Marriage is a human right to live in union with another person, which has certain legal consequences in the area of property. It is a property regime which comes into force between the spouses and in relation to third parties. The rules of the property regime define the relationships and govern the property rights and obligations. Under current Slovenian law, spouses can choose between a legal or a contractual property regime. The contractual property regime is an innovation of the Family Code, which replaced the former mandatory matrimonial property regime with freedom of choice. If the spouses opt for a contractual property regime, they must conclude a property regime agreement in the form of a notarial deed in order to determine the content of their own property regime. The property regime agreement allows them to regulate property issues autonomously in accordance with their wishes, needs and self-interests. The freedom in principle to design one's own property regime is limited only by the rules of law and public policy and certain ius cogens restrictions. A property regime agreement can be concluded by the spouses at any time, before or after the marriage, when they wish to regulate their property relations. The property regime is also affected by other contracts that the spouses may conclude between themselves, in particular the possibility of contractually regulating business property. The contractual freedom to determine property relations introduces two essential principles of civil law into the relationship between spouses, namely the principle of autonomy and the dispositive nature of legal norms.
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