31.05.2021 10:35
As of July 1, 2015, the Act no. 139/2015 Coll., amending Act no. 99/1963 Coll., the Civil Procedure Code, as amended, and Act no. 120/2001 Coll., on court bailiffs and enforcement, as amended, have come into effect (hereafter „the Amendment“).
The purpose of the Amendment is to increase protection of an unencumbered spouse in connection with enforcement of judgments and to remove difficulties stemming from interpretation and application of the existing legislation on enforcement of judgments (execution) against assets in joint ownership of spouses (hereafter „ (dále jen „Joint Assets“).
There are several measures to ensure higher protection of the spouse who is not in debt:
1) Prior to issuing the enforcement order against Joint Assets, the court has a new obligation to take into account any prior agreements and court rulings concerning the said Joint Assets (such as annulment or reduction of Joint Assets). For the court to be able to take such information into account, the respective agreement covering the Joint Assets must be recorded in the Registry of Matrimonial Property Documents administered in keeping with notarial rules. The same obligation applies to bailiffs prior to issuing the enforcement order.
2) Another measure allows for excluding from enforcement fifty percent of the financial means held in a bank account of the unencumbered spouse, double the amount of subsistence as a minimum. In practical terms, when enforcement is ordered, the unencumbered spouse will be given the opportunity to withdraw the specific amount from a bank account which is to be seized.
3) Additionally, there is a new way of recourse, a possibility to seek staying of the enforcement of judgment (execution) in cases where Joint Assets or assets of the unencumbered spouse should be affected to a larger extent than is permissible by special legislation or in case of assets which cannot be seized at all. The bailiff must decide about whether to stay the enforcement with respect to such assets within 15 days of the motion. No consent of the creditor is required.
4) Annulment of an enforcement order (execution) to withhold monies from the wage of the encumbered spouse is yet another manner of protection of the unencumbered spouse.
The purpose of the Amendment is to remove uncertainties following the 2014 legislation regarding the scope of assets which can be seized because of debts of one of the spouses.