Marriage relationships involve the acquisition of rights and responsibilities by partners towards each other. If there is discord in the family, then upon dissolution of the union, each spouse receives half of the jointly acquired property. Things get a little more complicated when you have children.
In some cases, the use of the legal regime for division of property is unjustified. To avoid conflict situations, partners enter into a marriage agreement, which must be certified. These services are provided to citizens by a highly qualified lawyer. So, what is their cost at the notary?
Why do you need a marriage contract?
Contents of Art. 40 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, states that a marriage contract is a kind of agreement voluntarily signed by future or current spouses. The main purpose of concluding a marital contract is the official fixation of rights and obligations of a property nature between husband and wife, valid for the entire period of marriage and having a significant impact in case of divorce.
Thus, a marriage contract is concluded by present or future spouses with the aim of controlling all property actions that may arise under certain conditions and situations.
The subject of a marriage contract in 2020 may be existing movable or immovable property, as well as property that the husband and wife are just going to acquire for joint use.
Further actions
The notary registers the marriage contract in the register of notarial acts of the unified notary system. Spouses do not need to register a marriage contract anywhere on their own. It becomes valid for them from the moment it is certified by a notary.
Expert opinion
Lawyer Alexander Vasiliev comments
If the marriage contract regulates the property of the spouses that is subject to registration (real estate, shares in an LLC), it will be provided as the basis for making entries in the relevant registers.
In addition, after concluding such an agreement, it may be necessary to re-register an apartment, house, land plot, shares in an LLC and other property subject to registration in the name of the other spouse. Registration will be carried out on the basis of a marriage contract.
In order not to provide the contract itself, you can stock up on notarized copies of it - in most cases this will be enough for registration.
When do spouses enter into a marriage contract with a notary in 2020?
Article 41 of the RF IC has identified 2 possible options for the time period for concluding a marriage contract with a notary in 2020:
- before the official registration of marriage;
- at any stage of registered family relationships.
IMPORTANT
The period for concluding a marriage contract determines the moment the contract enters into legal force. For example, if a potential husband and wife entered into a marital agreement before the wedding, then immediately after the marriage is registered, this agreement gains legal significance.
Legal force of the marital contract
The Family Code of the Russian Federation, namely Article 41, states that a marriage agreement signed before the couple entered into a marital union gains legal force from the day the parties are officially married. If the wedding, for some reason, did not take place, then the contract between the couple will not have any force.
Attention
In the case where a marital agreement in 2020 was concluded during the period of officially registered family life, the document gains force from the moment it is certified by a notary.
According to Part 2 of Article 41 of the RF IC, a marriage contract comes into legal force under the following circumstances:
- the marital contract is correctly drawn up in writing;
- the contract has a conclusion date;
- signed by both parties;
- the content of the marriage contract does not contradict current legislative acts, in particular, the norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation;
- duly certified by a notary.
Who can draft a marriage contract in 2020?
In 2020, there are 3 ways to draft a marriage contract:
- The first option , the most common and completely free, is the independent execution of a marriage contract by current or potential spouses. So, a couple can use the appropriate ready-made marital contract form from the Internet, after downloading which they can adjust the document to all their requirements. However, as practice shows, homemade marriage contracts are subject to careful editing by a notary, which delays the entire registration procedure.
- The second option is to contact a practicing lawyer who is ready to draw up a legally competent marriage contract for an appropriate monetary reward. The cost of a marital contract during preparation is individual for each expert.
- The third option , the most reliable and rational, is notarial assistance. To do this, you just need to come to the selected notary, taking with you: passports; if available, marriage certificate; birth certificate of the child(ren), if any; all available documentation for movable and immovable property that the spouses want to stipulate in the marriage contract.
In 2020, the marriage contract is drawn up in 3 copies, 2 of which are handed over to the spouses, and the third remains with the notary for safekeeping.
The price of drawing up a marriage contract with a notary in 2020
The total cost of drawing up a marriage contract for each notary in 2020 is completely different (Article 22.1 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation on Notaries No. 4462-1 of 02/11/1993). As statistics show, the starting price for drawing up marital contracts from notaries in different regions varies from 5,000 rubles (Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk) to 10,000 rubles (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar).
In addition to the full and competent execution of a marital contract, the head of the notary office provides a number of other services that also increase the price of a marriage contract from a notary in 2020, for example:
- initial counseling for spouses (300 – 1700 rubles/hour);
- collection and verification of all necessary documents (15,000 - 30,000 rubles);
- other technical services, for example, preparation of copies of marriage contracts (300-15,000 rubles).
For your information
, notarial services in the process of concluding a marital contract include explaining to clients all incomprehensible nuances, as well as reviewing and making adjustments to the content of the document by a specialist, which generally increases the cost of the procedure for drawing up a marriage contract with a notary in 2020.
Useful video
Check out the specialist's recommendations in the video below:
Drawing up a marriage contract is a long and painstaking procedure. Haste can result in property or financial losses, or a challenge to the agreement. The parties can draw up a contract independently or with the assistance of qualified assistance.
The main thing is to work out the contents of the document as much as possible, including all possible property issues. In relation to material assets not reflected in the terms of the agreement, the legal regime applies.
How much does it cost to have an already drawn up marriage contract certified by a notary?
If the marriage contract is correctly drawn up and does not require editing, that is, it is ready for notarization, then the future or current spouses must pay a state fee of 500 rubles. This cost of certification of a marital contract in 2020 is fixed on the basis of clause 10, clause 1 of Art. 333.24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Art. 22.1 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation on Notaries No. 4462-1 dated February 11, 1993, and is valid throughout the Russian Federation.
For your information
However, if a representative of a notary’s office has to make any additions, corrections to the marital contract, or completely draft the document, the present or future husband and wife must be prepared for the fact that these specialist services will have to be paid separately from the state fee. According to statistics, the average cost for the service of drawing up a marriage contract from a notary in 2020 ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles. Consultation, verification of documents performed by the notary office employee himself, as well as the preparation by his assistant of all necessary copies of the contract are also subject to payment by the client (300 - 15,000 rubles)
The notary has the legal right, regulated by clause 1 of Article 333.25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, to increase the amount of the state duty by 1.5 times, provided that the procedure for certification of the marriage contract will be carried out outside the walls of the notary office.
Price
To find out the cost of certifying a contract by a notary, you need to contact him for the service of interest. Any notary office can set its own prices for work. The cheapest option would be to certify an already formed contract. For this action, the specialist charges a fixed amount equal to 500 rubles.
Payment of the fee established at the legislative level will allow spouses to count on the notary to perform the following actions: checking the contract for authenticity and identifying conflicts with current legal acts; reconciliation of data on partners specified in the contract with supporting documents; study of documents confirming the right of ownership of goods that appear in the text; consultation activities (responsibility of the parties for violation of the provisions reflected in the agreement); clarification of the procedure for making changes to the contract and declaring it invalid.
Question:
How can I find out how much it will cost to have a document certified by a lawyer?
Answer:
The cost of services directly depends on the prices set by the office. The fee is set at the legislative level and is 500 rubles. The price for other actions can be obtained directly from a specialist. It is worth noting that you will also have to pay for making copies. Therefore, when turning to a specialist, you will need to not only collect a package of papers, but also take care of making copies of them.
What will determine the price of a marriage contract from a notary?
If a married couple (real or potential), in the process of preparing a draft marital contract, neglected the help of a professional lawyer, then, as practice shows, the cost of a marriage contract with a notary increases significantly. Lacking the necessary knowledge and subtleties in the legislative sphere, husband and wife often violate paragraph 3 of Article 42 of the RF IC. Spouses may mistakenly indicate requirements in the agreement, due to which the document may lose its legality or become invalid (Article 44 of the RF IC), and will also give rise to challenging the marriage contract in the future. In this case, the notary will be forced to make all the appropriate changes, for which an additional fee will be charged.
Since pricing policies for the services of notary representatives vary, the most common factors influencing the cost of a marriage contract in 2020 should be identified:
- urgency of registration/conclusion/certification of a marital agreement;
- the degree of complexity of property relationships;
- prestige of the notary's office;
- region.
It should be noted that the cost of a marriage contract in 2020 and the entire range of notary services can reach 50,000 rubles, and this is not the limit.
Registration procedure
To register a marriage contract with a notary in 2020, you must prepare the following list of documents in advance:
- passports of the (current or potential) married couple;
- marriage certificate if the couple is already in an official relationship;
- technical documents for real estate (technical passport for an apartment/house, cadastral plan for land, etc.), if it is mentioned in the clauses of the marriage contract;
- documents evidencing ownership of all real estate included in the marital contract;
- all kinds of documents confirming the fact of purchase of the remaining property, which is specified in the clauses of the marriage contract (checks, receipts, bank statements, invoices, sales contracts, etc.);
- bank statements on the availability of accounts and deposits in financial institutions;
- documents on ownership of securities (if any);
- documents confirming the fact that the spouses are engaged in commercial activities (company charter, order or order appointing one of the couple as a manager, extract from the relevant register, etc.);
- receipt of payment of state duty.
Having in hand all the necessary documents for concluding a marriage agreement, you can safely go to the notary.
IMPORTANT
When going to a notary’s office to conclude a marriage contract in 2020, you must provide all of the above-mentioned documents, both originals and copies.
A notary has only 2 options for the development of events when drawing up a marital contract in 2020. If the future or current husband and wife came with a ready-made marriage contract, then the notary must perform the following functions:
- Thorough check of the contract for compliance with legislative norms.
- Checking all documents that confirm the ownership and disposal of certain types of property mentioned in the marital agreement.
- A detailed explanation of the rights, obligations and consequences of signing this agreement to the parties to the transaction.
- Certification of the marriage contract with a signature and seal.
- Entering information that a marriage contract has been concluded in the appropriate record book.
In the event that current or future spouses decide to contact a notary office for a full range of services when concluding a marriage contract, the notary’s actions are as follows:
- Definition of all clauses and subclauses of the marriage contract.
- Consultation regarding each clause of the marital contract and an explanation of all possible consequences arising from adding them to the basis of the contract.
- Monitoring of all documents for authenticity, as well as verification of ownership of certain categories of property.
- Drawing up the marriage contract itself.
- Approval of the contract by the spouses.
- Notarization of the marriage contract, in accordance with current legislation.
What documents will be needed?
To go through the paper certification procedure, spouses will need to be personally present at the notary and have a draft agreement with them. In addition to the contract, they need passports, a certificate issued at the birth of the child, a document confirming the registration of the partners of the union, papers according to which the parties acquired ownership of the property, and other documents (at the request of the lawyer).
Important! Most citizens have no idea how to draw up a contract. As a result, the requirements imposed on it are not observed by the parties. If the notary reveals violations in the contract, the paper will not be certified. However, spouses can ask a specialist to adjust the agreement for a fee.
Who and how should pay a notary for drawing up a marriage contract in 2020?
The current legislation of Russia does not provide clear rules regarding which of the current or future spouses is obliged to pay for the marriage contract in 2020. As practice shows, most often, it is the initiator of the procedure itself who pays for the services of a notary under a marital contract. That is, the husband and wife act according to their agreement.
In 2020, you can pay the costs for drawing up and certifying a marriage contract directly at a notary office, or at the nearest bank branch. To conduct a monetary transaction through a bank, the notary must necessarily issue the client a corresponding receipt.
It is possible to pay the cost of a marriage contract from a notary in 2020, either in cash or by bank transfer. After payment, the participant in the procedure (husband or wife) must provide the receipt for the financial transaction to the office specialist and sign in a special logbook for registering the services provided. Such a document stores all the important information about the transaction, the date and amount of payment of the cost of the marriage contract from the notary, as well as information about the client and his signature.
Stages
The agreement is a bilateral transaction made by mutual consent regarding the benefits owned by the parties and responsibilities during the period the partners are in a registered union, after a divorce. The formation and signing of a contract involves the implementation of several stages:
- Discussion of the main points that should be reflected in the agreement. Spouses must meet each other halfway. If the partners include provisions in the contract that are not related to obligations or the procedure for dividing property, the document will be considered invalid.
- Forming paper. At the same time, it is important to exclude from the text any norms that derogate from the rights and interests of the parties. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in the contract being challenged in court.
- Execution of the contract in compliance with the procedure established by the current legal regulations. The agreement must contain mandatory clauses, visas of the parties, date and place of formation, personal data of partners.
- Certification from a notary office. The lawyer must check the text, the correctness of formatting and stamp it. If it is necessary to make changes to an existing agreement, the spouses will have to visit the notary again and pay for his services at the established rate.
- Entering paper into a special register.
- Transfer of paper to each party to the transaction. One copy remains in the notary's office, and the other two are transferred to the partners.
Important! The lawyer does not have the right to disclose the details indicated in the contract. In case of violation, he is obliged to compensate the spouses for the harm caused by him.
Price of a prenuptial agreement for a mortgage
Today, when purchasing housing, many families, or couples who are just planning to register their marriage, use a mortgage. In this situation, the marital contract will be quite significant. As an example, consider the situation below.
Example
The amount of the mortgage payment from each spouse can be completely different. As a rule, a man earns much more than a woman, so the bulk of the loan debt will be repaid thanks to his income. At the same time, the apartment or house, which was registered through a mortgage agreement, belongs to the spouses in equal parts; accordingly, in the event of a divorce, the property is subject to division 50/50. When concluding a marriage contract for a mortgage with a notary in 2020, the husband and wife indicate their conditions for dividing property purchased on credit during a divorce.
Regarding the cost of a marital contract for a mortgage from a notary in 2020, it should be noted that the final amount for preparing, concluding, and certifying a marriage contract for the purpose of applying the parties to the bank will be individual for each situation, and as a rule, will not exceed 10,000 rubles.
The main objective of a prenuptial agreement for a mortgage loan is to settle the following important points between husband and wife:
- determination of mortgage obligations for husband and wife;
- designation of the share of residential real estate for each spouse;
- distribution of the procedure and terms of payment of the initial mortgage payment;
- determining an algorithm for changing the size of shares at the birth of children, as well as the procedure for repaying a mortgage loan with the help of maternity capital.
Is it possible to reduce the cost of a prenuptial agreement?
In accordance with Article 333.38 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the country's legislator also provides benefits for the payment of state duty when concluding a marriage contract in 2020:
- Thus, citizens with disability status of groups 1 and 2 have the right to pay 50% of the required cost of the marriage contract from a notary, i.e. 250 rubles.
- Citizens who decide to leave property to the Russian state are exempt from paying state duty in full.
Benefits do not apply to technical work and other legal services when concluding a marital contract with a notary.
You can also reduce the cost of a marriage contract with a notary in 2020 by drawing up a contract yourself, but you need to remember that if the document is not created in accordance with the law, then the specialist will have to redo the agreement, which will increase the time for completing the transaction between a married couple and still will not lead to to saving money.
In order to avoid complications caused by incorrect execution of the marriage contract, when drawing up a contract, it is recommended to use a sample contract, which can be
The price of terminating or amending a marriage contract with a notary in 2020
Clause 12 clause 1 art. 333.24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes a tax on certification by a notary, an agreement of a married couple to amend or terminate a marriage contract in 2020. The fee is 200 rubles. But such actions of an office specialist, such as checking a document or drawing up an agreement, may entail additional financial costs, which are determined individually in each situation.
IMPORTANT
If the agreement to terminate or amend the marital contract was drawn up by the husband and wife independently, and does not require any amendments, then the cost of the marriage contract at the notary in 2020 will only include payment of the state duty (clause 10, clause 1, art. 333.24 Tax Code of the Russian Federation)
It should be noted that in order to notarize an agreement to terminate or amend a marriage contract, the consent of both parties to the transaction is required (Article 43 of the RF IC). If one of the spouses does not want to make changes, or does not agree to terminate the contract, this issue can only be resolved in court.
Change and termination of the marriage contract
After concluding a contract at any time, spouses can make changes to it, which must comply with the registration requirements:
- Be written;
- Signed spouses;
- Notarized.
As a rule, changes to the contract by one party are not allowed . However, there are circumstances in which one of the parties may make changes or withdraw completely from the contract
- If the terms are violated by the other party;
- When important changes in conditions occur.
