Division of property

If spouses fail to agree upon the division of joint property, a petition for division of joint property may be filed with the court.

As a general rule courts do not adjudicate division of property in the course of a divorce trial. The only exception is the situation in which parties mutually agree upon the division of joint property and the court’s adjudication is merely a formal confirmation of the decision made by both parties. The legislator has also provided for the division of property to be adjudicated in the course of a divorce trial under the condition that consideration of the petition for division of property does not cause any delay in the pending divorce proceedings. In practice such a petition is considered by the court in the situation when both parties agree about respective constituent elements of the joint property, their value and the manner of division, which  means that the division of the property adjudicated by the court is merely a formal issue.
The petition for division of the joint property of spouses may be filed any time, even upon the lapse of many years following the date of enforceability of the divorce judgement since it is not time barred. It is, however, important that filing the petition for the division of property requires possession of relevant documentary proof for constituent elements of property, i.e., notarial deeds, contracts or agreements that prove which funds were allocated to the purchase of a tangible asset, bills, receipts, invoices, bank statements, etc.