Matrimonial Partition

Assets acquired during marriage are common (with the exceptions below) and are generally divided 50%-50%.

Personal property (remains the party's):

• Assets acquired before marriage
• Assets received through inheritance or donation
• Personal use assets
• Assets acquired with proven personal funds

Form of partition:

• Conventional — by agreement, most efficient (notarial)
• Judicial — the court divides in nature or assigns to one party with payment of equalizers

For real estate, expert valuation is performed. Each party's share may be modified if unequal contribution is proven (e.g.: one invested personal funds).

Assets acquired before marriage are personal property and remain entirely the spouse's who holds them. They are kept upon divorce.

Complicated exceptions:

• If significant investments were made from common funds — the other spouse may seek proportional reimbursement
• If the property was renovated from common savings — claim right
• If it was mortgage-purchased and installments were paid from common salaries — the part of the property acquired during marriage may be considered common property

For clarity, we recommend a matrimonial agreement before or during marriage, detailing the property regime — increasingly used in Romania post-2011 (when separate matrimonial regime was reintroduced).

The separate matrimonial regime (separation of assets) is an alternative to the legal community regime, reintroduced in the 2011 Civil Code. Characteristics:

• Distinct patrimonies — each spouse keeps as personal everything they acquire, regardless of whether before or after marriage
• Debts remain personal — one spouse does not respond for the other's debts
• Common expenses shared — proportional with incomes (configurable by agreement)

Typical cases of choice:

• Second marriage — protecting the rights of children from the first marriage
• Entrepreneurs — separating business risks from family patrimony
• Significant inequality of initial wealth
• High-income professionals wanting to maintain financial independence

Chosen through a notarial matrimonial agreement, before or during marriage (with both spouses' consent).

Hiding assets is a frequent problem in partition. Identification strategies:

1. Information request to banks — the court may order banks to communicate all accounts in the spouse's name. Frequently used.
2. ANAF + Trade Registry verification — for income statements, share holdings, associate status
3. CF + ANCPI verification — for properties in the spouse's name in any county of the country
4. Private detective investigation — for movable assets, transfers to relatives, offshore accounts
5. Company accounting audit — for SRL/SA associates, with court mandate

For hidden assets discovered after the initial partition, there is supplementary partition action — limitation period of 3 years from awareness. Recommendation: do not accept rapid partition without complete audit, especially for significant wealth.

The answer depends on the legal structure:

• Associate in SRL (LLC) — company debts remain the company's, spouses respond only with the value of social shares (limited). In partition, social shares (or their value) are divided.
• PFA / II (sole proprietorship) — personal liability for activity debts. Debts are common if they generated income used jointly (Civil Code Article 339), personal if pre-existing the marriage.
• Personal guarantees (avalist, guarantor) — the spouse who signed responds personally, but may seek recourse in partition if the money was used jointly.

Caution: company insolvency arising during divorce considerably complicates partition — the judicial administrator may attack suspicious operations (asset transfers to relatives, undervalued sales). Recommendation: divorce and business restructuring should be legally coordinated.