Property, maintenance, home: the deadlines after a divorce

Why deadlines start once the divorce is final

Deadlines start because a protection ends: as long as the marriage lasts, claims between spouses cannot become time-barred § 207 (1) BGB. Once the divorce is final, that protection is gone, and the ordinary deadlines apply to everything the proceedings left open.

In an einvernehmliche Scheidung (uncontested divorce), a lot often stays open. On its own initiative, the court only deals with the divorce and the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment). The home, the equalization claim and maintenance only become part of the proceedings if someone applies for it. Many couples deliberately leave them out so the divorce goes through quickly, and plan to reach an agreement later. That is a sensible route, as long as both of you know the deadlines.

One year for the lease on the marital home

If you want to become the sole tenant of the marital home after the divorce, you have one year from the date the divorce becomes final to enforce that; after that, the claim is extinguished § 1568a (6) BGB. It is enough if your application to the Familiengericht (family court) has been served on the other side by then.

If you agree, you do not need a court. The two of you notify the landlord together of who is keeping the home. Once the landlord receives that notice, the spouse who stays continues the lease alone § 1568a (3) BGB. The landlord does not have to consent. Send the notice within the year, because after that the claim it rests on has lapsed.

If the year passes unused, the lease stays as it is. If both of you are named in it, the spouse who moved out remains liable for the rent, even years later. If there is no lease because the home belongs to one of you, the spouse who stays can demand a tenancy on customary local terms § 1568a (5) BGB. The one-year deadline applies to that as well. More on the home is on our page on the marital home, property and household goods.

Three years for the equalization of accrued gains

The claim to Zugewinnausgleich (accrued gains) becomes time-barred three years after the end of the year in which the divorce became final §§ 195, 199 (1) BGB. The reason is that the equalization claim only arises once the divorce is final § 1378 (3) sentence 1 BGB.

If the divorce becomes final in March 2026, for example, the period starts at the end of that year and runs out when 2029 ends. Waiting does not change the amount, because the cut-off date for the calculation is the day the Scheidungsantrag (divorce petition) was served § 1384 BGB. What gets lost over time are documents and memories.

Two things stop the clock. While you negotiate about the equalization, the limitation period is suspended until one side breaks off the talks § 203 BGB. An application to the Familiengericht (family court) suspends it as well § 204 (1) no. 1 BGB. If you only ask the court for disclosure, the payment is not protected. For that you need a staged action, which combines disclosure and payment. What disclosure covers is explained in Disclosure of your spouse’s assets: what you are entitled to.

Post-marital maintenance only from the demand

You can claim post-marital maintenance for past periods only from the month in which you asked the other side for disclosure or payment § 1585b (2), § 1613 (1) BGB. For the months before that, there is nothing.

Separation maintenance ends when the divorce becomes final. Maintenance for the time after that is a separate claim, and a decision or agreement on separation maintenance does not cover it. If you still need maintenance, ask for it again in writing after the divorce.

Maintenance for any period more than one year before a court application is served is owed only if the other side deliberately avoided paying § 1585b (3) BGB. Whether and for how long post-marital maintenance is owed is covered in Post-marital maintenance: when it ends.

When a foreign pension is adjusted later

Entitlements with a foreign pension provider are not divided at the divorce; they are left for an adjustment after the divorce § 19 (2) no. 4 and (4) VersAusglG. The same applies to an occupational pension that was not yet vested at the time of the divorce. The court lists the entitlements still open in the reasons for its decision § 224 (4) FamFG.

The adjustment does not happen on its own. The court decides only on application § 223 FamFG. The claim becomes due once the other side draws a pension from the entitlement and you have reached a pension event yourself, such as drawing your own pension or reaching the standard retirement age § 20 VersAusglG.

For past periods, the same limit applies as for maintenance § 20 (3) VersAusglG. If you only learn years later that the other side has long been drawing a pension, the months before your demand are lost. So keep the decision, and keep track of when the other side retires. How this adjustment works is explained in Pension earned abroad: what happens in the pension adjustment.

What finality means for your health insurance

If you were insured through your spouse under the statutory Familienversicherung (family coverage), that coverage ends when the divorce becomes final § 10 (1) SGB V. There is no gap. Your health insurance fund continues to insure you as a voluntary member from the next day § 188 (4) SGB V.

You then pay the contributions yourself. If you have other cover, for example private insurance, you can leave within two weeks of the fund’s notice. Tell the fund the date the divorce became final. If you were covered through a private policy or through the civil-service health allowance (Beihilfe), clarify the transition early with your insurer.

What has no deadline

You can take back your former name without any deadline. You can do so weeks, months or years after the divorce becomes final, as Your name after the divorce: keep it, drop it, combine it shows. The law sets no separate deadline for dividing household goods either. Waiting rarely pays off all the same, because what is no longer there cannot be divided.

The beneficiary designation in a life insurance policy is not a deadline, but it is a trap. The insurer pays the person named in the policy, even after the divorce. What you should change in your will, powers of attorney and insurance policies is covered in Inheritance law during separation: the riskiest period.

The next step

Once the divorce is final, agreements on the Zugewinnausgleich (accrued gains) and on post-marital maintenance no longer need a notary § 1378 (3) sentence 2, § 1585c sentence 2 BGB. If real estate changes hands, notarization is still required. If the divorce is still ahead of you, settle these points beforehand in a divorce settlement agreement. Then no deadline runs against you.

The first consultation costs up to €190 plus VAT, at most €226.10 in total. If we take on your case, this fee does not apply. What proceedings cost after that is set out on our page on costs.