Admissibility of contracts between spouses obliging one spouse to pay remuneration in return for specific behavior of the other spouse.

It often happens that spouses have many claims against each other in connection with divorce, and therefore they sometimes try to specify these claims in the form of a civil contract.

An example of such agreements is, for example, the spouse’s obligation to pay remuneration in return for resignation of filing a lawsuit for divorce due to this spouse’s fault. In this case, the spouse’s resignation of filing a lawsuit is going to be compensated by the payment of the spouse’s remuneration specified in the contract. Yet another example of these contracts is an agreement for consent to divorce for consideration.

It should be noted that there is a regulation in the Polish Civil Code regarding the freedom of contracts. The parties may arrange the civil contract at their discretion, as long as its content or purpose does not contradict the nature of this contract, the law, or the principles of social coexistence. Despite the indicated limitations, the conclusion of a contract that violates these limitations is possible, if both parties won’t contest the terms of the contract. The examples of contracts concluded by spouses mentioned at the beginning raise doubts precisely because of the principles of social coexistence. Such agreements are aimed at forcing a benefit in return for withdrawing from an action for divorce due to the fault of the other spouse or in return for consenting to the divorce.

Therefore, caution is recommended when concluding such agreements between spouses due to the later possibility of contesting them, which may lead to the declaration of invalidity of the agreement and the necessity to return what the parties have provided (i.e., renumeration for abandoning an action for divorce with a judgment at fault or in exchange for consent to divorce).