The Supreme Court has corrected the practice of dividing property between former spouses

The Supreme Court has corrected the practice of dividing property between former spouses

The judges of two instances, who incorrectly interpreted the rules of substantive law when dividing the property of former spouses, were corrected by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in a case that was included in a new 160-page review of judicial practice by the Supreme Court, the second for the current year.

As the Supreme Court notes in the chapter devoted to the analysis of the practice of the collegium in civil cases, the regime of common joint property of the spouses does not apply to property acquired during marriage, but to funds that belonged to one of the spouses personally.

U. filed a lawsuit against P. for the division of jointly acquired property, citing the fact that he was married to P. During the marriage, under a purchase and sale agreement, the spouses acquired an apartment in joint ownership. Since a marriage contract was not concluded between the parties, an agreement on the division of jointly acquired property was not reached, U. asked to divide the apartment between him and P. and recognize his ownership of 1/2 shares in the right of common shared ownership of the disputed apartment.

The defendant P. did not recognize the claims, she asked to recognize the plaintiff’s ownership of 1/15 of a share in the right of common shared ownership of the disputed apartment, and for her the ownership of 14/15 of the share, taking into account the purchase of the apartment with the defendant’s personal funds in the amount of 1 750,000 rub.

The court found that since December 23, 2010, U. was married to P. During the marriage, on the basis of a purchase and sale agreement dated February 11, 2011, the spouses purchased an apartment, the right of joint ownership of which was registered with them on March 10, 2011. The price of the purchased apartment was 1,995,000 rubles.

As it was established during the consideration of the case and was not disputed by the parties, part of the funds in the amount of 1,750,000 rubles spent on the purchase of this apartment was received by P. as a gift from P.L. (P.’s mother) under a gift agreement dated 11 February 2011. This amount was received by P.’s mother from the sale of an apartment that belonged to her. All of the above transactions were completed on the same day – February 11, 2011.

The marriage between U. and P. was dissolved on October 9, 2014. The division of the spouses’ property after the dissolution of the marriage was not carried out between the parties.

Resolving the dispute and satisfying the claims for the division of the disputed apartment between the spouses in equal shares, the court of first instance proceeded from the fact that an agreement was reached between the parties to purchase the apartment into common joint ownership, and since the funds received as a gift were contributed by P. on her discretion for the common needs of the spouses - the purchase of an apartment, then this property is subject to the regime of joint ownership of the spouses.

The appellate court agreed with the findings of the trial court.

The Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized that the conclusions of the courts were made in violation of substantive law.

In accordance with Art. 34 of the RF IC, property acquired by spouses during marriage is their joint property. Property acquired by spouses during marriage (common property of spouses) includes the income of each spouse from labor activity, entrepreneurial activity and the results of intellectual activity, pensions, benefits received by them, as well as other monetary payments that do not have a special purpose (amounts of material assistance, amounts paid in compensation for damage due to loss of ability to work due to injury or other damage to health, and others). The common property of the spouses also includes movable and immovable things acquired at the expense of the spouses' common income, securities, shares, deposits, shares in capital contributed to credit institutions or other commercial organizations, and any other property acquired by the spouses during the marriage, regardless of whether in the name of which of the spouses it was purchased or in the name of which or which of the spouses contributed funds.

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 36 of the RF IC, property that belonged to each of the spouses before marriage, as well as property received by one of the spouses during marriage as a gift, by inheritance or through other gratuitous transactions (the property of each spouse), is his property.

As the court established, the source of acquisition of the disputed apartment was the funds received by P. in a gratuitous transaction, as well as partially jointly acquired funds of the spouses.

According to the explanations contained in paragraph four of clause 15 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of November 5, 1998 No. 15 “On the application of legislation by courts when considering cases of divorce,” property acquired, although acquired during marriage, is not jointly owned. on the personal funds of one of the spouses that belonged to him before marriage, received as a gift or by inheritance, as well as personal items, with the exception of jewelry and other luxury items.

From the above provisions it follows that a legally significant circumstance when deciding whether to classify property as the common property of spouses is what funds (personal or general) and through what transactions (compensated or gratuitous) the property was acquired by one of the spouses during the marriage. Property acquired by one of the spouses during marriage through gratuitous civil law transactions (for example, by inheritance, donation, privatization) is not the common property of the spouses. The acquisition of property during marriage, but with funds that belonged to one of the spouses personally, also excludes such property from the regime of common joint property.

At the same time, the court mistakenly ignored such a legally significant circumstance as the use of funds that belonged to P. personally to purchase the disputed apartment.

In concluding that the disputed apartment belongs to the joint property of the spouses, the court proceeded from the absence of conditions in the purchase agreement regarding the distribution of shares in the apartment.

At the same time, the court did not take into account that the funds received by P. as a gift in the amount of 1,750,000 rubles. and spent on the purchase of the apartment were the personal property of P., since they were not purchased jointly during the marriage with the plaintiff and did not constitute the common income of the spouses.

Contribution of these funds to purchase an apartment does not change their nature as P’s personal property.

Thus, the parties’ shares in the ownership of the apartment were subject to determination in proportion to the defendant’s invested personal funds and the joint funds of the parties.

This was not taken into account by the courts and resulted in the issuance of illegal court decisions (definition No. 45-КГ16-16).

Are bank accounts divided during divorce?

According to civil law, cash and money stored in deposits and accounts are divided according to the same rules as the rest of the property of the spouses.
That is, if the funds in bank accounts were earned during the existence of the marriage, they are distributed equally, in the absence of a concluded agreement on the division of property or a judicial act with a contrary decision.

At the same time, money has its own specifics, since no government agency or notary registers ownership of it (unlike the purchase of a car or real estate).

Cash is indivisible by force, since it is difficult to establish its total amount. If the money is in a bank account, it can be divided fairly between the former spouses.

Funds are subject to division only if the accounts were opened during marriage and cohabitation, if there is evidence of this fact (receipts, agreements, bank account statements, receipts and other documents).

Arbitrage practice

The practice of court decisions on the division of funds between spouses is extensive, but generally monotonous.
The judge proceeds in this matter from the principle of equality of shares. The need to prove that the money belongs to only one party is assigned to it. If such evidence is not provided, all savings received into the accounts during the existence of the marriage are automatically considered joint property. The former husband and wife have the right to use the joint property of the spouses even after a divorce. But if we are talking about monetary savings, then it is impossible to realize it, so a division of such is necessary. This can be done by contract or through the courts.

How to divide joint money savings

The division of marital property, including finances, can be carried out in two main ways:

1. In a court.
2. Through a peace agreement.

If a couple has similar views on the division of the common property of the spouses, it is cheaper and faster to implement it by signing certain agreements:

1. Marriage contract. This document is signed before the wedding or during the marriage. According to it, spouses can establish any property ownership regime that does not contradict Russian laws. Those. they themselves determine how much money and who will receive it. It is valid even for personal property.
2. Property division agreement. It occurs during marriage or after divorce. The document allows you to delimit ownership rights only to the joint property of the spouses, i.e. with their common money. Any property regime can be established if it does not contradict the law.

On our website you can do it if necessary.

If the spouses fail to reach an amicable agreement, each of them has the right to file a claim with the court asking for forced separation.

Division of deposits through the court during divorce

Most spouses divide property by court decision. The judge starts from Art. 38 of the RF IC and shares joint property in equal shares. Cases of departure from this principle occur only when dividing real estate if the couple has minor children.

How to properly divide money deposits between spouses through the court.

Statement of claim for division of funds

Each spouse has the right to file a claim in court. It is advisable to entrust the document preparation procedure to a professional lawyer. If this is not possible, it is necessary to build on Art. 131 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation when writing text. The claim for division of common property contains the following information:

• Title of the document;
• information about the organization to which the application is being submitted (name of the court and location address);
• passport details of the plaintiff and defendant (first name, surname, patronymic, residential addresses, dates of birth, etc.);
• the essence of the claim, i.e. what the plaintiff sees as an infringement of his property rights;
• ways to resolve the issue proposed by the plaintiff;
• links to regulations confirming the legality of claims;
• preliminary calculation of the finance section;
• date of compilation and signature of the plaintiff with transcript.

The document is submitted to the district court at the defendant’s place of residence. If the divisible amount is less than 50 thousand rubles, then you must contact the magistrate.

Seizure of funds in accounts during divorce

If there is a threat that one of the parties may withdraw funds from the account and dispose of them at its own discretion before the division, it is necessary to seize the property. This can only be done in court. An application for interim measures will be required. It is submitted in the same way as a statement of claim to the court office. If a positive decision is made, it should be referred to the Bailiff Service, which will begin enforcement proceedings. During this process, a request will be sent to the bank, and the accounts will be frozen for the entire duration of the trial.

Is money in accounts divided during divorce?

The easiest way is to separate bank deposits. It is enough to request a printout of the movement and balance of funds in the account. Such amounts are divided in a general manner, based on the size of the shares established by a court decision or agreement between the spouses.

Bank deposits that each spouse made before entering into an official marriage will not be subject to division.

In such a situation, the court will take into account the following factors:

• when the bank account was opened;
• on what date the cash receipts are received into the account;
• availability of evidence of the origin of funds deposited into the account.

How should property be divided?

Equally according to the law

There are many options for cases, and therefore court decisions on the division of accounts in 2021. For example, an account was opened by one of the spouses before marriage, but money was placed there already during the existence of the family from the general budget. This means that part of the amount is subject to division. Or the account was opened during marriage, but the money was deposited there from the sale of an apartment inherited by the spouse. In this case, the money from the account is not divided.