Diamonds last forever, but not all marriages do. What happens to gifts in the event of a divorce? The starting point for the division of joint property is that the parties' net assets should be divided equally.[1] Does this mean that the diamond ring you received from your husband on your 40th anniversary is included in the division? And what about the silver cutlery you received from Aunt Ester for your wedding?

Who keeps gifts received before marriage?

The value of assets that can clearly be traced back to funds that a spouse had when the marriage was entered into or subsequently acquired through inheritance or gifts from persons other than the spouse may be excluded from the division. This is referred to as unequal division.

This means that gifts received before you got married can be excluded from the division. It does not matter whether the gift is worth NOK 100 or NOK 100,000. Nor does it matter who gave the gift.

What happens to gifts received during marriage

For gifts received during the marriage, the starting point is also that the gifts can be excluded from the division.

The man has the right to keep the value of a motorcycle he received as a gift from his friends during the marriage outside of the division of property.

When it comes to wedding gifts, the basic principle is that the gifts are given to both parties and that the value of the gifts is included in the division. The dinner service, candlesticks, and cutlery that you received for your wedding should therefore, in principle, be divided equally.

However, when it comes to wedding gifts, there is a presumption that gifts of greater value are given to the spouse who is closest to the giver. If the bride and groom receive a plot of land as a wedding gift from the bride's parents, she will be entitled to keep the value of the land out of the division in the event of a divorce.

What about the diamond ring your husband gave you for your 40th birthday?

The basic principle is that gifts of a certain value given by a spouse must be made by means of a prenuptial agreement. [3] A prenuptial agreement must be entered into in writing. Both spouses must sign the prenuptial agreement in the presence of two witnesses who have been approved by both spouses. There is no requirement for the prenuptial agreement to be registered in order to be valid between the spouses.

If the parties have not drawn up a valid prenuptial agreement, the value of the diamond ring shall be divided equally. The Marriage Act does not take into account moral rules that dictate that it is rude to demand the return of such a gift.