This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report website at 5:03 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2026.
Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo married his longtime partner Georgina Rodriguez, drawing attention to the couple's prenuptial agreement. It reportedly keeps Ronaldo's assets—estimated at about 1.7 trillion won—separate from his spouse's assets even after the marriage.
In Korea, couples can also enter into a contract before marriage to own and manage their respective assets separately. However, legal experts say it is difficult to block the other party's claim for property division at divorce solely with a prenuptial agreement.
According to legal sources on the 20th, Article 829 of the Civil Act allows a "marital property agreement" in which a couple sets out the ownership and management of property before marriage. Even without a separate agreement, assets held before the marriage and assets acquired under one's own name during the marriage can, in principle, be managed as each person's "separate property."
◇ Ronaldo chose "property separation" to protect 1.7 trillion won
Ronaldo and Rodriguez were reported to have drafted a prenuptial agreement detailing property separation at a notary office in Lisbon, Portugal, on the 10th, the day before their wedding. In Portugal, choosing property separation generally allows not only assets held before marriage but also assets each person acquires after marriage to be owned and managed separately.
In Korea, a couple can conclude a marital property agreement before filing a marriage registration to set how each person's assets are owned and managed. If the agreement is registered, the record of each person's assets at the time of marriage can be kept more clearly.
Choi Ji-yeon, head attorney at Law Office for Me, said, "If you conclude and register a marital property agreement before filing a marriage registration, each person's asset record at that time remains as an official record," adding, "It does not itself block property division, but it can help later prove the scope of premarital assets."
In principle, a marital property agreement cannot be changed after marriage, and it can be modified with court approval if there is a justifiable reason.
◇ Even if "separate assets" are written down, they can be divided in divorce
The issue arises in the event of divorce. Even if a prenuptial agreement says "assets acquired after marriage are owned separately" or "the parties will not seek property division at divorce," it is difficult to expect such terms to be fully upheld in actual court proceedings.
Courts consider the length of the marriage and how much the other spouse contributed to forming and maintaining the assets, rather than focusing solely on title. Even if property was separate and owned by one spouse before the marriage, if the other spouse is found to have contributed during the marriage to maintaining it or increasing its value, that may be considered in property division.
Moon Hye-jung, spokesperson director of the Korean Women Lawyers Association, said, "It is possible to agree on how to manage assets before marriage," but noted, "An agreement that fundamentally blocks the other party's claim for property division is unlikely to be recognized by the court."
In 2016, the Supreme Court also found that an agreement made before divorce to waive a future claim for property division is void. The reason is that the right to claim property division arises specifically after a divorce is finalized, and during the marriage it is difficult to determine in advance which assets will be divided or each spouse's contribution.
Ultimately, in Korea, a prenuptial agreement is closer to a tool for clarifying each person's assets before marriage to reduce future disputes than a mechanism to make "my assets unconditionally mine even after divorce."
◇ For couples with different nationalities, "which country's law applies" is also an issue
Ronaldo is Portuguese, and Rodriguez is Spanish. For couples with different nationalities or assets in multiple countries, not only the content of the prenuptial agreement but also which country's law applies becomes a key issue.
For international couples, the applicable law governing property relations can vary depending on the parties' nationalities, habitual residences, and the location of the assets. Therefore, when drafting a prenuptial agreement, it is necessary to review not only the property management method but also the law that will apply in the event of a future dispute.
A legal source said, "Korea also has a marital property agreement system, but actual use is limited due to emotional resistance to prenuptial agreements," adding, "It can be used in advance as a means to clarify property relations where the asset scale is large or the legal relations are complex, as in international marriages."