Divorce and Asset Division
The property acquired during marriage is subject to asset-division during divorce procedure unless otherwise stated in prenuptial agreement.
Asset division depends on whether a prenuptial agreement was signed.
Without Prenuptial Agreement:
All the assets acquired during marriage, regardless of in whose name it is written, is subject to asset division. The exceptions would be where an asset is acquired using funds that one of the spouses had prior to getting married, or if such asset was part of a gift or inheritance; or asset is a personal item (except luxury items). Usually all liquid assets are subject to division, such as houses, flats, cars, garages, antiques, bank accounts, shares and other financial assets, luxury items bought for one of the spouses (jewelry, watches, fur). Also, often spouses divide all of the possible assets, even forks and knives.
It is a common practice for one of the spouses or both in anticipation of divorce to try hiding common assets: selling assets at prices below market value, selling shares in business or market shares, bankrupting a company where husband is an owner or moving company assets which will practically push the company into bankruptcy. There are also cases known where assets are fraudulently gifted to a third party. Having said that, all of the above actions do leave a trace, therefore, could be disputed in court.
To protect themselves in future, both spouse can sign a prenuptial agreement, describing in details the asset ownership acquired during marriage.
With Prenuptial Agreement:
Prenuptial agreement can be disputed only if it was signed under influence (fraud, death threat, violence) or if the terms put on of the spouses in extreme disadvantage, i.e. one of the spouses loses all of the property after divorce.
Prenuptial agreement states the rights of the spouses when dividing assets in case of divorce, and it is especially useful when one or both of the spouses do business.
At Legal centre INDEPENDENCE our specialists can help set up prenuptial agreement and will help defend your rights in court when dividing.