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Since 1 January 2026, personal guarantees have their own place in the Belgian Civil Code: Book 9, Title 1, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 11 July 2025. It replaces the old suretyship rules, which were scattered across the old Civil Code and special statutes. The Civil Code reform continues; this part is already in force.
Five instruments now in the Code
The text no longer covers suretyship alone. It also governs autonomous guarantees, letters of comfort, joint and several liability by way of security, and real suretyship, where a person charges one of their assets for someone else’s debt.
The first-demand guarantee, built by practice and case law, now has a statutory basis.
Better protection for individual guarantors
Where the guarantee is given by a consumer, the text requires a written instrument separate from the main contract and a maximum amount. The commitment must be proportionate to the guarantor’s income and assets, failing which it may be reduced. The creditor must inform the guarantor before signing, every year on the state of the debt, and without delay if the debtor defaults.
This regime replaces the former gratuitous suretyship rules.
Only new guarantees are covered
The rules apply to guarantees given from 1 January 2026. Older suretyships remain under the regime in force when they were given. The two regimes will therefore coexist in credit portfolios for years.
For banks
Suretyship and guarantee templates had to be reviewed. Annual information and default notices require reliable processes, since failing to send them can cost the creditor part of its rights. And the proportionality assessment must be documented at signing, not reconstructed on the day of the dispute.
This is the English version of an article originally published in French on bankinglaw.be.
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