The Marriage Act in Norway is designed to protect your interests and ensure a stable and secure financial future for you and your spouse. This law contains several rules, but most importantly in this case is how the law regulates the property relations between spouses.
The main principle of the Marriage Act is that each spouse has their own assets during the marriage. This means that you can sell, use, pledge, destroy, etc. the objects that belong to you.
But there are some exceptions, and one of them is housing.
Shared housing and contents are of such central importance that exceptions have been made for these assets from the main rule of free disposal. This means that neither spouse can sell, pledge, enter into or terminate leases without the written consent of the other spouse (Section 32 of the Marriage Act). Even gift sales and/or transfers are considered dispositions that require consent.
This applies even if the home is the sole property of one spouse. The purpose of this is to protect the other spouse from invasive dispositions that may affect the joint home.
In other words, you cannot apply for mortgage refinancing with Kraft Bank without the written consent of your spouse. This applies even if you own the home alone.
In principle, the Marriage Act applies to the shared home that the spouses live in on a daily and regular basis, but it can also apply to leisure property if this is used significantly more than weekends and holidays.
Written consent is required for validity.
If a joint property is sold or pledged without consent, the aggrieved spouse can demand that the agreement be rescinded by judgment. This applies regardless of whether the buyer was aware of the lack of consent.
