Division of marital property
Hej! Apologies, I have to explain this in English. I have a question about marriage and assets inheritance in case of death. My partner (American) and I (French) live in Sweden. He is divorced with children, one of them lives with us here in Sweden. His ex-wife is from the Czech Republic. I own a house. In case we get married, I understand the split of assets is automatically 50/50 (even if I'm the sole owner of the house now). This is not a problem. However, in case of death of my partner (future husband) post-marriage, I understand that the inheritance of the house automatically goes to his next in kin, hence 50% of the house could go to his children. However, the children not being of legal age (under 18), does the ex-wife have any grounds to claim any ownership on the house or any other of my current assets? If the answer is yes, what are the possible way around that? Thanks in advance
Lawline svarar
Hi and thank you for contacting Lawline with your legal matter!
To answer your question I will be using äktenskapsbalken (ÄktB).
Division of property in case of your husband's death
In case of your husband's death, a division of your marital property must be conducted (9:1 ÄktB). In a division of marital property the property is usually, as you are already aware of, divided equally between both parties. Generally, all of your property (including your house) will be considered marital property and is therefore included in the division.
Separate property however is not to be included in this divison (10:1 ÄktB). All property that is not separate property, is regarded as marital property (7:1 ÄktB). Marital property can be made separate through the establishment of a prenuptial agreement (7:2 ÄktB). Since the division of marital property is conducted before the distribution of the inheritance, this prevents your husband's children from inheriting the house. My recommendation is therefore to obtain a prenuptial agreement.
I hope my answer has provided you with some guidance on your matter. If you need help with a prenuptial agreement, our lawyers would be happy to help you with that (Lawline - Prenuptial agreement).
Best regards,
