Marriage contract: what you can include and how to conclude one

You have decided to conclude a marriage contract or you are already facing the need to regulate property relations with your spouse. Situations vary: some want to protect premarital property, some want to distribute income and expenses, and some want to avoid disputes on divorce. In Kazakhstan, a marriage contract is a lawful instrument, but it has its limits: not everything can be included, and not every condition will work.

Mistakes in a marriage contract are costly: an incorrectly drafted document may be declared invalid, and conditions that contradict the law will not be applied. People often download templates from the internet or rely on verbal agreements, not realising that the notary only checks the form, while the content remains the responsibility of the parties. As a result, instead of protection they get new disputes.

Marriage contract: when it is concluded and what it changes

A marriage contract in Kazakhstan is an instrument that regulates the property relations of spouses. Concluding a marriage contract makes sense when future or existing spouses have assets they want to keep as their personal property, or when they plan to distribute income and family expenses differently from the general rules. The contract allows them to agree in advance on who owns what and to avoid lengthy disputes in the event of divorce.

A marriage contract can be signed both before registering the marriage and at any time during the marriage. If a couple is only planning their wedding, the document will come into force from the day the marriage is registered. If the spouses are already married, the contract takes effect from the moment it is notarised. This is convenient: even if you have already lived together for many years and accumulated property, you can change its legal regime.

It is important to understand that a marriage contract does not regulate personal non-property relations. It cannot oblige spouses to live together, run a joint household, remain faithful, or prohibit filing for divorce. Nor can it include conditions on who will raise the children after divorce — that is the subject of separate agreements and court decisions. A marriage contract concerns only property: what belongs to whom, how income is divided, who bears the burden of obligations.

• Preservation of personal property acquired before marriage or received as a gift
• Distribution of the family's income and expenses
• Determination of shares in joint property
• Settlement of debts under loans and obligations

What can be set out in a marriage contract: the property regime

A marriage contract primarily determines the ownership regime for property. The law allows three options: joint, shared or separate. This means you can either preserve the spouses' joint property or allocate shares in advance, or fully separate each person's assets.

The second thing usually set out is the fate of income and property acquired during the marriage. The contract can establish who will receive earnings, business, deposits, and real estate bought during the marriage. It also determines the procedure for dividing property in the event of divorce, so that this issue does not have to be resolved in court at a time of conflict.

At the same time, the boundaries are strict. The contract cannot include the personal rights and duties of the spouses, or conditions concerning children. It cannot restrict legal capacity or legal capability, or the right to go to court. A standard marriage contract is built precisely around property, and everything else remains outside the document.

• Property regime: joint, shared or separate
• The fate of income and acquisitions during the marriage
• Procedure for division in the event of divorce
• Prohibition on conditions concerning personal rights and children

A standard marriage contract covers only the property matters of the spouses.

How to draw up a marriage contract and which documents are needed

A marriage contract can be drawn up in two ways: prepare the draft yourself or have a lawyer draft the marriage contract. Either way, the document is made in writing, and the signatures of the parties must be certified by a notary — without this it has no force. A lawyer helps to check the wording and not to miss the conditions you discussed but did not put down on paper.

A basic set of documents is needed to draw it up. Collect the identity documents of both spouses, the marriage certificate if the marriage is already registered, and the documents for all the property in question: statements, contracts, technical passports, information on accounts. If any of the papers are missing, it is worth sorting this out before the visit to the notary so as not to postpone the matter.

The main mistake is vague wording. In the contract it is important to describe the property and the procedure for its division precisely: specify the particular items, shares and conditions, otherwise in a dispute the document can easily be challenged or interpreted not in your favour. The second common mistake is to include conditions that the law treats as personal non-property relations or that concern children: such clauses do not work. The third is to leave the contract without notarial certification, assuming that signatures are enough.

• Identity documents of both spouses
• Marriage certificate
• Documents for the property in question
• Draft contract in writing

Marriage contract at a notary: execution and registration

A marriage contract at a notary is a mandatory stage. Without certification by a notary the document has no legal force, even if you have drawn it up impeccably. The notary checks the content of the contract for compliance with the law and explains to the parties the consequences of concluding it.

The execution of a marriage contract includes checking the legal capacity of the parties, explaining the meaning of the conditions and entering information on the certification into the register of the unified information system of notaries. The certification itself takes place in the personal presence of both spouses or future spouses.

If necessary, a lawyer can be engaged for consultation, preparation of the draft and representation of interests during certification. A lawyer helps to avoid mistakes in wording that could lead to the contract being challenged in the future.

• The notary certifies the contract and checks its legality.
• The information is entered into the unified register of notarial acts.
• A lawyer can prepare the draft and represent interests during certification.

How much a marriage contract costs: what the payment is made up of

When people search for how much a marriage contract costs, they usually want to understand the logic of the price rather than hear a single figure. The cost of services for preparing and certifying a marriage contract depends on the complexity of the document, the number of items of property, the need for consultations and other factors. That is why in two situations that look similar at first glance the amount can differ several times over.

The final amount is made up of the fee for the lawyer's work, if one is engaged to draw it up, and the notarial tariff for certification. The lawyer spends time analysing the property, thinking through the wording and checking the document for enforceability, while the notary certifies the finished text. The more issues that need to be worked through before signing, the higher the final amount will be.

The amount of payment is influenced primarily by the following circumstances.

• How many items of property are being described: an apartment, a house, a car, shares in a business, accounts, debts.
• How non-standard the terms you want to fix are: separate regime, treatment of income, compensation.
• Whether preliminary consultations and review of documents are needed before drafting the project.
• Whether approval of the text is required when the spouses have different wishes and amendments are needed.

Amendment and termination of a marriage contract: what is important to know

Life changes, and the terms of a marriage contract sometimes stop suiting both spouses or one of them. The law allows the document to be amended and terminated by mutual consent — such an agreement must be certified by a notary. If no agreement can be reached, the interested party has the right to apply to court to amend or terminate the contract. The ground for court action will be a material breach of the terms by the other party: where it causes such damage that the party is largely deprived of what it expected when entering into the contract.

After a divorce, the marriage contract ceases to have effect, but not always entirely. Obligations that the parties expressly provided for the period after the termination of the marriage continue to apply — for example, a term on the maintenance of one of the spouses or on the transfer of specific property. The remaining provisions automatically lose force from the moment the marriage ends, and there is no need to terminate them separately.

If you plan to amend or terminate the contract, check in advance what exactly you want to keep after the divorce. This will help avoid a situation where a needed term disappeared together with the marriage.

• An agreement to amend or terminate is valid only in notarial form.
• The dispute is heard by a court where there is a material breach of the terms.
• After a divorce, only obligations for the period after the marriage apply.
• The remaining terms cease automatically.

Disputes over a marriage contract and protection of spouses' rights

A dispute over a marriage contract usually begins with an attempt to revise the terms. The contract may be declared invalid in whole or in part by law: if it places a spouse in an extremely unfavourable position or breaches requirements. Such disputes are resolved by a court, and it is important to prove a breach of the law or of the party's rights.

The defence is built on evidence and timely action: letters, correspondence, testimony, documents on transactions and health. Where there is a risk of property being concealed, apply for interim measures together with the claim so that the court suspends disposal of an apartment, car or accounts until a decision is made. Missing a deadline or refusing to prove your case is an expensive mistake — gather the materials at once.

In practice, the following terms are most often challenged:

• A complete waiver by one of the spouses of rights to all property.
• Transfer to the other spouse of a share clearly disproportionate to their contribution.
• Terms that worsen the position of one of the spouses after termination.
• Transactions with property made under the influence of deception or threats.

The court assesses the circumstances as a whole, and the decision in each case depends on the evidence.

A marriage contract protects only those terms that do not contradict the law and are properly executed before a notary. It is better to spend time agreeing the details before signing than to prove invalidity in court later.