New Study Compares German and Bulgarian Matrimonial Property Law in Cross-Border Marriages

MIAMI, October 13, 2026 — OnScientia – International Journal of Business, Law & Health has published a study comparing the matrimonial property regimes of Germany and Bulgaria under EU Regulation 2016/1103. The analysis shows that while the Regulation harmonizes jurisdiction and the applicable law, substantive matrimonial property law remains national — creating potential gaps between matrimonial property law and succession law for cross-border couples.

The study “Matrimonial Property Regimes in Germany and Bulgaria — A Comparative Analysis under Regulation (EU) 2016/1103” by Stefan Reith contrasts two structurally opposing models. German law provides for the community of accrued gains (Zugewinngemeinschaft), under which each spouse retains separate property during the marriage and the gains accrued are equalized in money only when the marriage ends. Bulgarian law provides for the community of acquests (съпружеска имуществена общност), under which property acquired during the marriage becomes the joint property of both spouses from the outset.

Since January 29, 2019, Regulation (EU) 2016/1103 has harmonized, for the participating Member States — which include both Germany and Bulgaria — the rules on jurisdiction, applicable law, and the recognition and enforcement of decisions in international matrimonial property matters. The study finds that this harmonization is real but incomplete: the Regulation determines which court has jurisdiction and which law applies, but the substantive property regimes remain national, and the dissolution of a marriage is never governed by the Matrimonial Property Regulation alone.

According to the analysis, the clearest remaining gap arises on the death of a spouse. Under German law, the surviving spouse’s statutory share of the estate is increased by a flat-rate quarter (Section 1371(1) of the German Civil Code, BGB). Although this quarter functions as a matrimonial property equalization, the Court of Justice of the European Union held in Mahnkopf (C-558/16, judgment of March 1, 2018) that it is to be characterized as a matter of succession rather than matrimonial property. Because the two EU Regulations rely on different connecting factors, a German-Bulgarian couple’s matrimonial property regime may be governed by the law of one state and the succession by the law of the other — so that the surviving spouse’s entitlement is ultimately determined by the law applicable to the estate.

The study concludes that this divergence can be avoided if the same law is chosen for both the matrimonial property regime and the succession under Article 22 of the respective Regulation, and points out that such alignment currently depends on the parties’ choice of law rather than on the Regulations themselves.

The full study is published in OnScientia – International Journal of Business, Law & Health.

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