For all legal actions brought, judgments given and acts issued until 28 January 2019, in accordance with the general rules of jurisdiction, Croatian courts have international jurisdiction in cases where the defendant has his or her habitual residence in the Republic of Croatia (Article 46 paragraph 1 of the Private International Law Act).

Croatian courts also have international jurisdiction for disputes over matrimonial property if a defendant does not have his or her habitual residence in the Republic of Croatia but a plaintiff has his or her habitual or temporary residence in Croatia at the time of undertaking legal action (Article 59 paragraph 1 of the Private International Law Act).

If the majority of the matrimonial property is located in the Republic of Croatia, and the rest is located abroad, the court can decide on the property that is located abroad only if it decides on the property located in the Republic of Croatia and only if the defendant agrees to this (Article 59 paragraph 2 of the Private International Law Act).

However, Croatian Courts have exclusive jurisdiction for disputes over the right to dispose of immovable property located on the territory of the Republic of Croatia (Article 56 of the Private International Law Act).

Spouses may agree on the jurisdiction of a foreign court only if one of them is a foreign national and if it is not a case of exclusive competence of Croatian courts.

Spouses may agree on the jurisdiction of Croatian courts if at least one of them is a Croatian national (Article 49 paragraph 2 of the Private International Law Act).

For all legal actions brought, judgments given and acts issued on or after 29 January 2019, regardless of the date of marriage, Council Regulation (EU) No 2016/1103 of 24 June 2016 will apply.

This Regulation provides that the competent authorities will be as follows:

- For matters relating to the matrimonial regime in the event of the death of one of the spouses, jurisdiction lies with the court competent for the succession (Art. 4).

- In matters relating to the matrimonial property regime in the event of an application for divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment, jurisdiction generally falls to the court competent to rule on the matrimonial dispute.

- In other cases, the spouses may agree that jurisdiction shall lie with the Member State whose law is applicable or with the Member State where the marriage is concluded. Such an agreement must be in writing, dated and signed by the parties. In the absence of an agreement, the courts of the Member State shall, as a general rule, have jurisdiction to settle any question relating to their matrimonial property regime other than in the event of the death of one of the spouses or a matrimonial dispute:

• of the spouses’ common habitual residence at the time the court is seised; or failing that
• of the spouses’ last habitual residence, insofar as one of them still resides there; or failing that
• of the habitual residence of the respondent; or failing that
• of the spouses’ common nationality.

With the exception of any litigation, notaries – unless they have been appointed by their Member State as a court within the meaning of Article 3.2 – are not bound by these rules of jurisdiction and may therefore act freely, for example in drafting a marriage contract or a choice of law agreement. Croatian legislation does not provide for a notarial competence that would fall within the scope of exercising judicial functions or acting by delegation of power by a judicial authority in family law related matters (divorce, separation, division of assets and similar). The notarial function in this field consists of possible drafting of agreements and authentication (a certification of the spouses’ signatures on the agreement would also meet the validity requirements set out by the Croatian Family Act).

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