Divorce settlement
agreement
Divorce settlement agreement:settling the consequences yourselves
Mieke Karcher, attorney at law · as of July 2026
In a divorce, not everything has to be fought out in court. Maintenance, assets, pension entitlements, the home and the arrangements for the children can be recorded in advance in a single contract, and what you settle that way a judge no longer has to decide.
Such an agreement is usually concluded during the separation phase or before the divorce becomes final. It is a tool of order, not an admission that there is a dispute; the amicable divorce in particular lives on it. What is decisive is the form: some clauses are valid only before a notary, others require no particular form, and some do not bind the court in any case.
What belongs
in it
Everything at once, not one after the other
Practically everything the divorce brings with it as a consequence can be settled: separation and post-marital maintenance, the division of assets and accrued gains, the pension rights adjustment, the matrimonial home, property and household goods, right through to arrangements on custody and contact.
The value of a good agreement lies in thinking these points together rather than working through them one after the other. Anyone trading the pension rights adjustment against the property has to be able to value both sides. Otherwise a trade is agreed whose ratio nobody has examined.
The
form
Which clause needs which form
This is the point at which agreements fail in practice. An agreement is only as good as its weakest clause: where the prescribed form is missing, it is void (§ 125 BGB), and family law knows no cure for that here.
| Clause | Form | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Post-marital maintenance | notarial, mandatory | § 1585c BGB |
| Pension rights adjustment | notarial, mandatory | § 7 VersAusglG |
| Accrued gains & assets | notarial, mandatory | § 1378 (3) BGB |
| Transfer of property | notarial, mandatory | § 311b BGB |
| Separation maintenance | no particular form | enforceable record recommended |
| Child maintenance | no particular form | no waiver at the child's expense |
| Custody & contact | does not bind the court | the child's welfare alone |
Four points, then, are valid before the divorce becomes final only in notarial form: signed privately, the paper is worthless there. The notary can be replaced only by a settlement recorded by the court (§ 127a BGB). Separation and child maintenance do require no particular form, but a notarial deed gives you an enforceable record you can act on without fresh proceedings.
The
limits
Where the limits lie
Not everything two people agree on holds up in court. Parents cannot waive the child's maintenance at the child's expense: the claim belongs to the child, not to them. And even a validly recorded agreement is examined by the court on two levels: for being contrary to public policy when it was concluded (§ 138 BGB) and for bad faith where one side later relies on it (§ 242 BGB).
In practice that means a one-sided total waiver can be set aside, above all with maintenance for the care of children and with the pension rights adjustment, because both lie close to the protective core. The accrued gains remain the most freely negotiable. Arrangements on custody and contact do not bind the court in any case; they are an important basis, but they do not replace the examination against the child's welfare.
Why the effort
pays off
Legal certainty instead of a dispute won
A solution by agreement is as a rule faster, cheaper and calmer than the dispute. Whoever comes to terms keeps the value in dispute low, saves hearings and keeps control over the outcome.
On top of that comes something a dispute won rarely gives: legal certainty for both sides and an enforceable record that needs no fresh proceedings. The effort deliberately lies at the beginning: an agreement that carries from the outset does not have to be repaired later, and a wrong form or an invalid waiver tears the whole package open again at the end.
How we
support you
Here both fields come together
A divorce settlement agreement is the point at which the two fields of this firm come together, and that is why both lawyers work on it.
In concrete
terms
What we take on for you
We first clarify which consequences there are to settle at all and where your interests lie, before anything is negotiated. Then we draft the contract that thinks the points together, examine the mandatory form for every clause and prepare the notarial recording, to which we accompany you. At the end stands an enforceable record you can act on without fresh proceedings.
Where it is possible, we lead both sides to a workable agreement; where it is not, we say so instead of building an agreement that is set aside later.
The conversation takes place at Frankenallee in Frankfurt-Gallus or by video, in German, English or Spanish as you prefer. We reply to written enquiries usually within one working day.
How the process
runs
From taking stock to the enforceable record
At the start stands taking stock: what is there to settle at all, that is maintenance, assets, pensions, the home, the children? After that comes negotiating and weighing up, with the points thought of as a package and trades balanced out fairly.
Before signing, the form is examined for every clause so that none of them is void (§ 125 BGB). Then follows the recording by the notary or a settlement recorded by the court (§§ 311b, 127a BGB). At the end stands an enforceable record and with it legal certainty for both sides.
That is the usual course; an individual case may differ (as of 2026).
Frequent
questions
What we are asked most often about this
When is the right moment?
As a rule during the separation phase, that is before the divorce becomes final. That has a practical reason: as long as the proceedings are running, both sides have an interest in a swift solution. Once the divorce is final that shared interest is spent, and every open question then needs proceedings of its own.
What does a divorce settlement agreement cost?
Notary fees are set by statute and follow the value of what is being settled; they are not open to negotiation. On top of that comes the fee for advice and drafting. Against that stands the fact that an agreement lowers the value in dispute of the ancillary matters. Calculated over the whole proceedings, the route by agreement is therefore usually the cheaper one.
What happens if circumstances change later?
Together, an agreement can be changed at any time, and in the same form in which it was concluded. Unilaterally that works only where the law provides for an alteration: with maintenance, for instance, after a substantial change in circumstances. It therefore pays to think adjustment clauses in from the outset.
What comes
next
What is up for discussion in your case
Assets & accrued gains
The assets side of the agreement.
ViewPensionPension rights adjustment
The pension entitlements and when the adjustment can be contracted out.
ViewMaintenanceSeparation & maintenance
Which maintenance claim applies when and how it is calculated.
ViewHousingMatrimonial home, property & household goods
Use, ownership and household goods as three separate questions.
ViewSettling earlierPrenuptial agreement
If you want to settle things before the marriage or in the middle of it instead of at the end: the same questions, only asked earlier.
ViewContextAmicable divorce
How an agreement fits into the course of the proceedings.
ViewMediatedMediation in separation and divorce
How the content comes about and when a mediated procedure carries.
ReadTaxTax after the separation
What has to be considered above all is the compensation for disadvantages under the Realsplitting scheme.
ReadSources
The provisions mentioned in the text in their official wording at “Gesetze im Internet”, the portal of the German Federal Ministry of Justice.
Contact
You do not have to take the first step alone
Tell us about your situation. We reply personally, usually within one working day.