Division of property without a court: contract terms

The legislation lacks a definition for a marital property division agreement, but in practice, such an agreement is an effective tool for spouses to protect their property rights.

A marital property division agreement is an arrangement between a husband and wife regarding the procedure and conditions for the division of movable and immovable property that is under their joint common ownership.

After the agreement is concluded, the joint property is divided between the spouses, resulting in the termination of joint ownership of such property.

In the case of dividing property that is an object of the spouses' joint common ownership, the shares of the wife and husband are equal, unless otherwise determined by an agreement between them or a prenuptial agreement.

An agreement for the division of a residential house, apartment, other immovable property, as well as for the allocation of immovable property to the wife or husband from the total marital property, must be notarized (Part 2 of Art. 69 of the Family Code of Ukraine).

An essential condition of a marital property division agreement is the subject matter of the agreement. The subject matter of an agreement on the division of joint property of spouses (former spouses) is property that already belongs to the spouses under the right of joint ownership; this can be all property (property rights) acquired by the spouses during the marriage, or a part of it. At the same time, property (property rights) not included in the subject of the agreement remains in the joint common ownership of the spouses (former spouses).

When concluding the agreement, it is necessary to establish the scope of the jointly acquired property, the sources of its acquisition, and its value. After concluding the agreement on the division of property of spouses (former spouses), the relevant information must be entered into the State Register of Real Property Rights. The agreement on the division of marital property specifies the list of property that passes into the personal private ownership of each spouse. Also, it specifies how the transfer of property will be carried out and documented (if necessary), the deadlines for its transfer, and other details.

According to the legislation, termination of a marital property division agreement is allowed only with the consent of the parties, unless otherwise established by the agreement or by law. Also, a marital property division agreement may be terminated by a court decision at the request of one of the parties in the event of a significant breach of the agreement by the other party and in other cases established by the agreement or by law. In case of termination of a marital property division agreement, the obligations of the parties cease.