Is it possible to file for division of property several years after a divorce? This question is one of the most pressing for people whose marriage has cracked and a division of joint property has emerged. Is it necessary to rush to file a claim, or, on the contrary, is it more profitable to delay the division?

Statute of limitations

The legislation of the Russian Federation determines the period during which the court is obliged to accept applications from divorced spouses who decide to share spoons, forks and apartments. The statute of limitations is three years. That is, spouses are given 3 years to divorce, and after that the court will refuse to proceed on formal grounds.

However, not everything is so simple! An experienced lawyer will immediately tell you where there is not just a gap in the legislative field, but a huge hole. The countdown of three years does not start from the moment of divorce! In case of divorce, 3 years are given from the moment when the spouse filing the claim learned about the violation of his property rights by his former significant other.

What does this mean in practice?

Division of property ten years after divorce

Cases concerning the division of property of spouses who have not been married for more than three years often come to the courts. The basis for such a claim is a violation of property rights committed by the former spouse.

For example, for five years the ex-husband lived in another city without reminding his ex-wife of his existence. But then the husband returned to his hometown and appeared on the doorstep: “There is a crisis in the country, I lost my job and will live here!” And the ex-wife understands that it was necessary to divide property, delineate property rights... However, it’s not too late! This is exactly the case when the countdown of the three-year limitation period begins from the moment the ex-spouse appears at the door of the apartment.

This is, of course, just one example. Sometimes a person is prompted to violate property rights by a feeling of jealousy that suddenly flares up five to ten years after a divorce. The reason is a new relationship that the ex-husband or wife starts. That is, during a divorce, the spouses agreed to separate peacefully and agreed on the division of property orally. But, as they say, circumstances have changed... “I won’t let you live in our apartment with your boyfriend!” - this kind of motivation, unfortunately, occurs quite often... And an apartment that is not divided in a timely manner, as well as other property, becomes a subject of contention.

However, with a new love relationship, the ex-spouse may be motivated to do so for practical reasons: for example, if the plaintiff is concerned about respecting the property interests of the children. This can also become a reason for the division of property many years after the divorce, especially if a professional lawyer takes over the matter.

But, perhaps, the most common reason for dividing property after several years of separation is the sale of property by one of the spouses. For example, an ex-wife or husband decides to sell an apartment, violating your rights. This means that the three-year period during which you can file a claim in court begins to be calculated from this moment.

Your spouse hasn’t talked about dividing property during a divorce for 3 years, and now he’s filed a claim? Or, on the contrary, violated your property rights several years after the divorce? Be sure to contact a lawyer to prepare for trial!

Chances of dividing property a few years after divorce

What are the chances of a fair division of property if 3 years or more have passed since the divorce? Here the principle of dialectics comes into force: for one of the parties this option is beneficial, for the other - vice versa. For example, a car that was used by an ex-spouse for several years will lose its market value, and upon division, the other party will receive pennies. One is in the plus, the other is in the minus!

What conclusion follows from this? When getting a divorce, consult with an experienced lawyer - maybe it’s worth dividing the property, as they say, without leaving the cash register, and not wait until your property rights are violated? Although there are situations when it is better to wait a little so that the emotional storm subsides after a divorce. Each case is individual.

A lawyer is your assistant in the division of property

The more years have passed since the divorce, the more complicated and confusing the property division case usually becomes. After all, over the years, former spouses could acquire new property or lose checks and receipts confirming their rights to joint property. Witnesses may have moved away or forgotten details. The car could have been in an accident or sold; the apartment could have undergone a new overhaul, masking the traces of irreversible improvements that had increased the cost of housing. Therefore, you should go to the court with a lawyer whose professionalism and experience allows you to competently represent your interests in court.

But, again, do not forget about the law of dialectics: a lawyer who helps one side plays against the other. So if your ex-spouse uses the services of a lawyer, you shouldn’t fight for your property alone either.

It is difficult to defend your position in court if not only your ex-spouse is against you, but also his lawyer! The opposing lawyer will use all his professional skills to decide the case against you. This means that you, too, must place a powerful piece on this “chess field” - your lawyer!

The division of jointly acquired property is always a complex issue, despite the principle of equality of shares of spouses, from which the court can deviate in exceptional cases. And even if the spouses agreed peacefully and without trial as to who keeps what after the divorce, it is possible that difficulties and redistribution of property will arise many years later. This is where pitfalls of stumbling blocks awaited the former spouses. And even a competent lawyer or advocate was unable to help, because... in practice, it turned out to be easier for the courts to apply the mechanism of skipping the statute of limitations rather than to delve into the essence of the case.

As often happens, the opinion of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation expressed on a specific case can radically change the situation - and lower courts begin to take a different, more thoughtful approach to considering cases.

The law provides for the right of spouses to divide property both during divorce and after it. But if less than 3 years have passed since the divorce, then this is not difficult to do; the courts accepted statements of claim for the division of property acquired jointly during the marriage, made decisions on them, and the property was successfully divided.

However, if more than 3 years passed after the divorce, many judges for some reason believed that the statute of limitations had passed, satisfied the demands of the former defendant spouse in court to apply the statute of limitations, and the former plaintiff spouse was left broke. In such cases, it seems that the spouse has rights to property acquired jointly during marriage, but he could not protect it, and after the court refused to satisfy his claims and divide the property, such a spouse found himself in an unenviable position - his ex-other half boldly kicked him out of the apartment, etc.

This state of affairs was considered incorrect by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Considering the case of spouses regarding the division of jointly acquired property, in which the courts had just applied the statute of limitations after the dissolution of the marriage between the spouses, the Supreme Court in its ruling considered this to be incorrect.

The main conclusion of the Supreme Court is that the 3-year limitation period should be calculated not from the moment of divorce between the spouses, but from the moment of violation of the law. This means, if the marriage was dissolved at least 10 years ago, and only now one of the spouses suddenly found themselves infringed on their right to own, use and dispose of property and immediately (or within 3 years from the date of discovery of the violation) went to court for protection of the violated right, then we cannot talk about any application of the limitation period.

The claim of such a disadvantaged spouse must be considered, and a legal, fair decision must be made on it, despite the fact that the marriage has long been dissolved.

How many citizens were deprived of their property due to incorrect application of the statute of limitations by the courts? Unfortunately, there are no such statistics. However, in the practice of many lawyers and advocates, such cases are not uncommon. And the position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation expressed in the ruling on a specific case will allow people to protect their rights, guided by the fact that the limitation period should be calculated from the moment the violation of the right is discovered, and not in relation to the date of divorce.

Divorce results in ex-spouses having to decide how to divide what they acquired during their life together. And at least the following questions immediately arise:

In general, you can read more than one lecture on each of the listed issues. Many aspects are discussed in detail on the pages of the company’s website. In this article we will make a brief analysis of the main points of these problems.

Each of the former spouses always acts in their own interests

And this is reasonable and normal. It is worth considering that the property interests of the former spouses are opposite. That is, if one person benefits from a speedy division, then another, on the contrary, benefits from delaying it. Everyone has the right to care only about their own interests and benefits. If delaying the division of property benefits you, you have every right to use any measures to achieve your result. No one can punish you for this.

If your case is an exception to this rule, consider yourself lucky. But it might be worth considering the following: No one will provide you with guarantees that the other side will not change their mind.

Is it possible to save on paying court fees when filing a claim, and if so, how? The answer is yes, there are a number of useful solutions: a master class from Inyusta lawyers.

The court resolves civil cases with the goal of establishing formal (rather than objective) truth. This means that the winner is the one who presents more significant evidence, who knows the law and the dynamics of the trial better, and not the one who is right “humanly” or evokes sympathy. This is the principle of adversarial behavior of the parties, established by Article 12 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

The division of property through the courts makes up the majority of the litigation cases of lawyers and family lawyers. The need to specialize in these cases and deal with them professionally is caused by the complexity and imperfection of both family and procedural legislation. Conflict, the very fact that people are “on opposite sides of the barricades” leads to the fact that the parties use mistakes and gaps in legislation to their advantage. A lawyer must know (predict) the nature and type of abuse, think through countermeasures, or also use inaccuracies in the laws in the interests of his client.

Family disputes are also characterized by the fact that former spouses take advantage of each other’s weaknesses, which they became aware of when there was mutual trust between them. We are talking about psychological influence on an opponent with the goal of saying too much “out of emotion” and making a mistake. This is another reason to seek help from a professional who relies on sound judgment and knowledge of the law.

A timely and correctly filed claim, painstaking work in court - this is what is needed for the result - a court decision in your favor

The division by mutual consent is formalized by a special transaction called an agreement on the division of property. Such an agreement can be concluded at any time after the divorce (in some cases, also before or upon dissolution of the marriage).

In addition to the above, it is worth noting another option for resolving property issues of spouses - by concluding a prenuptial agreement. This transaction can be concluded before the legal registration of divorce. A marriage contract has a number of advantages and disadvantages.

What happens if you don’t divide your property?​

Everything acquired during marriage has a special status - the common joint property of the spouses.

The law does not prohibit maintaining this property regime after a divorce. To simplify, we can say that until the division is made, the property remains common. The parties can file a claim or enter into an agreement on this property after a year, and after 5 and 10 years.

In 2019, however, it is advisable to take into account the following circumstances.

Firstly, after 3 years, one of the parties may declare that the statute of limitations has expired when filing a lawsuit with a demand to divide things.

Secondly, this form of ownership was developed specifically for the convenience of people living together, acting in everyday life by mutual consent and for the benefit of each other. Such co-owners are, as it were, at the same time full owners of things, and therefore each of them has an equal right to use (benefit), dispose of (let another person use it, pledge it, sell it) and own it. If you trust your ex-spouse or ex-wife, you can leave everything as it is and not share what you have acquired - until better times (option - until the relationship deteriorates or changes qualitatively in some other way). Many people are happy with this option.

But for many, uncertainty makes them feel uncomfortable and nervous. And it’s true, how can you remain indifferent if one day you unexpectedly meet the new wife (husband) of your ex-other half in your (but still shared) apartment! After all, the i’s are not dotted, which means that everyone does with the apartment what he sees fit (in our case, he moves in whoever he sees fit).

More information about the actions of our lawyers when conducting a case:

When conducting a case in court, we:

• We will understand the details of the case, assess the possible risks and advise you on the prospects of the case.
• We will draw up a statement of claim and a counterclaim (if you are the defendant), and provide explanations on the case.
• We will provide assistance in collecting evidence or collect it ourselves, secure the evidence, initiate an examination, alternative examination, or property assessment.
• We will submit documents to the court of appropriate jurisdiction, and speak in your defense at preliminary and court hearings on the merits in courts of all instances.
• Let us present objections regarding the argumentation and evidence of the opposing side.
• We will make sure that your position is properly reflected in the procedural documents.
• We will submit petitions and statements necessary to conduct the case and protect your interests.
• We will appeal court rulings made during the case if they violate your rights.
• We will receive a court decision, a writ of execution and transfer them to you, and we will carry out enforcement proceedings.
• If you have previously turned to an unqualified lawyer and the decision has already been made, but you are not satisfied with its content, we will appeal it to the court of appeal, cassation and supervisory authority.

The world section includes the following work:

• We will draw up a draft settlement agreement.
• Let's consider the already drawn up draft agreement, transactions and their options and provide recommendations on their signing/non-signing.
• We will register the transfer of rights to real estate in the state. authorities, we will receive certificates of title and pass them on to you.INUSTA

  Tax authorities, arbitration courts, MAP, a number of other government agencies. bodies are specific regulators in the implementation of entrepreneurship. Handling them requires knowledge of a large number of regulations and procedures. Our specialists have extensive experience in communicating with government data. authorities and will best represent your interests.

Divorce and the subsequent division of property is one of the most problematic and controversial cases that lawyers and ordinary citizens have to deal with. Despite the fact that the main provisions regarding the division of property are enshrined in law in Article 38 of the Family Code and Article 256 of the Civil Code, this does not reduce the number of difficulties.

Dear readers! Our articles talk about typical ways to resolve legal issues, but each case is unique.

If you want to know how to solve exactly your problem - contact the online consultant form on the right or call the numbers below. It's fast and free!

Sample statement of claim

The statement of claim is submitted to the court office. There are recommended forms for filing a claim, they can be found at the information stand in the courtroom or requested from the office. You can also entrust the preparation of a court application to a specialist.

The statement of claim must include:

1. name of the court;
2. information about the plaintiff and the defendant;
3. information about marital status;
4. data on property, grounds for possessing the disputed property;
5. the value of the claim (the total value of all property);
6. specific requirements.

You can use this sample application for division of property: Download.

Required documents

Along with the claim, you will need to provide the following documents to the court:

1. your passport;
2. passport or birth certificate of the child or children;
3. a document certifying marital status - a certificate of marriage or divorce, or a court decision or an extract from a court decision, if the certificate has not yet been ordered;
4. certificate of family composition;
5. assessment of the disputed property (ordered from an independent appraiser);
6. receipt for payment of state duty.

Payment of state duty

The amount of the state duty is established by Article 333 of the Tax Code and depends on the value of the claim. The higher the cost of the claim, the higher the state duty. It will need to be paid before filing an application with the court; if you wish, you can include a claim for reimbursement of legal costs in your claim. If the claim is filed with the mutual consent of the spouses, then they must pay the state fee in equal amounts.

Conclusion

In order for all the information presented in the article to form an overall picture, we recommend viewing it again in this structured form:

This is a kind of cheat sheet for the division of property. Examples from judicial practice.