Many couples in Ukraine prefer civil marriage.
The legal rights of spouses are regulated, in particular, by the Family Code of Ukraine.
“In accordance with Article 21 of the Family Code of Ukraine, living in one family of a man and a woman without marriage is not a circumstance for the emergence of spousal rights and obligations for them. Another important article is Art. 74 of the same SKU. According to it, if a woman and a man live in one family, but are not legally married to each other or in any in another marriage, the property acquired by them during their cohabitation belongs to them on the basis of a common joint property.
Thus, the property legal status of "official" and "civil" marriage is in a sense almost equated. It is worth considering that if it is necessary to divide the property acquired during the residence of one family outside of legal marriage, it will be necessary to apply to the court with a claim for the recognition of the fact of living as one family, as well as recognition of the property of a common joint property; recognition of ownership of 1/2 of this property and division of such property; determination of a share in common joint property, recovery of monetary compensation for a share in common property. Or an agreement must be reached by concluding a notarized agreement, ”says Sergei Kostyra.
In the statement of claim, it is necessary to prove that at a certain time the couple really lived together and acquired the property with joint investments, which it was decided to divide. Proofs of living with one family can be certificates, registration entry in the passport, testimony of witnesses, and so on. Material support will help to prove, in particular: the total payment of payments, bills, loans and the like.
The lawyer reminds that there are exceptions to all the rules and it is very important to know your rights.
“There are situations when a man and a woman live in a civil marriage, but one of them did not break the previous official marriage. In this case, one should be aware of the lack of legislative protection in the event of a property dispute. Another common case is when property acquired in a civil marriage for the general budget is registered for one of the couple. Such property, in fact, belongs to one person. The second party has no right to this property until it is proved in court that the property is common. Often one of the partners does not want to divide the property if he has more acquisitions during this time. Remember that the law is always on the side of the truth and it's worth fighting for your rights, ”adds Sergei Kostyra.
