Life takes different turns and, unfortunately, situations sometimes arise in which spouses decide to part ways and dissolve their marriage through divorce. Among the many questions that then arise, one is: what happens to the joint property accumulated during the relationship?
How does the division of spouses’ joint property proceed?
This problem arises where the spouses had not concluded a marital separation of property agreement, under which each of the spouses retains both the property acquired before the marriage and afterwards.
What does the spouses’ joint property include?
Of course, in the event of divorce, the parties may leave the matter of the joint property untouched. In that case, they should be regarded as co-owners of the assets forming part of the property, each holding a ½ share, provided that:
- the shares in the joint property have not been determined taking into account the degree to which each of them contributed to the creation of that property,
- and they contributed in equal measure to the creation of the property previously covered by their marital joint property regime.
Which assets can be divided before a notary?
The former spouses may, however, decide that they want to divide the assets forming part of their property previously covered by the marital joint property regime in such a way that specific assets go to a specific person. If the property includes real estate and the spouses agree on the division of specific assets, such an agreement must be concluded in the form of a notarial deed.
It is worth noting that in such an agreement the parties may divide not only real estate, but also cars, funds accumulated in bank accounts, funds accumulated in an account of an open or employee pension fund, shares in a company, or other assets that made up the joint property.
The basis for concluding an agreement on the division of the spouses’ joint property does not have to be the termination of the marriage through divorce. The basis for concluding this agreement is the establishment of marital separation of property.
To sum up: the agreement on the division of joint property is an agreement that may concern one, several or all of the components that made up the spouses’ joint property, and it regulates – in accordance with the parties’ wishes – which assets previously forming part of the joint property belong to the estate of each spouse.
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