Who Opts Out? The Customisation of Marriage in the German Matrimonial Property Regime

Abstract

This study examines the prevalence of marital contracts across marriage cohorts (1990–2019) in Germany. We further investigate the characteristics of spouses who signed a marital contract. Using cross-sectional data from the German Family Panel (pairfam, 2018/19), we employ complementary log–log and multinomial logistic regression models to predict the prevalence and the type of marital contracts. The results show that 5% of all married couples opt out of the default matrimonial property regime by signing a contract in Germany. Differentiating between contract types, most couples either specify a separation of property (40%) or modify the default community of accrued gains (31%). We find an increase in the prevalence of marital contracts across marriage cohorts. The decision to opt out of the default is strongly positively associated with self-employment that often requires the customisation of asset ownership structures within marriage. Married individuals with prior divorce experiences are more likely to opt for the separation of property, indicating that the awareness of the economic consequences of divorce promotes the individualisation of marriage. Our results are in line with the cross-national trend towards customised marriages, although the trend in Germany is less pronounced than in other countries.

Financial Solidarity or Autonomy? How Gendered Wealth and Income Inequalities Influence Couples’ Money Management

“…Third, the birth of a child seems to have a negative impact on women's wealth development, while men's wealth is hardly affected by it (Lersch et al, 2017). Fourth, the matrimonial property regime seems to matter (Nutz et al, 2022). While married couples with a community property regime accumulate less wealth than married couples with a separate property regime, the gender wealth gap is smaller among couples with a community property regime (for data from France see Frémeaux & Leturcq, 2022).…”

“…While married couples with a community property regime accumulate less wealth than married couples with a separate property regime, the gender wealth gap is smaller among couples with a community property regime (for data from France see Frémeaux & Leturcq, 2022). However, married couples only very rarely opt out of the default property regime of accrued gains in Germany (Nutz et al, 2022).…”

“…Since the female homemaker bears the burden of higher economic risks, the reciprocal norm of solidarity between the partners ensures redistribution of income via the pooling system. This norm of partnership solidarity is reinforced by the normative ideal of the modified male breadwinner model that underlies the conservative German welfare state, for example, through the joint taxation of married couples with very unequal incomes (Hipp & Leuze, 2015), derived social security entitlements for the partner with no or only a very low income (Minkus & Busch-Heizmann, 2020), or the community of accrued gains as the default matrimonial property regime (Nutz et al, 2022). This should likewise hold true for female breadwinning couples.…”

“…Moreover, there are no clear institutional incentives to pool wealth throughout the partnership, a feature that distinguishes wealth from income. Even in the default matrimonial property regime, the community of accrued gains, personal wealth remains the individual property of the two partners (Nutz et al, 2022). In addition, wealth inequalities within couples are not visible in everyday routines but only become relevant in certain situations, for instance when couples separate (Boertien & Lersch, 2021;Kapelle, 2022).…”

Wealth Accumulation and the Gender Wealth Gap Across Couples’ Legal Statuses and Matrimonial Property Regimes in France

“…It remains unclear whether it would be generalizable to European countries with another type of default property regime, such as community of accrued gains. In Germany, where the default marital contract is the community of accrued gains, Nutz et al (2022) found that 5% of all married couples opt out of the default marital contract. Approximately half of them opt for a separate property regime, which is lower than in France or Italy.…”