2.1. Please describe the general principles: Which goods are part of community property? Which goods are part of the separate estates of the spouses?

According to the Civil Code, the spouses have undivided co-ownership of the community property, which means that the spouses’ ownership shares are not quantitatively determined. All tangible assets (movable and immovable), rights and other property titles lawfully obtained by one of the spouses during the marriage are subject to the community property, except for:

• Assets obtained by inheritance;
• Assets obtained as a gift;
• Assets which, when considering their nature, serve the personal needs or the profession of only one spouse;
• Assets returned under the regulations on property restitution to one spouse who owned the returned asset before concluding the marriage or to whom the asset was returned as the legal successor of the original owner. (§ 143 Občianskeho zákonníka (OZ) – Civil Code)

2.2. Are there legal assumptions concerning the attribution of property?

No such legal presumptions exist.

2.3. Should the spouses establish an inventory of assets? If so, when and how?

There is no requirement to draw up an inventory of assets.

2.4. Who is in charge of the administration of the property? Who is entitled to dispose of the property? May one spouse dispose of/administer the property alone or is the consent of the other spouse necessary (e.g. in cases of disposal of the spouses’ home)? What effect does the missing consent have on the validity of a legal transaction and on opposability towards a third party?

Assets belonging to the community property may be used by both spouses if they do not stipulate otherwise.

Furthermore, the spouses share the costs spent on the common assets or their use or maintenance (§ 144 OZ). If only one spouse has covered the costs from his/her own property, he/she may claim reimbursement of his/her expenses in the course of the division of the community property.

If the spouses do not agree about the way of using a common asset or about the settlement of costs which must be spent on the asset, any spouse may apply to the court to decide the disputed matter. Ordinary matters concerning the community property may be settled by either of the spouses. The term “ordinary matter” is not defined in the Civil Code, so the legal practice and the circumstances of a particular case must be considered. Legal practice for example does not consider as an ordinary matter the conclusion of a rental contract, the acquisition or sale of real-estate or other valuable assets. In other matters, the consent of both spouses is required, otherwise the legal transaction is invalid, provided the other spouse or the addressee of the legal transaction claims the invalidity.

2.5. Are any legal transactions made by one spouse also binding on the other?

Legal transactions involving community property which concern ordinary matters may be concluded by either of the spouses and oblige both spouses jointly and severally.

2.6. Who is liable for debts incurred during the marriage? Which property may be used by creditors to satisfy their claims?

Concerning legal transactions related to community property, both spouses are entitled and obliged jointly and severally (§ 145 ods.2 OZ). For example, each spouse is obliged to pay the full amount of the debt relating to community property and the creditor is entitled to claim the debt from both spouses independently or together. The spouses act independently outside the sphere of community property. The law allows for the claim of one spouse´s creditor, which was established during the marriage, to be satisfied during the enforcement proceedings from the community property. When the community property is later divided, each of the spouses has to compensate what was used from the community property for his/her personal property (§ 150 OZ) (see under 5.1).

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