A Spanish prenup is called a capitulaciones matrimoniales. It’s a notarised deed that fixes your matrimonial-property regime, protects specified assets, and regulates what happens if the marriage ends. Properly drafted it is legally binding, directly enforceable in Spanish courts, and can be designed to interlock with a home-country prenup. For international couples with assets, this is the highest-leverage piece of family-law planning available.
Most expat couples underestimate how different Spanish matrimonial-property law is from their home country. The default regime across most of Spain is sociedad de gananciales — a community-property system under which almost everything earned or acquired during the marriage is jointly owned, regardless of whose name is on the paperwork. For a couple where one spouse came into the marriage with substantially more capital, or where there are children from a previous relationship, that default can produce outcomes neither party expected.
The way to fix it is capitulaciones matrimoniales — a notarised deed that either selects a different regime (usually separación de bienes, a separation-of-property regime), sets specific protections around named assets, or carries over the terms of a home-country prenup into something Spanish courts will enforce. It can be signed before the wedding or at any point during the marriage.
From pre-wedding capitulaciones to international-coordination agreements for couples with assets across jurisdictions.
Full capitulaciones drafted, notarised and registered before the wedding, in whichever regional regime is right for the couple.
Learn more Post-WeddingPost-marriage capitulaciones to change the matrimonial-property regime, protect newly-acquired assets, or update for a change of circumstances.
Learn more Regime ChangeMoving from community-property to separation-of-property — the most common capitulaciones we draft, and usually the cleanest fit for internationals.
Learn more Cross-BorderCapitulaciones drafted to interlock with an existing UK, US, Irish or other home-country prenup, so the same protections work in both jurisdictions.
Learn more Second MarriageSpecific protections for blended families — separate property for children of a prior relationship, ring-fenced inheritances and pension rights.
Learn more Business OwnerCapitulaciones that protect a family business, shareholdings or professional practice from being drawn into the matrimonial pot on divorce.
Learn more HNWComplex asset structures — trusts, companies, international real estate — handled with discretion and full cross-border coordination.
Learn more Applicable LawElecting a different country’s law to govern the divorce itself — often the natural companion to a capitulaciones.
Learn more ReviewReview of a foreign prenup for Spanish enforceability — what works, what doesn’t, and what a capitulaciones needs to add.
Learn moreThe default across most of Spain is sociedad de gananciales. Assets and income acquired during the marriage are jointly owned 50/50. Pre-marital assets stay separate, but income they produce during the marriage is generally joint. On divorce, the joint pot is divided equally; on death, the surviving spouse keeps their half and inherits under the will or forced-heirship rules. Simple, familiar, and often the wrong fit for internationals with unequal capital bases.
The alternative is separación de bienes. Each spouse keeps what they earn and acquire. There is no community pot to divide on divorce — you walk away with what’s in your own name, subject to compensation rules where one spouse has been economically disadvantaged. This is the default in Catalonia, the Balearics, Aragon, Navarre and the Basque Country. Elsewhere, it has to be elected by capitulaciones.
A third regime, participación en las ganancias, is a hybrid: spouses operate under separation-of-property during the marriage, then share in the net gains at the end. Rarely used in practice but occasionally useful for specific situations.
A capitulaciones is a flexible instrument. It can choose the regime, fix the status of specified assets as separate property, limit or expand the community, regulate what happens to the family home, set the spousal-maintenance rules in the event of separation or divorce, and deal with succession rights between spouses to the extent Spanish law allows. It can incorporate gift provisions, mutual wills, and powers of attorney.
What it cannot do is waive forced-heirship rights in favour of children (reserved to them by law in most regions), contract out of parental responsibilities toward children, or violate Spanish public policy. Those limits aside, a well-drafted capitulaciones can cover almost everything a UK or US prenup would cover.
Signing before the wedding has two advantages: there is no question about whether the agreement predated the marriage (relevant for Spanish inheritance and tax purposes), and the protections are in place from day one. It is usually done at a Spanish notary in the weeks before the ceremony and registered at the Civil Registry after the marriage.
Postnuptial capitulaciones are equally valid and common. Couples sign them when they buy a property together, when one spouse comes into a substantial inheritance, when a business grows significantly, when children are born, or simply when they realise the default regime doesn’t match the way they actually run their finances. There is no penalty for signing post-marriage; there’s no last chance.
For couples with assets in more than one country, a capitulaciones on its own may not be enough. The divorce itself might be governed by a different country’s law under Rome III (or the applicable private-international-law rules), and your home-country prenup might already cover some of the same ground. The goal is a single coordinated structure: a capitulaciones that interlocks with the home-country prenup and, where useful, a Rome III election pointing at a specific applicable law.
Done this way, the same protections apply whether the divorce ends up in Spain or in the home country. We routinely draft capitulaciones for British, Irish, American, Dutch, German, French and Italian couples, working with their home-country lawyer on the interlock.
Unlike English prenups, which are persuasive but not strictly binding on a court, a capitulaciones properly signed before a Spanish notary is directly enforceable. Spanish judges apply it without reopening the question of whether it was a good deal, provided procedural formalities were met and the content doesn’t violate public policy. This gives Spanish prenups genuine bite.
The formalities matter. It has to be a notarised public deed (escritura pública), not a private contract. Both spouses must attend the notary (personally or through power of attorney) with full capacity and free consent. After the marriage, it must be registered at the Civil Registry for the regime change to affect third parties. Cut corners on any of this and enforceability is at risk.
A capitulaciones is not a statement of distrust. It is a statement of clarity. Couples who draft one know exactly how their marriage works financially — and that usually reduces conflict, not increases it.
From first meeting to signed, registered deed — handled discreetly and in plain English.
Review of both spouses’ assets, goals, any existing home-country prenup, and which regime and protections make sense.
Full draft of the capitulaciones in Spanish with a plain-English explanation, revisions, and coordination with home-country counsel where relevant.
Booked and managed at a Spanish notary, with translation support on the day and all formalities handled by us.
Registration at the Civil Registry post-marriage, filing at the property registry where needed, and a final file of all executed documents.
Discreet, properly drafted, properly enforceable — by bar-registered Spanish family lawyers.
Book a Confidential ConsultationCapitulaciones work is a drafting specialism, not something to hand to a generalist.
Capitulaciones work is technical. Our family lawyers draft them regularly and know exactly what Spanish courts and notaries expect.
Interlocking capitulaciones with UK, US, Irish and Continental prenups is daily work here — not a one-off.
We handle the notary side end-to-end, so the signing session itself is short, well-prepared and entirely clear.
Colegiado family specialists draft and supervise every capitulaciones. The work is properly qualified.
Every clause explained in plain English before signing. No signing something you don’t fully understand.
Prenup work is private by its nature. Our process protects that from first meeting to final registration.
The drafting and execution errors that turn a capitulaciones into paper.
A prenup written as a private agreement and signed at home is not a Spanish capitulaciones. It must be a notarised public deed to be enforceable.
A capitulaciones that isn’t registered at the Civil Registry after the marriage has limited effect against third parties. Banks, tax authorities and courts won’t see it.
Spanish law reserves fixed shares of the estate for children. Capitulaciones that try to override this in most regions will fail on that point.
A US or UK prenup translated into Spanish isn’t automatically a capitulaciones. The structure, formalities and enforceability rules are different.
A capitulaciones signed under duress or without genuine consent can be challenged. Plenty of time before the wedding and full disclosure protect the deed.
An unchecked Spanish capitulaciones can contradict an existing UK or US prenup. Both should be coordinated by lawyers who speak to each other.
Without a Rome III applicable-law election, the divorce itself may be governed by a different country’s law that doesn’t match the capitulaciones.
Pensions are often the biggest marital asset. A capitulaciones that doesn’t address them properly leaves them exposed.
Good practice is for each spouse to have their own legal advice, even where the deed is amicable. It strengthens enforceability later.
The expat profiles most commonly coming to us for capitulaciones work.
About to have the ceremony, want the right regime in place before the wedding and assets protected from day one.
Default gananciales regime applying since the wedding, now wanting to switch to separación de bienes.
One British, one Spanish spouse — the classic Costa profile, usually with property and children in the picture.
Blended families needing to ring-fence assets for children from the prior relationship.
Shareholdings, professional practice or company protected from the matrimonial pot on divorce.
Trust structures, multi-country assets, pensions and inheritances coordinated in a single clean framework.
UK, US, Irish or other prenups translated and interlocked with Spanish capitulaciones for dual enforcement.
Previously married elsewhere, now tax-resident in Spain — the regime needs bringing into line with the new country.
Property purchase as joint or separate asset, with the capitulaciones backing up whichever route fits the relationship.
Yes, when drafted as capitulaciones matrimoniales, signed before a Spanish notary as a public deed, and registered at the Civil Registry after the marriage. Properly executed, they are directly enforceable in Spanish courts.
Yes — postnuptial capitulaciones are equally valid. There’s no deadline; couples regularly sign them years into marriage when circumstances change.
Capitulaciones drafting is priced after consultation depending on complexity. Notary fees are paid separately and scale with the value of the assets covered. We give a formal quote once we understand the asset picture.
For most internationals, separación de bienes is the cleaner fit — each spouse keeps what they earn. But some couples want partial community arrangements. The right answer depends on the asset mix and the relationship, which is what the consultation works through.
English prenups aren’t directly enforceable in Spanish courts. They can be persuasive, and the underlying provisions can often be re-cast into a Spanish capitulaciones. For British couples living in Spain, we strongly recommend a Spanish capitulaciones alongside any UK prenup.
Yes. Switching regimes mid-marriage is common and requires a fresh capitulaciones plus Civil Registry registration. It doesn’t retroactively change what happened before, but from the registration date forward the new regime applies.
Not legally, but it is best practice — each spouse with their own advice strengthens the enforceability of the capitulaciones and makes the drafting more balanced.
Partly. It can deal with mutual gifts between spouses and elements of matrimonial-property succession. It cannot override forced-heirship rules that reserve shares of the estate for children. A Spanish will is the proper tool for succession planning.
Under separación de bienes, yes — each spouse’s debts are their own, and the other spouse’s assets are not exposed. Under gananciales, the joint pot can be reached for marital debts. This is one of the main reasons couples switch regimes.
The default regime applies. In most of Spain that’s gananciales; the marital pot is divided equally. In Catalonia, Balearics, Aragon, Navarre and the Basque Country the default is separación de bienes.
Yes, and for international couples we usually recommend it. The Rome III election is a separate legal instrument but can be signed at the same notary appointment and coordinated with the capitulaciones itself.
The deed is notarised (which means the notary holds the original) and registered at the Civil Registry. The registry entry is accessible to certain interested parties but not publicly searchable in a casual way. Our drafting and advice are fully confidential.
A confidential consultation with our family law team will tell you which regime fits, what a capitulaciones should cover, and how it interlocks with any home-country prenup.
This page provides general legal information, not individual legal advice. Matrimonial-property regimes, capitulaciones drafting and enforceability depend on regional law, the couple’s specific circumstances and international private-law rules. For advice on your case, book a confidential consultation with Platinum Legal Spain.