- Personal property of spouses
- Types of personal property of spouses
- What is the personal property of spouses?
- Spousal Property Law
- Recognition of personal property as common property of spouses
- Personal or common property of spouses: judicial practice
- Statement of claim for determination of personal property during divorce
- Collection of personal property of spouses for unpaid loans
- Children’s property upon divorce
- Answers from a lawyer about personal property of spouses
- Law on common and personal property of spouses
Personal property of spouses
Married citizens have personal property (both within the legal and contractual ownership regime), which is not subject to division and according to which they are responsible for their obligations. It includes things acquired by each spouse during marriage, as well as property received by a spouse as a gift or through inheritance or privatization. In addition, basically, personal property relations of spouses can be regulated by a marriage contract.
Under certain conditions, a man’s personal property can be recognized as shared property. In this case, it will be subject to division on general terms.
The property of minor children is not divided, since it is not the common property of the spouses. In addition, when distributing common property, the court takes into account the interests of minor children, allocating a larger share to the parent with whom the minor child will live.
Types of personal property of spouses
Types of personal property of spouses (in accordance with the Family Code of Ukraine) are:
- things that a citizen owned before marriage;
- donated property, things received by inheritance, through gratuitous transactions.
- The exception is wedding gifts, which are usually given to the couple;
- individual items (clothes, shoes, etc.);
- exclusive rights to the results
- intellectual activity created by one of the spouses – the author of the work;
- prizes, medals, awards;
- one-time assistance, financial assistance;
- funds paid to compensate for moral damage.
What is the personal property of spouses?
Property acquired for marriage, regardless of its value or type (movable or immovable), is personal property. This fact is confirmed by sales contracts, checks, certificates of ownership and other documents submitted before the date of marriage registration.
If a spouse bought (exchanged) an item while married, but he made this agreement with his personal money that belonged to him during the marriage, then such property will be recognized as personal. This rule is also applied by the courts in cases of concluding barter agreements, when a man exchanges his personal property for another business, but on the condition that the condition of such an agreement is not an additional payment from the general income of the family. The property received under the mine agreement becomes the personal property of the man who entered into the agreement.
In the event of destruction (loss, damage) of the insured personal property, the insurance compensation paid to the husband (wife) goes to his personal property.
The property received as a gift can be considered one-time awards received by the husband for outstanding achievements in the scientific field, art, and literature. For example, the Nobel Prize. In contrast, bonuses paid by the employer on a regular basis cannot be considered such property. This type of bonus is part of the salary and, in connection with this, the common property of the spouses.
The contract for the privatization of residential premises is a gratuitous contract. According to such an agreement, residential premises are transferred free of charge into shared ownership to persons who have the right to use residential premises under a social tenancy agreement.
Spousal Property Law
Acts of state bodies or local government bodies, on the basis of which a land plot is granted on the right of ownership or other property right to one of the spouses, are not a gratuitous agreement and do not entail the emergence of personal property of one of the spouses.
The results of intellectual activity in accordance with the Civil Code of Ukraine (Civil Code of Ukraine) are works of science and literature, musical works, inventions, utility samples, industrial models, databases, etc. The author of these objects, as a rule, has the exclusive right to use them. A man can independently exercise this right without obtaining the consent of the second spouse. But income from the use of the exclusive right will be the common property of the spouses.
According to the Family Code of Ukraine, the court may recognize as personal property acquired by each spouse during the period of their separate residence upon termination of the relationship.
Recognition of personal property as common property of spouses
The legislator in the Family Code of Ukraine established a list of non-personal property:
- jewelry, luxury items;
- income from the use of exclusive rights to the results of intellectual activity
The legislation of Ukraine provides a definition of “jewel”. These are products made of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, etc.) and precious stones (natural diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc.).
Luxury items (expensive clothing, accessories) are determined in each specific case, taking into account the income level of the spouses.
The personal property of a spouse may be recognized as common property if the plaintiff proves that during the period of his marriage, the price of such an item was significantly increased compared to the original one. This increase in price occurred due to the use of common property or personal belongings of the spouse. Such improvements include reconstruction, major repairs, and refurbishment of property.
Personal or common property of spouses: judicial practice
Example
The wife owned a house before marriage. During the marriage, she took care of the house and raising her young son. During this time, the man carried out a major renovation of the house and added a second floor. He made these improvements at the expense of his salary. After the divorce, the man demanded that the building be recognized as common property, since he had made repairs to the house at the expense of common property. The court satisfied the man’s claims.
Personal property is recognized as common property by a court decision. To do this, it is necessary to file a claim to recognize property belonging to one of the spouses as common property.
Statement of claim for determination of personal property during divorce
The statement of claim must contain the following:
- last names, first names, patronymics of the plaintiff and defendant, their place of registration and place of actual
- residence, telephone numbers;
- the cost of the claim (the value of the disputed personal property);
- the amount of state duty paid;
- circumstances where the plaintiff substantiates his claims (the fact of marriage, description of the disputed property,
- absence of a concluded marriage contract, etc.);
- evidence confirming the plaintiff’s claims (indication that the property does not belong to the defendant’s personal items, documents and facts confirming that the value of the property was increased due to common property or the addition of the plaintiff’s personal property);
- claim.
For consideration of a statement of claim, it is necessary to pay a state fee, the amount of which is determined depending on the price of the disputed property according to the rules of the Civil Code of Ukraine. The value of the property is determined by the plaintiff independently. But in the event of a dispute in court, an expert may be brought in for assessment.
The statement of claim is filed with the district court at the place of registration of the defendant, and if the property relates to real estate, then at the location of the property. The statute of limitations is 3 years from the moment the plaintiff learned of a violation of his rights in relation to the disputed property.
Collection of personal property of spouses for unpaid loans
According to the Family Code of Ukraine, a married person is liable for his obligations with all personal property, and in case of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of obligations, creditors can foreclose on him.
Example
A surety agreement ensures the fulfillment of obligations by another person. That is, it is not the disposal of the common property of the spouses. It also does not need to be certified by a notary and, therefore, the man’s notarized consent to complete the transaction is not required. Therefore, under a guarantee agreement, liability is borne personally by the guarantor and collection under this agreement can be applied to any things and property rights belonging to this person.
If personal property is insufficient, the creditor may demand the allocation of the spouses’ share from the common property belonging to the debtor in the event of division of common property.
If a married citizen is listed as the sole legal holder of real estate in the State Register of Rights to Real Estate, then the creditor can impose a penalty on this property, regarding the specified property as the personal property of the debtor. In this case, the debtor’s wife must apply to the court with a claim for the division of the common property and the allocation to the debtor of the part due to him or demand the adoption of the right of common ownership of the disputed property.
Children’s property upon divorce
According to the Family Code of Ukraine, things acquired by parents to meet the needs of children are not subject to division and are the personal property of minors. These items are transferred to the parent with whom the minor will live. Such things include:
- clothes, shoes;
- musical instruments;
- Sports Equipment;
- school supplies;
- children’s books.
Things that, although used by the child, can also be used by the parents, do not belong to the child’s property. Such things include furniture (except for children’s furniture) and a computer. This property is subject to distribution equally with other common property of the spouses.
Deposits in credit institutions opened by parents in the name of common minor children do not belong to the common property of the spouses, are not subject to division and belong to the children. The parent who has made a contribution in the name of the child has the right to dispose of it only in the interests of the child. Otherwise, a claim may be brought against him to protect the interests of the minor child.
Based on the interests of minors, the tribunal, when dividing property, may deviate from the principle of equality of shares of spouses and distribute a huge share of the parent with whom the child remains.
Answers from a lawyer about personal property of spouses
Law on common and personal property of spouses
Ukrainian legislation distinguishes between common and personal property of spouses. When assigning property to one category or another, it is necessary to take into account the history of the acquisition of the property and the source of income with which this property was purchased.