Fully separate property

The values being comprised by fully separate property will not become community property under any circumstances, neither in case of divorce nor in case of death. Consequently, this part of the property is treated separately in the administration of the estate. However, fully separate property does not exclude the surviving spouse’s right to inheritance from the separate property.

If the fully separate property belongs to the predeceased, the spouse will inherit one half, and any children will inherit the other half. However, the spouse is not entitled to his or her statutory share of this property before the distribution of the estate and is further not entitled to retain undivided possession of the estate in respect of that part of the deceased’s property. The fully separate property must be distributed.

Separate property not subject to division in case of separation or divorce but only in case of the owner’s death

This specific kind of separate property applies in case of your separation or divorce. It means that the spouse concerned can keep the part of the property comprised by this specific separate property in case of divorce, whereas the property becomes community property if either of you dies. This may e.g. be relevant, if you bring substantial values into the marriage and do not wish your spouse to have any share thereof in case of divorce but only in case of your death.

In this connection, please note that any values in a separate business form part of your joint property and must therefore be divided in case of divorce. If you wish to secure the possibility of continuing the business in an unchanged form after a divorce, such values must be subject to separate property not subject to division in case of separation or divorce but only in case of the owner’s death.

Or a combination …

There are many options of combining fully separate property and separate property not subject to division in case of separation or divorce but only in case of the owner’s death. Maybe you wish fully separate property only to comprise only part of the property, whereas other parts should be comprised by the specific form of separate property described above.

Apart from drawing up a will, you may also ensure by means of a marriage contract that the surviving spouse is better off financially in case of the other spouse’s death. In marriages with both separate children and children of the marriage, you may ensure, among other things, by combining a will with separate property not subject to division in case of separation or divorce but only in case of the owner’s death that that the surviving spouse can remain in the previous matrimonial home, until the youngest children have grown up.

You can read more about marriage contracts under Pensions; Gifts by marriage settlements or return to Marriage Contracts.

Should you have any questions to the above, please feel free to contact us by telephone +4570151000 or email to: mail@70151000.dk