The community of acquests

The community of acquests is Malta’s default system for the property of a married couple. This page explains what it is.

When it applies

A marriage celebrated in Malta produces the community of acquests between the spouses automatically, unless they agreed otherwise by public deed. A marriage celebrated abroad by people who later settle in Malta also produces the community, for property acquired after their arrival. The right of each spouse to the community starts on the day of the marriage and ends when the marriage is dissolved. Spouses cannot derogate from the rules on the community.

What belongs to the community

The community of acquests includes:

• everything either spouse acquires through their work or industry;
• the fruits of each spouse’s property, such as rent, including property owned before the marriage or received by gift or inheritance, unless the donor or testator excluded the fruits;
• property bought with money or things that came from the acquests, even if it is in one spouse’s name only;
• property bought with a spouse’s own money from before the marriage or from gifts and inheritances, even if in that spouse’s name, though that spouse can deduct the sum paid; and
• fortuitous winnings.

All the property that either spouse or both possess is presumed to be part of the acquests unless there is proof to the contrary. Property which came to either spouse under a title from before the marriage is not part of the acquests.

What a spouse owns outside the community is called paraphernal property, and that spouse manages it alone. For a Court of Appeal case note on money received during a marriage for an asset acquired before it, see compensation for a surrendered bus licence.

Who manages it

Either spouse can carry out ordinary administration. Acts of extraordinary administration need both spouses together. They include buying or selling immovable property, creating mortgages, giving rights of use over immovable property, gifts (other than small customary ones), borrowing or lending money, giving a guarantee, and transferring a business. Money deposited in a bank in one spouse’s name can be withdrawn by that spouse alone. If one spouse refuses consent to an act that is necessary in the interests of the family, the other can apply to the court. If one spouse transfers or creates a right over immovable property without the other’s consent, the other can ask the court to annul the act, within three years of finding out about it, of its registration, or of the end of the community, whichever is earliest. For movable property, annulment is available only for gifts; otherwise the other spouse can ask that the community be made whole or the loss be made good. The court can exclude a spouse from administration where that spouse is not competent or has mismanaged the community.

Debts

The community answers for the debts that the law lists, including the expenses of administering the acquests, the needs of the family (including the education and upbringing of the children), and obligations the spouses contracted jointly. A spouse’s private creditors can in some cases reach the community, but only up to the value of that spouse’s share.

How it ends and is divided

The community can end in several ways: on separation, on divorce, or by a judgment of judicial separation of property in certain situations, for example if a spouse is incapacitated, jeopardises the family’s interests, fails to contribute to its needs, or has been excluded from administration. Spouses can also, with the court’s authority, end the community by agreement.

When it ends, each spouse takes one half of the assets and liabilities. The court can direct that the property in the community is not divided for a period after the community ends, and can later change or cancel that direction.