Community or separate property in Italy: what it means for a couple's money

What becomes joint under community property

Article 177 of the Italian Civil Code puts into community everything acquired during the marriage, by the two of you together or by one alone. If one spouse buys a car after the wedding with their own salary and registers it in their name, it still belongs to both, half each.

Salaries and savings follow a different rule, and it's the one most people miss. Each spouse's earnings, and the income from their personal assets, become joint only if they're still unspent when the community ends. Italian lawyers call it "de residuo". In practice: while you're married, each of you uses your own pay; if you separate, whatever is left in your accounts is split in half.

Everyday decisions can be made by either spouse alone; major ones need both (article 180). Selling a home you bought together, for example, needs both signatures.

What stays yours

Even under community property, some things belong to one spouse only (article 179):

• what you owned before the marriage;
• inheritances and gifts, even if received after;
• strictly personal items, and what you need for your profession;
• compensation for damages you suffered;
• assets bought by selling a personal asset, if the purchase deed says so explicitly.

An example. One spouse inherits €50,000 and uses it to buy a flat after the wedding. If the deed states that the money came from the inheritance, and the other spouse confirms it, the flat stays personal. If it doesn't, the flat becomes joint.

How separate property works

Under separate property (article 215), each of you owns what you buy and is alone responsible for your own debts. A home bought by one spouse is theirs; one bought together belongs to both, in the shares stated in the deed. You choose it in one of two ways:

• at the wedding, by telling the registrar or the officiant: it's free and takes a minute;
• later, at any time, with a deed signed before a notary and two witnesses (article 162), which is then noted on your marriage record. This one costs notary fees and taxes.

Civil unions follow the same rules. Unmarried couples have no regime at all: each owns what they buy, unless they sign a cohabitation agreement that chooses community property.

If you're an international couple

If you have different nationalities, or live in Italy without being Italian, Italian law may not be the one that applies. Since January 2019, EU Regulation 2016/1103 lets couples choose the law of a country where one of them lives or of which one is a citizen. Without a choice, it's normally the law of your first common home after the wedding. This is worth settling before you buy property, because it decides who owns what.

A worked example

Two salaries of €2,000 and €1,500 a month. After ten years of marriage, the higher earner has €40,000 in their own account and the other spouse €10,000. They've bought a home with a mortgage, in both names.

• Under community property, if they separate, the home is half each, and the remaining savings are added up and split: €50,000, so €25,000 each.
• Under separate property, the home is still half each, because it's in both names. But the savings stay with whoever has them: €40,000 and €10,000.

The difference comes from what's left over and from what one spouse bought alone, not from what you bought together.

Which one to choose

• Community property protects the spouse who earns less, or who steps back from work for a few years for the family: at the end, what's left is split in half.
• Separate property suits a spouse who runs a business whose debts shouldn't reach the other, or couples who start with very different assets.
• Many couples choose separate property and then put the home in both names.

Your regime doesn't change how you handle daily costs. That depends on how you split them, evenly or by income, with the split bills by income calculator or an expense sharing app for couples (here's a comparison of expense sharing apps). If you're thinking about a shared account, read the pros and cons of a joint bank account first, and if Honeydue isn't available where you live, see our Honeydue alternatives.

More guides are in couples and money.

This article is not legal advice. To choose a regime, or for a specific case such as a home or an inheritance, talk to an Italian notary or lawyer.