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Posts on separation and divorce

Posts by attorney Mieke Karcher on the questions that come up most often in the first consultation.

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75 posts

ECB and EU staff · About 5 minutesSpouse with an EU pension: is your German pension still shared?If your spouse has an EU or ECB pension, the court does not have to divide your German pension right away. When it holds it back.
ECB and EU staff · About 5 minutesEU pension in a German divorce: rules for officials and contract staffA German family court does not divide a pension from EU service at the divorce. What applies instead, and what both spouses should watch for.
Pension rights adjustment · About 9 minutesCivil servant pension on divorce: how it is divided and reducedThe pension is divided in the pension adjustment and reduced from retirement, even if the other spouse is not yet drawing a pension. What helps.
Uncontested divorce · About 5 minutesConsent to the divorce: giving, refusing, withdrawing itConsenting to the divorce needs no lawyer of your own and waives no claim. What applies without consent and how long you can withdraw it.
Assets and accrued gains · About 7 minutesBitcoin and other crypto assets in the equalization of gainsCrypto assets count at their price on the cut-off date, and a later crash does not reduce the claim. How wallets are found and valued.
International family law · About 5 minutesSame-sex marriage from abroad: getting divorced in GermanyA German court divorces a same-sex marriage concluded abroad like any other. For older marriages, a special rule governs your property.
International family law · About 6 minutesBoth German, both abroad: getting divorced in GermanyIf you are both German, a German court can divorce you even while you live abroad. Which law it then applies surprises many couples.
Assets and accrued gains · About 6 minutesThe joint account on separation: withdraw, freeze, divideEach spouse is entitled to half of a joint account, and whoever withdraws more after the separation has to pay it back. What to sort out right away.
Marital home, property and household goods · About 6 minutesThe jointly rented home on separation: who stays, who is liableMoving out does not end the lease, and you stay liable for the rent. How to get out of the lease, who may stay, and what happens to rent and deposit.
Pension rights adjustment · About 6 minutesLife insurance in a divorce: accrued gains or pension adjustment?Whether a life insurance policy falls into the equalization of gains or the pension adjustment depends on whether it pays a pension or a lump sum.
Online divorce · About 4 minutesOnline divorce with children: what changes and what does notYou can prepare your divorce online even if you have children together. What the petition says about them and when it takes longer after all.
Separation and maintenance · About 6 minutesSelf-employed and paying maintenance: which income countsFor the self-employed, maintenance is based on three years of profit, not the tax assessment alone. What courts add back and what they deduct.
Assets and accrued gains · About 6 minutesSeparated for years, never divorced: what keeps runningIf you live apart but are not divorced, your spouse remains your heir, and property and pension claims keep growing. What that means and how to limit it.
Contested divorce · About 6 minutesAnnulment instead of divorce: when German law allows itAn annulment ends a marriage that was flawed at the wedding, for example by deception, threats or bigamy. In Germany, it does not apply retroactively.
International family law · About 6 minutesMoving abroad for work: what it changes in your divorceA job in Zurich, London or New York changes where you can get divorced and how salary and pension count. Here is what to settle before you move.
Uncontested divorce · About 6 minutesProperty, maintenance, home: the deadlines after a divorceOnce the divorce is final, deadlines run: one year for the lease, three years for accrued gains. What lapses and how to secure it in time.
Uncontested divorce · About 4 minutesSeparated under one roof: when the year of separation countsThe year of separation can run while you still share a home. What the court expects and how you record when the separation began.
Online divorce · About 5 minutesThe divorce petition: what information the court needsWhat goes into the divorce petition is set by § 133 FamFG. Which details and documents to gather, and what happens after filing.
Separation and maintenance · About 4 minutesBonus payments and maintenance: how variable pay countsA bonus counts for maintenance, spread over twelve months. What applies when bonuses vary and why deferred ones often do not count toward accrued gains.
Separation and maintenance · About 4 minutesGap year, voluntary service or work and travel: who pays support?School exchange, voluntary service, work and travel, semester abroad: when parents still owe child support and who pays the extra costs.
Separation and maintenance · About 5 minutesParent living abroad: how your child still gets child supportIf your child lives in Germany, German law governs child support, even when the paying parent lives abroad. Here is how you enforce it.
Separation and maintenance · About 3 minutesCompany car and maintenance: how the benefit in kind countsPrivate use of a company car raises your income for maintenance. What counts is the saving on car costs; the 1% tax rule is only a guide.
Pension rights adjustment · About 5 minutesCompany pension on divorce: how the pension adjustment divides itCompany pensions are divided on divorce, including BVV pensions and deferred compensation. When the division is external and where value is lost.
International family law · About 6 minutesSpouse living abroad: how the divorce works in GermanyEven if your spouse lives abroad or cannot be found, you can still get divorced in Germany. What changes for service of the petition and the hearing.
Pension rights adjustment · About 5 minutesPension earned abroad: what happens in the pension adjustmentForeign pension entitlements are not divided at the divorce. They are left for the adjustment afterward, and that can hold back German entitlements too.
Marital agreement · About 7 minutesHanded a prenup: sign it or have it reviewed?The notary records the agreement impartially and advises neither side. What to check in a marital agreement you are handed before you sign it.
Separation and maintenance · About 4 minutesMaintenance on a high income: where the percentage method endsOn a high income, the percentage method for maintenance ends. Above a need of €5,040 a month in 2026, what counts is what the family actually spent.
Marital agreement · About 5 minutesMarital agreement after the wedding: what is still possibleA marital agreement can be made at any time during the marriage. What happens to the gains accrued so far, and why the later date is often an advantage.
Marital agreement · About 5 minutesA prenup in English: possible with a German notary?A German notary can notarize a marital agreement in English or bilingually if they speak the language. Otherwise, an interpreter translates.
Marital agreement · About 5 minutesPrenuptial agreement: lawyer or notary, do I need both?Without a notary, there is no marital agreement; legal advice is optional. Here is when the notary alone is enough and when you need advice of your own.
International family law · About 6 minutesPrenup made abroad: is it valid in Germany?A marital agreement made abroad can also be valid in Germany. Whether it is depends on the law that governs it, its form and its content.
Marital agreement · About 5 minutesMarital agreement when buying a home: if one brings more equityIf one spouse puts more equity into a home purchase, part of it goes to the other on divorce. How a marital agreement prevents that.
Marital agreement · About 6 minutesProperty regime clause: when shareholders need a prenup or postnupMany articles of association require shareholders to have a marital agreement. What the property regime clause demands and which agreement satisfies it.
Separation and maintenance · About 5 minutesSeverance pay on separation: maintenance or accrued gains?Severance pay usually replaces salary and then counts for maintenance. What remains can go into the accrued gains, but it does not count twice.
Assets and accrued gains · About 4 minutesShares, portfolios and employee stock in the equalizationShares count in the equalization at their price on the cut-off date, minus latent tax. Employee shares that can still be forfeited are often left out.
International family law · About 6 minutesThe apartment in Mallorca: which property law applies to itThe marriage determines the property law, not where the apartment is. If Spanish law applies, Mallorca has a different regime from the rest of Spain.
First steps · About 6 minutesStill undecided: what a first consultation does and does not startA first consultation starts no year of separation and no application. What stays reversible, and the one point where waiting costs you money.
Marital agreement · About 6 minutesCan a prenup be made without a notary?Without notarization in the simultaneous presence of both spouses, a marital agreement is void. Here is what still works without a notary.
Marital agreement · About 6 minutesChanging or canceling a marital agreementA marital agreement can be changed or canceled at any time during the marriage, but only in the same notarial form and only by mutual consent.
Marital agreement · About 7 minutesChoice of law in a marital agreement for binational couplesProperty regime, divorce and maintenance each follow their own conflict rules. A marital agreement can settle all three, each within its own limits.
Marital agreement · About 7 minutesSettling post-marital maintenance in a marital agreementPost-marital maintenance can be capped, time-limited or excluded, and how far that holds depends on the protected core and on shared children.
Marital agreement · About 7 minutesWhat goes into a prenuptial agreement?A marital agreement is made of six building blocks, from the preamble to the closing provisions. And there are three points that do not belong in it.
Marital agreement · About 7 minutesWhen is a prenup or postnup invalid?German courts review marital agreements on two levels, and an agreement only fails where objective one-sidedness meets subjective inferiority.
How a divorce proceeds · About 4 minutesThe divorce hearing: how it runs in courtWhat awaits you at the divorce hearing before the family court: appearing in person, the hearing itself and the road to a final decision.
How a divorce proceeds · About 6 minutesDoes my divorce lawyer have to be in my city?Your divorce lawyer does not have to be in your city: any lawyer can represent you at every German family court, and your address decides the court.
How a divorce proceeds · About 6 minutesHow long does a divorce take?Four to twelve months on average. The three factors that set the pace, and what you can influence.
Assets and accrued gains · About 2 minutesInherited family home: why only €30,000 of €500,000 countA worked example of the inherited house in the equalization: not half the house counts, only the growth in value during the marriage after indexation.
Separation and maintenance · About 4 minutesSeparation before the divorce: what applies at onceWith the separation, rules of its own take effect immediately. What living apart means for maintenance, the home and tax, and what counts now.
First steps · About 4 minutesShared care in Frankfurt: when it fitsIn the shared care model the child lives about half the time with each parent. When that serves the child’s welfare, and what it means for maintenance.
International family law · About 6 minutesTwo possible countries: where should we file for divorce?With an international element, several states often have equal jurisdiction. Whoever files first fixes the court, and the court fixes the law.
How a divorce proceeds · About 4 minutesYear of separation: when can you file for divorce?Only after the year of separation does the law presume the marriage has failed. When the year begins, when to file and which exceptions exist.
International family law · About 6 minutesCan we divorce in Germany if we married abroad?A marriage concluded abroad can be dissolved in Germany. What is decisive is the spouses’ habitual residence; the place of the wedding does not count.
International family law · About 6 minutesTwo nationalities: under which law will we be divorced?Where there are several passports, the closest connection counts; a German passport usually takes precedence. A shared second nationality opens up room.
International family law · About 6 minutesForeign assets and accrued gains: which property law appliesIn cross-border cases, the EU Matrimonial Property Regulation decides which property law applies; without a choice of law, the first shared home counts.
International family law · About 6 minutesUnder which law are we divorced: German or foreign?The competent court and the applicable law are two different things. Rome III determines the divorce law, with a ladder of connecting factors.
Separation and maintenance · About 6 minutesChild support: how to read the Düsseldorf tableIncome group, age band, child benefit, protected minimum: how the figure in the Düsseldorf table becomes the amount you actually transfer.
Assets and accrued gains · About 5 minutesDebts in the divorce: who is liable for the joint loan?Marriage does not turn someone else’s debts into your own. Who nevertheless stands in for the joint loan, and why the bank does not have to play along.
Assets and accrued gains · About 5 minutesInheritance law during separation: the riskiest periodUntil the divorce is final, a separated spouse inherits as usual. When that right ends and which powers of attorney to revoke right away.
Uncontested divorce · About 5 minutesMediation in separation and divorce: when it worksMediation replaces neither lawyer nor court, but it can settle what follows a separation more cheaply and durably. How it works, and when it doesn’t.
Pension rights adjustment · About 5 minutesThe V10 pension adjustment questionnaire: what mattersForm V10 is the one place in divorce proceedings where you have a say in the pace. Which entitlements belong in it, and which are regularly forgotten.
Separation and maintenance · About 5 minutesPost-marital maintenance: when it endsAfter the divorce, self-responsibility applies. When maintenance is nevertheless owed, and why any time limit turns on the marriage-related disadvantage.
Separation and maintenance · About 4 minutesSeparation maintenance: who gets how much, and from when?Separation maintenance runs from the separation until the divorce is final. How the amount is formed and why the moment of demanding it decides months.
Separation and maintenance · About 4 minutesTax after separation: tax class, assessment, RealsplittingThe year of separation has a tax cut-off date that many people miss. When joint assessment is still possible, and how the Realsplitting scheme works.
Pension rights adjustment · About 5 minutesWhen the pension rights adjustment falls awayA short marriage, minor entitlements, gross inequity or an agreement: the four routes by which the pension rights adjustment shrinks or falls away.
How a divorce proceeds · About 4 minutesYour name after the divorce: keep it, drop it, combine itYou keep your married name after the divorce automatically, and you can drop it at any time with no deadline. What applies since the 2025 reform.
Marital agreement · About 3 minutesWhat does a prenuptial agreement cost?Notary fees for a marital agreement are set by statute (GNotKG) and follow the assets it covers; they are not open to negotiation.
Assets and accrued gains · About 3 minutesDisclosure of your spouse’s assets: what you are entitled toWhen accrued gains are divided, you are entitled to disclosure of your spouse’s assets, with documents. How § 1379 BGB uncovers vanished assets.
Marital agreement · About 4 minutesExcluding or changing accrued gains in a marital agreementA marital agreement can exclude or adjust the equalization of accrued gains: separation of property, a modified regime, and the limits of judicial review.
Divorce for business owners · About 4 minutesPaying the equalization without breaking up the businessThe equalization of accrued gains is due as a lump sum, but the value sits in the business. Deferral under § 1382 BGB and instalments protect liquidity.
Assets and accrued gains · About 3 minutesProperty in the equalization: the value, not the land registerA property enters the equalization at market value minus debts secured on it; half the house does not change owners. The same goes for inherited property.
Divorce for business owners · About 4 minutesHow is a business valued in the equalization of gains?A business enters the equalization of accrued gains at its true value: valued on two cut-off dates, less a notional owner’s salary.
Marital home, property and household goods · About 4 minutesShared home after separation in Germany: loan, buyout or saleThe land register decides who owns the house, and moving out releases nobody from the loan. Your options: a sale, a buyout, or a partition auction.
First steps · About 3 minutesTraveling with children: which travel documents do I need?When you need the other parent’s consent for a trip with your child, what belongs in a travel authorization and which identity papers are necessary.
Uncontested divorce · About 5 minutesDivorce without a lawyer: or is one enough for both?A divorce without a lawyer does not exist in Germany: representation before the court is mandatory. When a single lawyer is enough and what you save.
Online divorce · About 4 minutesOnline divorce or in person?An online divorce is not a separate procedure, only a digital way of handling it. What runs online, and why the court hearing remains.

Not legal advice

These posts describe the rule. Your case turns on circumstances that appear in no text: dates, documents, figures and what the other side does. We can only give you an assessment once we know them.

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