Under Russian law, this issue is governed by Article 161 of the Russian Family Code.
As a general rule, the spouses’ property rights and obligations are determined by the law of the country where the spouses have their common place of residence.
If the spouses do not have a common place of residence, the law of the country of their last common place of residence applies.
If the spouses have never had a common place of residence, a Russian court will apply Russian law.
This is particularly important in international family disputes. The mere fact that the case is being heard by a Russian court does not automatically mean that Russian substantive law will apply. The court must first determine which country’s law governs the spouses’ property relations.
A separate rule applies to prenuptial agreements and maintenance agreements between spouses. In such cases, the spouses may choose the law applicable to their rights and obligations under the agreement. If no applicable law has been chosen, the general rules of Article 161 of the Russian Family Code apply.
In practice, this means that in cross-border property disputes it is important to assess not only the jurisdiction of the Russian courts, but also the applicable law: where the spouses lived together, where their last common residence was located, whether they entered into a prenuptial agreement, and whether the agreement contains an applicable law clause.
