The German Civil Code, the BGB, came into force on 1 January 1900. It is still in force. Instead of replacing it, the legislature has changed it very many times. In 1976 a reform removed the housewife marriage as the legal model. In 1998 the law on children was reformed. A major overhaul came on 1 January 2002 with the Schuldrechtsmodernisierung, the modernization of the law of obligations. Its trigger was an EU directive on consumer sales. Some experts wanted only to implement the directive. Others wanted a complete revision. The reform cut the standard limitation period from 30 years to three, and it moved several separate laws into the Code itself.