The asset acquired before the marriage itself remains entirely with the original owner and is not divided – only the increase in value during the marriage is subject to equalization.
In practice, a retroactive appraisal report as of the date of marriage is necessary to reliably document the original starting value.
If modernizations were jointly financed during the marriage, the other spouse may, under certain circumstances, assert an additional claim for equalization for these investments.
Financing that already existed before the marriage but was only paid off during the marriage is also taken into account when determining the initial assets, in accordance with the debt level at that time.
In practice, the burden of proving the historical starting value regularly lies with the spouse who relies on a correspondingly lower initial asset value.
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