Morals of the Church
Library › Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis › Volume II › Treatise XI. On The Virtue Of Justice And The Opposed Vices › Section I. On Right And On The Virtue Of Justice Itself › Question I. On Right Itself › Chapter III. On The Subject Of Right Or Dominion › Article I. On The Dominion Of Spouses › On The Dominion Of Spouses According To The Civil Codes Of Certain Nations

Section — Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis

§ 1. On The Dominion Of Spouses According To German Law

18.

18. 1. German law obliges, in the whole German Empire from the day 1 Jan. 1900, all citizens of that kingdom contracting marriage within the borders of Germany. If a German man contracts marriage outside Germany, he is still bound by German law; but not if a woman does this same thing.

  1. A twofold regime of goods in marriage is distinguished, namely: a) legal regime (gesetzliches Güterrecht) and b) conventional regime (vertragsmäßiges Güterrecht), which nevertheless is subdivided into four species.

A. Legal Regime.

  1. This regime is presumed unless it is certainly established concerning a conventional regime.

  2. In this regime there are distinguished: the wife's brought-in goods (eingebrachtes Gut) and reserved goods (Vorbehaltsgut).

Reserved goods are considered to be:12

a) Things destined for the wife's use alone, for example garments, feminine ornament, etc.

b) Things acquired by the wife in an altogether independent business, for example by exercising the office of midwife.

c) Things received by inheritance or by donation between the living, provided nevertheless that the testator or donor expressly established that things of this kind constitute the wife's reserved goods.

d) Fruits of reserved goods.

All other goods are brought-in goods, if the legal regime is in force.

  1. Over reserved goods the wife has completely free disposition; nevertheless from their proceeds, if this is necessary, she must contribute to the family estate.13

  2. Over brought-in goods the husband indeed has usufruct and administration,14 but he cannot alienate them (at least if they are immovable) without the wife's consent; he must administer them diligently, otherwise he is held to restitution; their fruits he must spend first of all upon the suitable support of the family.

  3. The wife can petition in court that the administration and usufruct of her goods be taken away from the husband, if a true danger of bad administration is present, or if the husband does not provide suitable support to the wife and children.15

B. Conventional Regime.

Those about to marry can enter into a pact concerning their own goods before a judge or notary; and this pact, after marriage has been entered, can again be dissolved or changed by them before a judge or notary.

Moreover, a pact of this kind is fourfold, namely: a) universal community of goods (Allgemeine Gütergemeinschaft); b) community of gain (Errungenschaftsgemeinschaft); c) community of movable goods (Fahrnisgemeinschaft); d) separation of goods (Gütertrennung).

a) Universal community of goods.

  1. This universal community of goods causes that from the goods of the man and woman there coalesces one common good (Gesamtgut),16 whose administration pertains to the husband, who nevertheless in several cases needs the wife's consent.

  2. It is also licit to exclude certain goods from this union (Vorbehaltsgut), according as it may please the contracting parties themselves.

  3. This universal union of goods seems rarely to be advised from the beginning of marriage. But it could be fitting for avoiding inconveniences on account of an inheritance to be taken.

b) Community of gain.

  1. In this regime, which is as it were a composition of the legal regime and the universal community of goods, there are the wife's reserved goods, as in the legal regime. Moreover, still other goods can be designated as reserved. But the husband does not have reserved goods.17

  2. Reserved goods excepted, the administration and usufruct of the remaining goods pertain to the husband.

  3. The brought-in goods of each spouse remain under his or her direct dominion, but the fruits of those goods become a common good.18

  4. If this union of fruits is legitimately dissolved, then the obtained fruits are divided equally between the man and the woman.19

  5. A union of fruits of this kind can especially have place in second marriages of either spouse, namely lest the offspring of the first or second marriage suffer damage.

c) Community of movable goods.

  1. In this regime there exists a broader union of goods than in the union of gain. For to the union of all gain perceived from the brought-in goods there is added the union of all movable goods.

  2. The wife, but not the husband, can have reserved goods.20

  3. From this union of goods there are excluded (as is clear of itself) immovable goods, which must be treated just like brought-in goods.

But what goods are considered immovable was said in n. 12.

d) Separation of goods.

  1. If by pact before or after the nuptials separation of goods has been stipulated, then the husband has no right to the use and administration of the wife's goods. Nevertheless, the wife can according to her own judgment concede to him the administration or use of those goods.21

  2. The husband is indeed held to bear the burdens of matrimony, but the wife also must contribute something from her own fortune.22

  3. The pact of separation of goods must be made according to legal form, otherwise it produces no effect.23

  4. A pact of this kind seems advised if the goods of either spouse are in great danger, for example on account of commerce.

12 Cod. civ. Germ. §§ 1366-1370.

13 § 1371.

14 §§ 1373-1374.

15 § 1418.

16 § 1438.

17 § 1526.

18 § 1519.

19 § 1546.

20 § 1555.

21 § 1430.

22 § 1427.

23 § 1431.

Property Rights of Married Women