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Do you know the consequences of your upcoming marriage, and what to pay attention to?

First of all: CONGRATULATIONS to you! ♥

  • Now that you’re married, do you automatically share everything you own?
  • Do other rules apply if my spouse isn’t Danish or if my spouse doesn’t live in Denmark?
  • If one owns significantly more than the other, do you still have to share EVERYTHING?
  • Should a prenuptial agreement be established and registered before we get married?
  • Do my spouse’s children from previous relationships inherit from me?

There are many questions when getting married in addition to finding a wedding dress, tuxedo, wedding cake, music, party rooms and honeymoon.

In fact, it is far more important to know the consequences of getting married – and to know what the rules are for exactly Your marriage.

The first thing to be aware of that applies to ALL marriages and registered partnerships in Denmark is that

  • Spouses are liable for each other’s residual tax, i.e., is your spouse self-employed and has not paid enough tax, (VAT or other taxes), but also has a library fine during the year, then tax can recover the money from YOU, after tax has unsuccessfully tried to get your spouse to pay. The rule applies to ordinary employees and personal traders (personal tax), but not to corporation tax etc. in your spouse’s owned company.
  • In marriage, there is a division of property, which means that you have control over your property – both what you had before the marriage and what you earn, get and/or inherit etc. during the marriage. You are also still LIABLE for your own debt, both the one you had before the marriage and the one you may have acquired during the marriage. However, there are exceptions where you as a spouse may be liable for debts that the other has entered into (for instance, if the spouse orders a craftsman to perform work on your house). Or one may be required to return a gift from the spouse because the spouse is unable to pay his or her creditor(s).
  • When you get married, there is a subsequent change in the circle of people that inherit from you. No matter how many years you have lived together before marriage, it is your parents who inherit your assets when you die. One’s biological / adopted children take over the right of inheritance and exclude the parents. When one marries, the parents are also excluded. If you are both married and have children, the spouse inherits 50% and the children share the remaining 50%. Using a will, you can determine over 75% of your property, the last 25% is compulsory inheritance, which is divided by 12.5% for the spouse and 12.5% divided between the children. If you are unmarried and without children, you have no forced heirs and can thus decide on everything you own (100%).

WHAT ABOUT A DIVORCE?

Divorce is unfortunately a big risk today and should be dealt with, preferably before getting married so that one can deal with the consequences in advance.

If your spouse is not Danish, it may be the rules in the spouse’s home country or in the spouse’s country of residence (if the spouse does not have permanent residence in Denmark) that will apply in your marriage.

In the event of a divorce after a short-term marriage (2-3 years), you simply take your own things with you again when ending the marriage.

In the event of later divorces, everything is divided 50/50 with a few exceptions, as there may be a pre-emptive right to withdraw special assets, such as assets used primarily in one’s business.

The above surely doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t enjoy your wedding planning, because of course you should. Nonetheless, make sure to get clarity about your situation and make the decisions that ensures that a possible divorce or death, will be as one wishes.

You’ll probably enjoy your wedding more seeing that you are prepared for any situation.

 

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