation of the right to information under procedural law

In order to be able to carry out the profit compensation, the “detour” often has to be taken through a lawsuit asserting the right to information.

According to the law, the right to information relates to different points in time: On the one hand, the right to information – as stated – covers the assets at the time of separation. The subject of the information is also the day of the marriage for that Initial fortune and the day of pending divorce petition for the Final fortune.

By the way: Pursuant to Section 138 (1) ZPO, the spouse providing information is obliged to make complete and true statements.

If the request for information is made very precisely by the spouse and the other party only provides evasive, contradictory or confusing information, the so-called Insurance under oath are required.

This turns out because of the criminal relevance a false affidavit is particularly effective: If this declaration was made intentionally or negligently incorrectly in court, the spouse can be held criminally responsible for intentional or negligent false affidavit in accordance with Section 156 or Section 161 of the Criminal Code.

4. Conclusion

If your divorce is an issue, you should look for a specialist lawyer for family law with expertise in Right of the Community of Profits decide. In this way, claims to information can be asserted in order to make the relevant assets in their entirety part of the process and to bring them to a fair compensation of assets.

Even the spouse who has been damaged by unfair shifts of assets is not left defenseless – even a long time after the final divorce, by the way. In this context, civil law, criminal law and even tax procedural law options can be taken. We would be happy to advise you on this too!

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