The price of the claim and the value of the property upon distribution

The price of the claim and the value of the property upon distribution

If the spouses fail to agree on a voluntary division of property upon divorce, then property issues will be resolved in court.

Property jointly acquired by partners during the marriage relationship is subject to division. The value of property during its division within the divorce process is determined by the plaintiff or both spouses independently or through an expert organization, as well as by the court.

Spouses may request an assessment not only during the divorce process, but also after its completion. Having received the assessment document and the receipt for payment of the state fee, the plaintiff attaches it to the statement of claim.

How to determine the value of property during distribution?

Divorce proceedings are quite a complex legal procedure. Both spouses will need to decide not only what property needs to be divided, but also how it will be divided.

Property jointly acquired by partners during marriage is their common property (houses, apartments, cars, land, businesses, shares, etc.) and is subject to distribution during divorce proceedings (Family Code of Ukraine).

The following property is not subject to division:

• purchased by a couple before the marriage;
• purchased during the marriage by only one man without any participation of the second (for example, a car purchased by a man during the marriage from his bank deposit opened at the time of registration of the union), with the exception of situations indicating a significant contribution by the second man to the improvement of the property (for example, repair of a car after an accident);
• personal items, with the exception of items of great value (for example, jewelry);
• purchased after the annulment of the marriage;
• belongs to the children (Family Code of Ukraine) and others.

If the spouses fail to agree on a voluntary division of property upon divorce, then property issues will be resolved in court.

Valuation of property during division during divorce of spouses

However, in such a case, it becomes necessary to conduct an assessment of the jointly acquired property of the spouses, since when filing a claim, it is necessary to indicate the value of the property to which the plaintiff is claiming.

It is mandatory to conduct an assessment of the property for:

• determination of the amount of state duty, the amount of which is established by current legislation;
• payment of monetary compensation to one of the spouses if the division of property is not carried out in equal shares or there is no possibility of dividing common property (for example, a car);
• satisfaction of the claims of a credit institution in which the spouses or one of them has an outstanding debt.

The person who initiates the claim for division of property can conduct an assessment of the common property independently, indicating its approximate value. If the second man, acting as the defendant, has doubts about the adequacy of the property assessment conducted by the first man, then the property will have to be assessed by involving specialized expert organizations. Thus, if the value of the property is underestimated, the defendant may receive unfair monetary compensation for his share.

Moreover, a man can demand to divide the property not only during the divorce process, but also after its completion.

Not only the defendant, but also the court may demand an independent assessment of the property if doubts arise regarding the correctness of the value determination.

Expertise in assessing the value of property when dividing between spouses

Thus, in order to avoid all sorts of disputes, it is advisable for spouses to agree on the property valuation before the start of legal proceedings (come to a consensus on the exemplary value of the property or contact an appraisal company together). Otherwise, the final decision will be made by the court.

When conducting an examination by a specialized organization, the employees of the institution are given a list of property subject to valuation, as well as title and other documents (for example, a technical passport).

When assessing the property, the expert company determines its market value. In turn, the appraisal activities must be carried out within the framework of current legislation and appraisal standards.

The cost of an expert’s services will depend on the type of object to be assessed, its market value, and other significant characteristics.

The appraiser carries out a range of activities, including checking the documents provided, inspecting the objects, recording on digital media (photography), measuring (for example, the area of ​​an apartment), determining demolition, etc. As a result of the examination, applicants are given a report indicating the value characteristics of the objects, as well as their general condition.

Report on the value of assessed property when dividing between spouses

The report on the value of the assessed property must include without fail:

• date of preparation and serial number;
• basis for property valuation;
• information about the appraiser;
• detailed description of the objects being appraised;
• references to standards by which the value of the assets was determined;
• market value of the property;
• date of determining the value of the property, etc. (Law of Ukraine “On Appraisal Activities in Ukraine”).

Having received the appraisal document, the plaintiff attaches it to the statement of claim and also pays the state fee (before the start of the trial).

How is the price of a claim determined when dividing the common property of spouses?

Recording the amount of the claim in the statement of claim is necessary to determine the scope of the applicant’s claims, as well as to calculate the amount of the state fee established by the Tax Code of Ukraine (CC of Ukraine).

The amount of the claim is determined based on the estimated value of the property (determined by the plaintiff or an expert institution).

As a rule, the plaintiff states that the amount of the claim is equal to half the value of the jointly acquired property, since it is believed that a man and a woman have equal rights in the distribution of jointly acquired property (Family Code of Ukraine).

State duty for a claim for division of property through the court

The State Customs is determined based on the amount of the claim in the following order:

• if the claim amount is within the limits, the state fee will be four percentage points of the amount of the claim, but not less than four hundred;
• if the claim amount is more, but does not exceed, the state fee will include eight hundred and three percent of the amount over twenty thousand rubles;
• if the amount of the claim exceeds, but does not exceed, the state fee will include three thousand two hundred and two percent of the amount over one hundred non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens;
• if the amount of the claim is more and does not exceed million, the amount of the state fee will be equal to five thousand two hundred UAH m with an additional amount payable in the amount of one percent of the amount of claims exceeding two hundred thousand;
• if the claim amount is more than million, the state fee will consist of the amount of thirteen thousand two hundred rubles and half a percent of the amount of the claim exceeding one million (in total, no more than sixty thousand rubles are paid).

Practice shows that courts quite rarely use their right to change the ratio of spouses’ shares in the absence of serious events. However, when reviewing the spouses’ share in jointly acquired property, an adjustment (towards a decrease or increase) of the amount of the paid state duty occurs.

The price of the claim in the division of real estate

The price of a claim in the division of real estate is determined based on its assessed value.

If the plaintiff decides not to contact an appraisal firm and has not encountered any objections from the defendant, then the man indicates the price of the claim in the statement independently or taking into account the opinion of his other half.

When assessing real estate, the expert institution must provide a package of documents confirming the right to the property, technical data of the living space, as well as other information.

The assessment of an apartment or house is carried out using real estate market analysis. The cost and issuance of the assessment document itself can be determined by a private expert company, which will determine the market value of a particular property.

An alternative option may be to contact the state technical inventory institution (BTI), while the value of the real estate, unlike the assessment of a private company, will, as a rule, be lower than the market value, which in turn will reduce the amount of state duty paid when dividing jointly acquired property.

Documents for division of property through the court

When determining the value of a plot, the purpose of using the plot and its intended use are taken into account. To evaluate a plot of land, a specialist must be provided with:

• documents establishing the right to the plot;
• information on the boundaries of the land plot;
• data on land categories (agricultural, etc.);
• information on the availability and condition of utilities, etc.

The price of the claim when dividing a car

The price of the claim when dividing a car is determined in the same way as the valuation of real estate. In the absence of an agreement between the spouses on the value of the vehicle (TS), the preferred option would be to contact an appraisal organization. In extreme cases, the plaintiff will indicate the price of the car in the claim at his own discretion, but the defendant has the right to disagree with such an assessment and demand an independent examination during the trial.

To assess a vehicle, as part of the division of property, the expert is provided with the vehicle passport, registration certificate, mileage and data on the maintenance performed. The appraiser, carrying out a visual inspection, checking the serviceability of all vehicle systems, as well as the degree of its wear and tear, indicates the market value of the vehicle in the report.

When dividing a car, different methods of dividing it can be used. If, in addition to the car, other movable and immovable property is divided, then the vehicle can be transferred to one of the spouses to equalize the shares.

Other possible ways to divide a car include cases where:

• the car was sold before the division of property in court was completed (then the amount received from the sale is divided equally);
• the first man receives the car, and the second – monetary compensation, usually equal to half the market value of the vehicle.

Cost of dividing a car through the court

Example

Stulnikova A.P. filed a claim for divorce and division of property. The plaintiff asked the court to provide her with monetary compensation for a Hyundai Solaris in the amount of rubles. Meanwhile, before filing the claim, the spouses managed to agree on an independent assessment of the value of the car, estimated at rubles.

During the court hearing, Stulnikova’s husband indicated that when buying the car, he made a larger contribution to its purchase. The defendant also said that during the time she owned the car, his wife did not drive it at all.

Thus, Stulnikova’s husband asked the court to partially satisfy the plaintiff’s claims, that is, for the amount.

Based on the arguments presented during the hearing, the court satisfied the plaintiff’s claim in full. Explaining the reasons for the decision, the judge indicated that the defendant could not provide any documents confirming the fact that when buying the car, he contributed a larger amount than his wife. Moreover, the fact that the plaintiff did not use the disputed vehicle does not in any way affect the full scope of Stulnikova’s rights to monetary compensation.

The price of the car is indicated in the statement of claim, which is usually filed at the defendant’s place of residence. The claim is also accompanied by the vehicle’s registration certificate, an appraisal document (if any), as well as a credit agreement with payment documents and payment receipts (if the car was purchased on credit).

The price of the claim when dividing the loan

A loan from one of the parties to a marriage, received during the marriage relationship, is a common obligation of the spouses.

To determine the value of the claim when dividing a loan, no assessment activities are required; it is sufficient to indicate in the claim only the remaining credit debt.

However, it is advisable to reach a voluntary agreement between the spouses, since when distributing the loan, difficulties may arise not only in court, but also with the bank.

Law on the division of property of spouses through the court

The division of the loan stipulates that each person will have to pay half of the debt (Family Code of Ukraine). The court has the right to change the fate of the debt paid by each man if it is proven during the court hearing that one of the spouses used the borrowed funds for personal needs (for example, for cosmetology services), did not contribute to the financial support of the family, etc. (Family Code of Ukraine).

A credit institution that has entered into a loan agreement with one of the spouses may demand payment only on it. This is due to the imperfection of the legislation, since the transfer of debt from one person to another is allowed only with the approval of such action by the creditor (Civil Code of Ukraine). However, in practice, such cases are quite rare, since the courts very often refuse banks such demands.

In addition to the claim with the amount of the claim indicated in it, the following is submitted to the court office:

• receipt of payment of state duty;
• loan agreement;
• receipts confirming loan repayment;
• marriage certificate (if the divorce has not yet been legalized);
• divorce certificate (if the divorce has occurred);
• other documents.

If the former spouses ignore their obligations to the credit institution, they bear joint responsibility for non-payment of the loan, including their personal property and property divided as a result of litigation.

Lawyer’s answers about the price of the claim and the value of the property during the division

The price of the claim and the value of the property upon distribution: results

The division of jointly acquired property is a rather complex legal process. Spouses need to decide not only what property needs to be divided, but also how it will be divided.

A person filing a claim for division of property has the right to evaluate the property personally or with the help of appraisers. If one of the spouses does not agree with the assessment, the property can be assessed by the spouses. Otherwise, the property will be assessed by an independent expert company appointed by the court.

The price of the claim is determined based on the estimated value of the property. Usually, the plaintiff specifies the amount of the claim equal to half the value of the jointly acquired property, since the spouses have equal rights in the distribution of common property.

When applying to the court, the claim, in particular, includes title documents for the property, as well as a receipt for payment of the state fee, calculated based on the price of the claim.