A prenuptial agreement, which Czech law calls an agreement on the matrimonial property regime (smlouva o manželském majetkovém režimu), decides what falls into community property and what belongs to one of you alone. For a mortgage, that settles who owns the flat and how it is divided on divorce. Your obligation to the bank stays exactly as it was: whoever signed the loan agreement owes the full amount, whatever the spouses have agreed between themselves.
The agreement has to be made as a notarial deed, and you can sign it before the wedding or at any point during the marriage. It helps most in two situations: when one of you comes into the marriage with a mortgaged flat, and when one of you runs a business and does not want future business debts to reach the family home.
Four regimes and what they mean for the flat
| Regime | Flat bought during the marriage | Mortgage |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory (no agreement) | community property of both spouses | the debt is joint; the bank usually wants both spouses as co-borrowers |
| Separate property | belongs to whoever bought it | owed by whoever signed; the bank assesses that person's income |
| Community property deferred until the marriage ends | belongs to the buyer during the marriage; on divorce it is settled as if it were joint | during the marriage, as under separate property |
| Narrowed or extended community property | as agreed, for example with one particular flat kept outside the community property | depends on which property the debt belongs to |
The agreement can cover individual items and future property, and can set out in advance how property will be divided on divorce (§ 717 and 718 of the Civil Code). It must not, however, leave a spouse unable to provide for the family (§ 719(1)), and any clause with retroactive effect is disregarded.
Why the bank wants your spouse's signature
Without an agreement, debts taken on during the marriage also become community property. The exception is a debt one spouse takes on alone, without the other's consent, beyond the family's ordinary needs (§ 710). A mortgage is not an ordinary family need. If the other spouse objected to the debt in time, the bank could reach the community property only to a limited extent (§ 732). That is why it wants them as a co-borrower, or at least wants their consent.
Under separate property, one spouse can sign the mortgage alone, and the bank counts only that person's income and commitments. It will ask to see the notarial deed. Some banks still want the other spouse to consent to the lien, because the law protects the family home (§ 747).
What an agreement cannot do is make an existing debt go away. It has no effect against a bank that did not consent to it (§ 719(2)). A debt that arose less than six months before the change of regime can be enforced against everything that would otherwise have been community property (§ 733).
Is a flat bought before the wedding community property?
A flat one of you bought before the wedding is not community property even without an agreement, and its mortgage is that person's debt. After the wedding, though, the payments usually come out of salaries, and salaries are joint by law (§ 711). On divorce, the owner of the flat must reimburse what joint money went into it, adjusted for the change in its value (§ 742).
Marek and Lenka, ten years on (assumptions: before the wedding in 2026 Marek buys a flat with a mortgage of CZK 3,000,000 over 25 years at 5.00 %, payment CZK 17,538; after the wedding he pays it for 10 years from a joint account that both salaries go into).
- The 120 payments come to roughly CZK 2.1 million. By the annuity formula, about CZK 1,322,000 of that is interest and CZK 782,000 repaid principal. The outstanding balance is approximately CZK 2,218,000.
- The flat remains Marek's. On divorce, however, Lenka can ask him to reimburse the community property for what it spent on his flat, and claim half. Even if the court counted only the principal repaid, her claim would be around CZK 391,000 before any adjustment for the flat's value.
- With an agreement stating that Marek's income used for the payments is not community property, no such claim arises. Lenka gives up part of the shared property by signing, so she should understand exactly what she is agreeing to.
Whether a court counts the full payments or only the principal repaid depends on the circumstances of the case. An agreement removes that uncertainty for both of you. How the settlement works without one is described in Mortgage and divorce.
If Marek wants the flat to belong to both of them, he can give Lenka a share. A gift between spouses is exempt from income tax (§ 10(3)(c) of the Income Tax Act), and the share passes by a deed of gift registered in the land registry for CZK 2,000. A gifted share will as a rule be Lenka's separate property, not part of the community property (§ 709(1)(b) of the Civil Code). If the flat carries a lien with a ban on transfer, you need the bank's consent first.
When and how do you sign a prenuptial agreement?
- Form: a notarial deed, otherwise the agreement is invalid (§ 716(2)).
- Before the wedding: an agreement between an engaged couple takes effect on the wedding day (§ 720(1)). Useful when one of you already has a mortgaged flat.
- During the marriage: possible at any time, but the agreement must also deal with property that is already in the community (§ 717(2)).
- A flat in the land registry: if the agreement concerns existing real estate, it binds third parties only once it is entered in the land registry (katastr) (§ 720(2)).
- Public register: the notary enters the agreement in the register of matrimonial property documents if the agreement says so or you both ask (§ 721). Banks and other creditors can then check your regime easily.
- Cost: the notary's fee follows the notarial tariff and depends on what the agreement covers and on the value of the property. Ask for the figure in advance.
- A mortgage in the pipeline: send the draft to the bank before you sign and ask whether it will accept it and whom it will want as a co-borrower. The How much can I borrow calculator shows what you can get on one income.
Unmarried couples have no matrimonial regime at all and settle similar questions in a co-owners' agreement; see Joint mortgage for unmarried partners.
Sources
- Act No. 89/2012 Coll., Civil Code, § 708–711 (community property), § 716–721 (agreed regime), § 731–733 (protection of creditors), § 742 (settlement), § 747 (family home)
- Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic – register of matrimonial property regime documents
- Decree No. 196/2001 Coll., on notaries' fees and expenses (notarial tariff)