For all legal actions brought, judgments given and acts issued until 28 January 2019, the Finnish courts are competent for issues concerning the spouses' property, if: 1) the defendant has a domicile or a habitual residence in Finland; 2) the claimant has a domicile or a habitual residence in Finland, and Finnish law is to be applied to the spouses' property relations; 3) the last common domicile or habitual residence of the spouses was in Finland, and one of the spouses still has or had at the time of his/her death a domicile or a habitual residence there; 4) the property, which the issue is about, is situated in Finland; or 5) the defendant accepts that the issue will be examined in Finland, or he/she starts responding on the issue without filing an opposition on the lack of jurisdiction (§ 127 Marriage Act).

The district court of the place where the defendant has his/her domicile or habitual residence is the competent authority.

The civil registry office of Finland can register a marital agreement or a choice-of-law agreement, even if the Finnish courts have no competence to examine an issue concerning the spouses' property relations (§ 127 Marriage Act).

For the legal actions brought, judgments given and acts issued on or after 29 January 2019, regardless of the date of marriage, Council Regulation (EU) No 2016/1103 of 24 June 2016 will apply. By way of exception, specific conventions between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden continue to be applicable between all their parties.

The EU Regulation provides that the competent authorities will be as follows:

• For matters relating to the matrimonial regime in the event of the death of one of the spouses, jurisdiction lies with the court competent for the succession (Art. 4).

• In matters relating to the matrimonial property regime in the event of an application for divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment, jurisdiction generally falls to the court competent to rule on the matrimonial dispute.

• In other cases, the spouses may agree that jurisdiction shall lie with the Member State whose law is applicable or with the Member State where the marriage is concluded. Such an agreement must be in writing, dated and signed by the parties.

In the absence of an agreement, the courts of the Member State shall, as a general rule, have jurisdiction to settle any question relating to their matrimonial property regime other than in the event of the death of one of the spouses or a matrimonial dispute:

• of the spouses’ common habitual residence at the time the court is seised; or failing that

• of the spouses’ last habitual residence, insofar as one of them still resides there; or failing that

• of the habitual residence of the respondent; or failing that

• of the spouses’ common nationality.

Print this topic

back to top