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

§ 5. On The Dominion Of Spouses According To Austrian Law

22.

22. 1. Austrian law presumes separation of goods, unless the contrary has been established by an authentic pact. "If spouses have made no special agreement concerning the use of their property, then each spouse retains his or her previous right of ownership, and upon that which each party acquires during the marriage and in whatever way obtains, the other has no claim. In doubt it is presumed that the acquisition comes from the man."44

  1. Unless the wife has contradicted, it is presumed that the husband has administration and usufruct of all the wife's goods.45 The husband is held to preserve the very substance of these goods; otherwise he is obliged to restitution. But he can dispose freely of the fruits.

  2. The husband can before the nuptials demand a dowry, but he can also yield his right. The husband, during conjugal life, has usufruct of the dowry and its increase, but he is obliged to return the substance or an equivalent value of the dowry in case of death or divorce or cession of goods. Indeed those who hand over the dowry can from the beginning demand assurance of it.46

  3. The wife has a strict right to suitable support from the husband's goods according to the condition of his state.47 Those things which the wife receives from her husband, for example ornaments, jewels, etc., pass into the wife's full dominion, unless the contrary has been expressly stipulated.48

  4. From Austrian law no difficulties can arise for the practice of the confessor. Liberty between spouses is very great. If a nuptial pact has been entered, its clauses must be observed, just as those of any legitimate contract.

44 Cod. civ. Austr. § 1237.

45 § 1238.

46 § 1245.

47 § 91.

48 § 1247.

Property Rights of Married Women