What should you know about the division of property in case of divorce in Ukraine?

The legal basis of division of property process in Ukraine is the family code. According to its postulates, everything that appears in the family after marriage is jointly acquired and belongs to both spouses on the rights of common property. Both spouses have the same rights to own, use or dispose of joint property. If one of them has an advantage in determining the size of a part in the family property, it should be written in the marriage contract. According to divorce proceeding in Ukraine, everything owned or used by a couple may be: the private property of the husband or wife; the common property of the spouses; borrowed property of other persons. If there is a dispute over the property of the spouses, you can divide only the property that belongs to both husband and wife. At the same time, wife’s share and husband share are determined as 50% to 50%. Things that belong to the property rights of one of the spouses cannot be divided. The husband or the wife would have to prove in court that the object of the division is a matrimonial property.

As a rule, the claim for division of property of the spouse is filed separately from the divorce process, as the court proceedings on property cases can be extended for many months. Therefore, nobody will agree to wait for divorce so long. Therefore, it is first desirable to get a divorce using the services of a divorce lawyer in Ukraine, and only then to deal with the family arrangement of the property.

The property that cannot be divided

Not all things that have been used during the family life can be divided between the husband and the wife. Depending on the method and source of acquisition, there are several cases when the property is not subject of property partition:

• one of the spouses acquired it before the wedding;
• it was given to one of the spouses;
• the property is inherited from a relative;
• the thing was acquired in marriage, but for the personal money of one of the spouses;
• the property was acquired in marriage, but in conditions when the spouses lived separately;
• the apartment or land was acquired by one of the spouses after the wedding as a result of the right to privatization.

Court cases on division of property are among the most complex cases in the field of family law. There are many nuances of family property law and material nature, which may be unknown to ordinary citizens. Therefore the parties are strongly recommended to use legal support and assistance of a lawyer in order to protect their interests in family property cases.