Pursuant to Hungarian family law, nuptial agreements are contracts regulating the property rights of couples prior to, and/or during their marriage.
Since Council Regulation (EU) 2016/1103 of 24 June 2016 on implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of jurisdiction, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matters of matrimonial property regimes is not applicable in Hungary, as a rule of thumb, in Hungary the Hungarian International Private Law Act governs the competent court and choice of law rules concerning nuptial agreements (Act XXVIII of 2017).
Hungarian courts have jurisdiction over nuptial agreements
- if the defendant is habitually resident in Hungary (habitual residence is established based on all of the circumstances of the case),
- or if the last common place of residence of the parties was in Hungary provided one of them is still habitually resident in Hungary when the court procedure is launched,
- or if both parties are Hungarian citizens.
Furthermore, if the immovable or movable property subject to the procedure is located in Hungary, this detail also results in the competence of Hungarian courts. Additionally, Hungarian courts may proceed with deciding on nuptial agreements if this is an ancillary question in the divorce or inheritance proceedings, whereby Hungarian courts do have competence. It is also worth mentioning that Hungary has a handful of bilateral agreements that override the aforementioned (i.e., with Poland).
As to the choice of law, the liberty of the parties is somewhat restricted. Hungarian law can be validly chosen
- if one of them is a Hungarian citizen when entering into the nuptial agreement,
- or if one of them habitually resides in Hungary when entering into the nuptial agreement, or if a court procedure has been launched.
As a general rule, the choice of law shall be applicable in a pro futuro manner, i.e., for the future. If they intend to apply an ex tunc manner, i.e., from the outset, it is important to highlight that such shall not impact the vested rights of third parties.
Whenever international private law questions arise, it is imperative to also have in mind certain general limitations which might come into play depending on the individual circumstances of the case, such as ordre public and imperative provisions, which may further complicate the matter.
