Spouses’ obligations in Lithuania
Spouses are required to be loyal to one another, to show mutual respect, and to support each other both morally and materially. They must contribute, according to their abilities, to the satisfaction of the family’s common needs or those of the other spouse. If one spouse, due to objective reasons, cannot sufficiently contribute to meeting these needs, the other spouse must do so within their means.
Property acquired before marriage
Property acquired before marriage is considered the personal property of each spouse. An exception under Lithuanian law occurs when the property serves as the family residence — in such cases, a legal regime of family property applies. Spouses may also agree to full joint ownership in a prenuptial (marriage) agreement.
Civil liability of spouses for property obligations in Lithuania
To determine who is liable for a given obligation — one spouse or both — it is first necessary to assess the nature of the obligation and its origin. Under Lithuanian law, obligations between spouses can be either personal or joint.
Personal obligations of a spouse are considered to be those obligations that are closely related to the spouse as an individual, for example: obligations arising from an employment contract concluded by one of the spouses; obligations resulting from the satisfaction of exclusively personal needs of one of the spouses; obligations arising from damage caused by one of the spouses through unlawful actions, etc. Personal obligations of the debtor – spouse – are fulfilled from their personal property. If the personal property of the debtor – spouse – is insufficient to satisfy the creditor’s interests, the debtor or the creditor may initiate the division of property held in joint ownership.
Joint obligations of both spouses may include obligations for which both spouses are debtors. Such obligations may arise on various grounds: when the spouses jointly cause damage to another person; when they are obliged to compensate for damage caused by their minor children; when the spouses jointly enter into a contract with a creditor (or creditors), etc. Such obligations are fulfilled from the spouses’ joint property.