1 Which law applies?
1.1. Which law is applicable to a couple´s property? Which criteria/rules are used to determine the applicable law? Which international conventions have to be respected with regard to certain countries?
According to the Private International Law Act, if the spouses have not made a choice of law, then the law applicable to the general legal consequences of marriage at the time the spouses entered into marriage shall be applied to their property relations. The general legal consequences are determined according to the law of the country of the spouses’ common place of residence. In the absence of a common place of residence, the law of the country of common citizenship is applied. If the spouses reside in different states and have different citizenships, the general legal consequences of the marriage shall be determined on the basis of the law of the state of their last common residence, if one of the spouses still resides in this state. If it is not possible to determine which law applies on the basis of the aforementioned grounds, the law of the country with which the spouses are otherwise most closely connected is to be applied.
Different rules derived from international agreements (agreements on legal aid) are applied in case the spouses or one of the souses is national of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia or Ukraine or if the spouses are residing in those States.
1.2. Do the spouses have the option of choosing the applicable law? If so, by which principles is this choice governed (e.g. the laws to be chosen, formal requirements, retro-activity)?
According to the Private International Law Act, the spouses may choose the law applicable to their property relations. They may choose either the law of the state of residence of one of the spouses or the law of the state of citizenship of one of the spouses at the time of the choice of law.
