Division Of Marital Property Under The New Argentinian Civil And Commercial Code

Division of property under the new Code

As a result of all questions and doubts that have arisen from the enactment of the "new Code" (Civil and Commercial Code of Argentina, CCCN in Spanish), which came into force on August 1 this year, we will explain the effects of "Termination of the Community Property System", mainly what we need to know when a couple decides to divorce, when one of the spouses dies, or when they decide to opt for a different property system and need to divide assets after the dissolution of marriage.

Nowadays the law allows us to choose the way in which we want to "administer" our matrimonial property so that couples can select what property system will govern their marriages by executing a marriage settlement.

Section 446 of the new Code expressly contemplates "Marriage Settlements" and provides that "before the celebration of marriage, prospective spouses may enter into settlements only for the following purposes: a) to designate and valuate the assets that each spouse brings into the marriage; b) to list debts; c) to list donations made to each other; d) to opt for any of the property systems provided under this Code."

Although the Code provides that prospective spouses may sign marriage settlements, it also limits the scope of said settlements. As opposed to what most people imagine, the law stipulates a strict framework of what terms the parties may agree on. Outside this legal framework, spouses cannot dispose of property in any way. If they do so, the law states that such disposition will have no effect.

The principal amendment relates to the fact that now spouses can opt for a system of division of property, under which they keep the right to freely administer or dispose of their premarital property.

At this stage we may conclude that the most significant change not only relates to the possibility of choosing one system or another, but also to the right to agree to change it, whether choosing between the division of property system or the community property system. For this to be possible, two requirements must be met. First, spouses must have kept the adopted system for a period of at least one year. Second, the settlement must be made by a notarially recorded instrument. However, if the parties are silent, that is, in case spouses do not make any marriage settlement or do not agree on any property system in the settlement, the community property system will apply by operation of law, as the situation was...