Division of property, if one is from a marriage abroad

After the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, which took place on February 24, 2022, a large number of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes and go abroad for future employment or residence.

All these circumstances contributed to the increase in the number of divorces in the country, as the presence of crisis and conflict situations between spouses increased significantly.

However, not everyone can return to Ukraine to dissolve the marriage and divide the property in accordance with Ukrainian legislation.

The question arises of how to dissolve a marriage and divide property between persons, if one of the spouses is constantly abroad, which is why the relevance of this topic can be seen.

In this article, we will try to answer this question.

What is the procedure for dividing property between spouses if one of its members is abroad?

In cases where one of the spouses is abroad, and the other is in Ukraine, and they cannot reach an agreement between themselves regarding the distribution of jointly acquired property, in such a situation, as a general rule, the court at the defendant's place of residence should be referred.

However, if at the moment his place of residence is unknown to you, then a claim can be filed based on the location of the property to be divided between the spouses. But in the statement itself, you need to indicate the defendant's last known place of residence, since the court is obliged to inform him about the consideration of the case as a whole.

The judicial body will decide on the issue of equal distribution of property between individuals.

What are the features of the process?

During the division of property between spouses, one of whose members is abroad, the features of the court process are usually that the following categories of objects to be divided are taken into account:

• a set of things or each individual thing belonging to citizens under the right of common co-ownership;
• creditor claims of spouses (these can be claims related to various types of contracts - loans, sales, etc.);
• debt obligations of spouses (in them, citizens act as debtors and must fulfill their obligations to creditors - return an item or pay a debt, etc.).

Thus, when dividing property between spouses, the court must take into account these categories of objects.

What types of property are subject to division between spouses?

The Family Code of Ukraine specifies that only property that is considered jointly acquired during the existence of marriage or during cohabitation is subject to division between citizens  (civil marriage), except for personal items (hygiene products, clothing, musical instruments, any jewelry, etc.).

Property belonging to each of its members on the right of personal private property (acquired before marriage,  received on the basis of a gift contract or in the order of inheritance, purchased with personal funds of one of the spouses, etc.) is also not subject to division between spouses.

In addition, the court may recognize as the personal private property of the wife or husband the property acquired by her during their separate residence in connection with the actual termination of marital relations.

If you are abroad, and the other spouse is in Ukraine, and you want to divorce and divide the property between you, then in this case you cannot do without qualified legal assistance, namely, the Prikhodko and Partners law firm.

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