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

SUBMITTER: Nutz T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9363548 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature