Documents to the court for division of property

Documents to the court for division of property

If the couple could not come to an agreement on the pre-trial division of property, the only way to resolve the dispute is to file a claim in court.

A claim for division of property is filed with the court by one of the spouses or his legal representative and is considered by the district court.

The plaintiff prepares a claim in two copies (one is submitted to the court office, the second is sent to the defendant). The claim, as a result of the decision taken by the judicial body, may be rejected or satisfied in full or in part.

In addition to the statement of claim, the plaintiff pays a state fee. Its amount is determined based on the value of the jointly acquired property and is calculated using the rule established by the Law of Ukraine On Court Fees. A receipt for payment of customs duty is mandatory included in the package of documents and submitted to the court office.

Additional documents attached to a claim for division of property include:

• property valuation reports;
• papers confirming rights to a particular property.

Statement of claim for division of property of spouses

One of the main topics during divorce proceedings is the resolution of issues related to the property rights of the spouses.

The property of spouses acquired by them within the framework of the marriage union is subject to division (Family Code of Ukraine).

• Property acquired outside of marriage, as well as property received under a so-called gratuitous agreement (as a result of inheritance, gift, privatization) cannot be included in a claim for division of property.
• Moreover, the common property of spouses does not include their personal belongings (clothing, hygiene products, etc.), copyrights and intellectual property rights, as well as property registered to minor children.

If, during the course of the marriage, the property of one of the spouses acquired a higher value thanks to the other spouse (for example, the wife invested her own money in a major renovation of the house), it may be recognized as jointly acquired (however, its division may not be equal).

If the couple could not come to an agreement on the pre-trial division of property, the only way to resolve the dispute is to file a claim in court.

Claim for division of property of spouses through the court

A claim for division of property is filed with the court by one of the spouses or his/her legal representative, usually at the place of residence of the defendant or the location of the property being divided.

• If the amount of the claim does not exceed a thousand, the claim will be considered by the court.
• In situations where the amount of the claim exceeds thousands or the claim is about the place of residence of children after divorce, the case will be considered exclusively by the district court.

The issue of division of property may also be included in the general list of requirements within the divorce process or separated into separate proceedings at the discretion of the judge.

The claim itself must be drawn up in strict accordance with current legislation, that is, the document may not be drawn up in free written form.

Contents of the statement of claim for division of property of spouses

The statement of claim must include the following mandatory points:

• name and location of the court (district or court);
• information about each wife (full name, date of birth, place of residence, passport and contact information, etc.);
• date of marriage;
• statement of claim, indicating all details of the acquisition of property;
• presence or absence of minor children;
• list of evidence in the case;
• presence or absence of a marriage contract (agreement) providing for a special regime of property rights;
• estimated value of each property;
• total value of the claim;
• proposal on the ratio of shares in the distribution of common property;
• list of witnesses;
• list of documents attached to the claim.

In preparation for the court hearing, the plaintiff must complete two copies of the statement of claim, one of which is submitted to the court office and the other is given to the defendant.

Consideration of the case on division of property of spouses in court

The first hearings on the case usually begin several weeks after the claim is received.

The judge hears the case with the participation of both parties, with the involvement of witnesses and the children of the spouses.

The total time of litigation will depend on many factors, including the scope of the claims of the initiator of the claim, the workload of the judicial corps, etc. During the consideration of the case on division of property, the court hearing may be repeatedly postponed, however, the current legislation limits the period of consideration of the case in the district court to two months (Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine). However, often if one of the parties delays the case, the period of consideration may increase.

The judge issues a verdict with the participation of both parties. If one of the partners does not appear at the hearing (there is no valid reason), the court announces the decision in the presence of only one man.

The claim as a result of the decision taken by the judicial body may be:

• rejected;
• granted in full or in part;
• considered later.

The court’s verdict comes into legal force one month after it is issued, which allows both parties, in case of disagreement with the decision, to appeal it or file an appeal.

The court may decide to divide the property according to the standard scheme, i.e. in half, or establish a special partial regime (for example, the man receives only a quarter of the common property).

However, Russian family law allows filing a claim for division of property in court not only during a divorce, but also before or after the dissolution of the marriage.

The limitation period for the division of property is three years, starting from the moment the husband receives information about the violation of his rights to common property (Family Code of Ukraine).

Document on payment of state duty for division of property in court

Payment of the state fee is a mandatory condition for accepting the claim for consideration and is made before the start of the trial.

The amount of the state fee depends on the price of the claim, which is indicated in the statement of claim and usually amounts to half of the estimated value of the property (Family Code of Ukraine).

The amount of state duty for the division of property is determined by the plaintiff independently based on his own calculations of the value of jointly acquired property or a report prepared by an expert organization.

The amount of state duty is determined as follows:

• if the amount of the claim does not exceed a thousand, a % of the amount of the claim is paid, but not less;
• if the value of the claim is more than a thousand, but not more than thousands, the state fee will consist of a fixed amount and an amount equal to % of the amount of claims exceeding thousands;
• if the value of the claim is more than thousands, but not more than thousands, the state fee will consist of % of the amount exceeding thousands;
• if the value of the claim is more than thousands and does not exceed millions, the amount of the fee will consist of thousands two hundred and % of the amount of the claim exceeding thousands;
• if the amount of the claim exceeds one million, the state fee will include a fixed amount and % of the amount of claims exceeding millions (the amount of the fee cannot be higher than thousands).

However, when a judicial body revises the value of common property or the spouses’ shares in jointly acquired property, the amount of the paid state fee may either decrease or increase.

Documents for division of property and divorce at the same time

If a claim is filed with the court with a demand not only for divorce but also for division of property, the amount of the state fee will consist of a fixed part in the amount and value depending on the price of the claim (Civil Code of Ukraine).

The details for payment of the state fee can be obtained directly from the office of the judicial body in which the case will be considered or on its official website.

A receipt for payment of the state fee is included in the package of documents and submitted to the court office.

The plaintiff has the right to ask the court to defer the payment of the state fee, reduce its amount or completely exempt from such an obligation due to property issues (Civil Code of Ukraine). In support of his request, the plaintiff can present to the judicial body a certificate of his income and expenses, and also refer to the presence of minor children.

However, if the defendant loses the case (the claim is satisfied in full or in part), all legal costs, including the amount of the state fee, are paid by the court to the plaintiff in proportion to the amount of the satisfied claims. In some cases, the judge may refuse to reimburse the state fee to the plaintiff (for example, when the defendant was ready to agree to all the plaintiff’s conditions, but the application was filed anyway).

Submitting documents for division of property: judicial practice

Example

Petrova E.M. filed a claim for the division of jointly acquired property. According to Petrova, her apartment should remain with her, and she demanded compensation for the man’s car. The plaintiff himself determined the value of the common property and indicated in the application the price of the claim equal to (half the value of the property).

During the consideration of the case in court, Petrov K.P., acting as the defendant, did not object to the correctness of the calculation of the value of the property.

Petrova also paid the state fee in accordance with the norms of the Law of Ukraine On Court Fees in the amount of and attached a receipt to the claim.

The court, taking into account the arguments of the parties, satisfied the plaintiff’s claims in full and thus left the apartment to the wife and the car to the husband. The defendant, in turn, will receive compensation for the apartment in the amount of (half of its value), and the plaintiff – for the car in the amount of rubles.

Based on the offset rule, only Petrova will have to pay her husband compensation in the amount of.

The court also ordered the defendant to reimburse all legal costs incurred by the plaintiff (including the state fee).

Documents on the value of the spouses’ common property

In situations where for some reason the plaintiff has not determined the value of the property personally, an independent assessment of the jointly acquired property of the spouses must be carried out to determine the price of the claim.

The property is also assessed for the purpose of:

• establishing the amount of state duty;
• payment of monetary compensation to the defendant (sometimes the plaintiff) (if the spouses’ shares are not equal);
• division of property that is indivisible in kind (for example, gold jewelry);
• respect for the interests of creditors.

The market value of jointly acquired property is assessed by a specialized expert company. When conducting the assessment, specialists are provided with a list of property that needs to be assessed, as well as documents confirming property rights.

Expertise in assessing the value of property during division

During the examination process, appraisers determine the market value of the property based on the provisions of current legislation, as well as appraisal standards.

The cost of the services provided by the expert depends on the type of property (apartment, house, garage, land plot), its real value and other characteristics.

The assessment procedure involves a whole range of works, including analysis of title documents, visual inspection of the property, recording on digital media, measuring certain indicators (for example, the area of ​​the land plot), determining depreciation, etc. Based on the results of the analysis, the customers are given an assessment document, drawn up in the form of a report, which indicates the cost and technical condition of each object.

Document on the valuation of property during its division

The assessment document must contain the following mandatory information:

• date of preparation and document number;
• reason for property valuation;
• information about the institution that carried out the property valuation;
• detailed description of each object;
• calculation methods and standards used in determining the value of the property;
• market value of the property;
• date of the valuation activities. (Law of Ukraine “On valuation activities in Ukraine”).

When determining the value of real estate, additional documents are provided to the expert organization, which indicate the technical data of the living space.

Determining the value of a car when dividing property

To determine the value of a vehicle, when distributing jointly acquired property, the specialist is given the vehicle’s passport, its registration certificate, the mileage and information about the maintenance performed are recorded.

Moreover, the expert inspects the car, checks the serviceability of all systems, as well as the degree of wear of all units and assemblies of the car and, based on the results obtained, indicates the market value of the assessed object in the appraisal document.

The plaintiff attaches the appraisal document to the claim, and uses the final value of the jointly acquired property indicated in it to calculate the price of the claim (usually half of the value of the property).

Other documents for the division of property of spouses through the court

Additional documents may be attached to the statement of claim for division of property, allowing for clarification of all circumstances of the case.

• If the division of property occurs during the marriage, then the marriage certificate is submitted to the court.
• When considering a marriage outside of marriage, a divorce certificate is presented.

When dividing living space, you need to present the following to the court:

• certificate of ownership;
• technical passport;
• purchase and sale agreement;
• extract from the state register;
• extract from the house book.

If a car is being divided, the list of documents will include:

• certificate of ownership of the vehicle;
• vehicle passport;
• vehicle registration certificate.

During the division of household appliances, furniture, and jewelry, the following must be attached to the statement of claim:

• cash receipts;
• warranty;
• other documents confirming the cost of goods.

In situations where the subject of the dispute is an outstanding loan, the following is submitted to the court:

• loan agreement;
• profit and cash documents;
• receipts confirming payments.

When dividing a joint business of partners, a certificate of registration of the company, the charter or constituent documents, as well as the financial statements of the company are submitted to the judicial authority.

If the plaintiff can personally participate in the court hearing, then in this case a notarized power of attorney is provided, which gives the right to the plaintiff’s representative to defend his interests.

Lawyer’s answers about documents for division of property of spouses

Documents to the court for the division of property of spouses

The division of property is one of the central issues during the divorce process.

If the spouses fail to reach an agreement on the division of joint property, property disputes will be resolved in court after filing a claim. The division of property can occur both within the framework of a separate proceeding and as part of the claims when filing a divorce claim, if there are no objections from the judge.

The law gives spouses the right to apply to a judicial body with a claim for division of property not only during the divorce process, but also before or after the divorce process.

In most cases, the judge divides the spouses’ property in half, and in some circumstances establishes a special division regime.

Payment of the state fee is a mandatory procedure for accepting a claim for proceedings. The amount of the state fee for the division of property is determined by the plaintiff personally, based on an independent calculation of the value of the common property or expert assessments.

A valuation document (if an examination was carried out) and other documents (on the right of ownership, purchase and sale agreements, checks, etc.) are attached to the claim for the division of property.