IECL Lunchtime Seminar with Viviana de Donato – The Protection of the Family in Civil Law and Common Law Systems: Atypical Matrimonial Agreements in Italian Legal System

The IECL Lunchtime Seminar Series offers our Academic Visitors an opportunity to share their research, exchange ideas, and connect with colleagues on both substantive and methodological aspects of their work. 

Each seminar usually lasts 30–45 minutes, with 20–30 minutes for the presentation followed by 10–15 minutes for Q&A. A light sandwich lunch will be provided.

Viviana de Donato
The Protection of the Family in Civil Law and Common Law Systems: Atypical Matrimonial Agreements in Italian Legal System

Abstract: This seminar explores the topic of atypical matrimonial property conventions in Italy, analyzing the limits imposed on private autonomy and the prospects of admissibility in light of social and jurisprudential developments. Following a brief historical introduction to the evolution of family law and traditional matrimonial property regimes, the research focuses on the legal classification of conventional community property and the tension between mandatory rules and spaces for individual negotiation. To overcome the rigidity of the dichotomy between community and separation of property, the study adopts a comparative perspective with the legal system of England and Wales. In this jurisdiction, despite the absence of a rigid system of standard legal regimes, private autonomy receives significant recognition regarding the respect for a separate property framework and the concept of matrimonial property—especially in the evaluation of prenuptial agreements (following the landmark ruling in Radmacher v. Granatino and recent developments by the Law Commission)—while also leveraging flexible instruments such as trusts. The analysis concludes by examining how the gap between community and separation can be navigated not only alternatively, but through atypical contractual models capable of balancing individual freedom and the protection of public order within contemporary European private law.