ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Herberto Robinson, McEWAN
2.4 Spousal Maintenance The CCC establishes spousal maintenance or economic compensation in exceptional and temporary circumstances, including: • in case of illness, or where a clear economic disadvantage means a worsening of their situation and the marital bond and its break- down is a likely cause; • when experiencing difficulty in obtaining a job (generally in relation to the parent that holds custody of children); or • in case of potential loss of pension rights, they have the right to claim compensation. Compensation may consist of a one-time ben - efit, an income for a specified time or, exception - ally, an income for an indefinite period. Financial compensation claims have a six-month statutory limit after the divorce decree has been issued. 2.5 Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements Under the CCC, marital agreements (conven - tions) are accepted under Argentine law. For such agreements to be valid, the marriage must be celebrated, and the agreements are required to determine: • an inventory of assets of each spouse; • donations between spouses before marriage; and • the adoption of one of the matrimonial prop - erty regimes. Said agreements need to be signed by public deed. Argentina has only two marital property regimes: the community property and the sepa - rate property regime. The community regime acts principally as the default regime if spouses keep silent on which regime they adopt. Also, spouses may change the matrimonial property
adopted (only from a community regime to a separate regime and vice versa) within a year of marriage or once a year has passed since the last change. If foreign prenuptial agreements are made, they must adhere to CCC regulations and be filed and registered with the Civil Registry if the marriage celebrated in another country is also registered in Argentina. No postnuptial agreements are recognised by law. However, some private postnuptial agree - ments may be agreed upon by the spouses when a private separation and liquidation of the marital assets is signed. For (pre)marital agreements to be enforceable, they must be documented through a public deed, and their content must comply with legal requirements. Courts have seen cases challeng - ing whether the proper formal procedures were followed. Due to the variety of clauses included in these agreements, there is no significant case law. 2.6 Cohabitation The CCC recognises certain rights for cohabit - ants, provided they have been together for at least two years. Through “cohabitation agree - ments” ( pacto de convivencia ), domestic part - ners can regulate different aspects of their lives together, such as economic aspects for distrib - uting property and other responsibilities. The CCC also provides protection for the family home and, if one partner dies, the survivor is granted the right to free housing in the home they shared for a period of two years. The law recognises other partial effects on partners (ie, social security and pension rights); however, the legal recognition provided for them is restricted.
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