Divorce Laws

Question

Hello:

I would like to consult the general rule about the property division for divoice in Sweden for my friend.

She and her husband are both swedish citizens. They have been married more than 10 years and have 2 kids. Recently they are undergoing the divoice process. The apartment they bought after their marriage is under her name and they have some cash saving. The husband owns a company. Is everything they own including the company 50%, 50% to them generally? The main concern is about his company, Can the wife have the 50% ownership of the company or equivalent value of money if they divoice?

Thanks a lot for your help in advance!

Answer 1

Hi and thank you for your question.

Yes as you assume the general rule in Sweden is that everything is marital property and should be divided 50/50 when they divorce. You can read the law here: 7 kap. 1 § ÄktB. The exception is when a married couple have signed a prenuptial agreement, in that case you can exclude property from being marital property. Other exceptions are when the husband or wife has received a gift or heritage with the condition that it is private property(7 kap. 2 § ÄktB).

In practice the following happens when a divorce take place in Sweden:

First the spouses shares marital properties are calculated. Each one owns her/his property individually which means that the other one have no claim on the specific property but the nominal value. The spouse with the most property can then choose whether to transfer assets of equivalent value or give the other one a lump sum to equalize (11 kap. 9 § ÄktB). When they split up properties he can for example get full ownership of the company as long as she gets half of their total nominal value.

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Kind Regards,