Division of property in a civil marriage

The institution of civil marriage in Ukraine is gaining more and more popularity since the statistics of divorces between couples show that official marriage can be more than once in a lifetime.

This leads to the fact that citizens increasingly cease to register marriages in everyday life, but live together among themselves.

In practice, the question arises, if they separate, how to divide the property acquired by them during the civil marriage? This is the relevance of consideration of the chosen topic for today.

And therefore, in this article, we will analyze how it is possible to divide property in a civil marriage between citizens, taking into account the normative legal acts of Ukraine.

When is property considered jointly acquired during a civil marriage?

To answer this question, one should turn to the Civil Code, namely Article 74, which states that if citizens (woman and man) live together in one family, but are not in an officially registered marriage with each other, then the property they acquired during such the residence belongs to them by the right of joint ownership.

In addition, the fact of cohabitation between persons will need to be proven in court, if the couple will divide property in court.

However, there is an exception if the persons have not established other regulations of such property in the contract between themselves. In practice, this happens when there is an agreement on the division of the property of the spouses in a civil marriage, which provides for a clear division of jointly acquired property.

Thus, citizens can distribute property among themselves both judicially and extrajudicially, which gives them options for peaceful settlement of legal relations between themselves.

What can be divided?

Property that meets the following criteria is subject to distribution between citizens during the period of life in a civil marriage:

• such property (movable or immovable) must be acquired during the joint life of the couple;
• or such property is the result of their joint labor (for example, a man and a woman run a household together and have a corresponding income from it).

If the joint property does not meet the above-mentioned criteria, it is considered by the court as not belonging to the persons with the right of joint co-ownership.

That is, either separately, or with certain shares and subject to division between persons, or it will go only to its immediate owner.

What is not subject to distribution?

• Property that is considered the personal belongings of one of the spouses living in a civil marriage (jewelry, clothes, etc.);
• Property acquired by individuals either as a result of inheritance or as a gift;
• Property acquired by persons before cohabitation, i.e. before civil marriage.

If you need to distribute property that was acquired during the existence of civil marriage, then in this case, contact the experts in your field - the law firm "Prikhodko and Partners".

Our lawyers have many years of experience in the field of family law and know how to conduct cases so that you are always satisfied with the result. So don't delay and apply!