A prenuptial agreement is a type of legal contract in which the parties can determine the management and division of their property during the marriage and after the end of the marriage within the framework of the Turkish Civil Code. The contract in question is based on the joint declaration of will of the parties and is named as the “property regime” contract in the Turkish Civil Code.
The prenuptial agreement, which is regulated between Articles 202 and 208 of the Turkish Civil Code, aims to protect the economic rights of the spouses, to provide clarity on the division of property, to protect the heirs and to protect the other party from debts that may arise or existing debts. It should not be forgotten that the prenuptial agreement is limited to a mutual agreement that reveals the will of the parties about their assets.
Pursuant to Article 202/2 of the Turkish Civil Code, the legal basis of the prenuptial agreement is as follows: “Spouses may accept one of the other regimes specified in the law through a property regime agreement. ” Furthermore, pursuant to Article 203 of the Turkish Civil Code Pursuant to Article 203 of the Turkish Civil Code, the time when the prenuptial agreement can be concluded is stated as follows: “The property regime agreement may be concluded before or after the marriage.” While the contract in question can be made in the form of arrangement or approval at the notary public, they can also notify in writing which property regime they have chosen during the marriage application.
With the Prenuptial agreement (property regime contract), spouses can choose one of the following regimes:
1)Regime of Participation in Acquired Property
Pursuant to Article 202/1 of the Turkish Civil Code, the main regime type accepted between the spouses is the regime of participation in acquired property. If the parties do not choose any type of property regime before or during the marriage, the acquired property regime is deemed to exist between them by law. All property acquired by the spouses from the beginning of the marriage until its dissolution (divorce or death) is considered as common property and the property is divided equally.
2)Separation of Property Regime
Under this form of marriage regime, the spouses are not considered partners in the property acquired during the marriage union. The parties have the right to benefit, manage and dispose of their own assets.
3) Shared Property Regime
The regime of separation of property with sharing is a type of regime that can be said to carry both the regime of separation of property and the regime of participation in acquired property in terms of their results. In this type of regime, the spouses have the right to manage, benefit and dispose of their own assets, and if the parties claim that any of the goods belong to them, they are under the obligation to prove their claim. If the claiming party fails to prove his/her claim regarding the property in question, that property is deemed to be the common property of the spouses.
4)Property Partnership Regime
In the community of property regime, all of the property acquired by the spouses during the marriage is considered as community property. All kinds of income earned by the spouses are within the scope of acquired assets. Property acquired before the marriage is excluded from this partnership, and all property acquired during the marriage is divided equally during the liquidation.
