# Fbar filing



## crisvic (Jan 25, 2020)

A NRA,portuguese national, married to a u.s citizen 40 years ago in Portugal (comunity property)
The spouse, NRA owns a brokerage account in Portugal.
Husband, u.s. citizen has no signature authority, nor any type of access to the account.
Must he show the account on his Fbar?
He lives in the u.s. She lives in Portugal. Not separated or divorced
Thank you


----------



## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

@crisvic -- The rules for community property vary by jurisdiction. Portugal, by default, is a community property jurisdiction, but there are many exceptions, starting with your marriage regime (essentially a contract for marriage, that can disavow community property treatment,) inheritances, gifts from a third party, and others. You also have the ability to gift or sometimes disavow your interest in property acquired during a marriage. Generally, property acquired during a marriage is "community property," (in a community property jurisdiction) -- so a lot depends on the nuances of the law. It also retains it's community property status, if you later move to a common law jurisdiction.

With that said, it is common practice for U.S. persons to "put" property (accounts,) solely in an NRA spouse's name to bypass U.S. reporting requirements. You have not provided enough information to determine if the U.S. spouse has ownership rights to the account; but from a practical perspective, it appears that since the U.S. person has no control and doesn't "act" like they share ownership, an argument can certainly be made to leave it off the FBAR.


----------



## crisvic (Jan 25, 2020)

255 said:


> @crisvic -- The rules for community property vary by jurisdiction. Portugal, by default, is a community property jurisdiction, but there are many exceptions, starting with your marriage regime (essentially a contract for marriage, that can disavow community property treatment,) inheritances, gifts from a third party, and others. You also have the ability to gift or sometimes disavow your interest in property acquired during a marriage. Generally, property acquired during a marriage is "community property," (in a community property jurisdiction) -- so a lot depends on the nuances of the law. It also retains it's community property status, if you later move to a common law jurisdiction.
> 
> With that said, it is common practice for U.S. persons to "put" property (accounts,) solely in an NRA spouse's name to bypass U.S. reporting requirements. You have not provided enough information to determine if the U.S. spouse has ownership rights to the account; but from a practical perspective, it appears that since the U.S. person has no control and doesn't "act" like they share ownership, an argument can certainly be made to leave it off the FBAR.


Thanks so very much......you say U.S. persons put property accounts solely in an NRA spouse,s name. I understand it,s a portuguese broker acount.. European stocks only, No u.s. stocks. Thanks


----------

