How maternity capital is divided during the divorce of spouses is the main question that arises for a couple who have at least two children and decide to acquire a new marital status. In this situation, there are a number of features that cannot be ignored.

concept

Dear readers! The article talks about typical ways to solve legal issues, but each case is individual. If you want to know how solve exactly your problem- contact a consultant:

APPLICATIONS AND CALLS ARE ACCEPTED 24/7 and 7 days a week.

It's fast and IS FREE!

Maternity capital is a targeted program developed by the state to improve the well-being of Russian families.

Features of maternity capital as a legal structure:

• cash is presented in the form of a certificate (right);
• provided to families with 2 or more children;
• does not have a specific owner of funds (belongs to the whole family);
• maternity capital subsidies will be more for the third and subsequent children than for the second;
• every year the funds on the unused certificate are subject to recalculation based on the inflation rate;
• not subject to division;
• paid once in a lifetime;
• issued to only one person;
• the right to receive this type of support is inalienable;
• is not property;
• has only a non-cash form (exceptions are regional forms of subsidies);
• not taxed.

Regulatory document establishing the grounds for obtaining and disposing of maternity capital:

It is important to take into account a number of nuances that arise during the implementation of maternity capital:

• When buying real estate at the expense of these funds (or paying part of its cost), it is necessary to allocate a share in the right to this property for children (the maximum period for allocating a share is 6 months (for mortgage obligations, the period starts to run from the moment the last payment is made). entails the withdrawal of maternity capital.
• If the funds of subsidies are directed to the education of a child, then they must be used before the child reaches the age of 25.
• The spouses or one of the spouses may waive their share in favor of the children.
• The allocation of a share of property to children is carried out either by concluding an agreement or by drawing up a gift agreement.

Who is the recipient?

Despite the fact that the name of its owner is indicated in the mother certificate, it does not belong to a specific subject, but is aimed at helping the whole family.

Within the framework of the law, the following can apply for social support in the form of a maternity certificate:

• Citizens of the Russian Federation permanently residing in the territory of the state;
• Citizens of the Russian Federation permanently residing in the territory of another state;
• Persons with dual citizenship, one of which is Russian.

One of the following entities can be called the owner of maternity capital:

• The mother of a born or adopted child.
• Father, if he is the only parent or adoptive parent of the child, as well as in exceptional cases.
• Minor children, child (if they do not receive payments from the father, mother or other legal representatives).
• Adult children (child) studying full-time and under the age of 25 (if this right was not previously exercised by their legal representatives or they are deprived of this right).

What rights does a father have?

There are a number of exceptional circumstances in the legislation, according to which a man (father) becomes the owner of the maternity capital instead of the mother.

These include:

• a man voluntarily and through his own efforts adopted a second or subsequent child;
• the mother of the child has died, died in childbirth or, by a court decision, has been declared dead or is absent altogether;
• the mother of the child was deprived of parental rights;
• the procedure for canceling the adoption, previously carried out by the mother, has been carried out;
• the mother has committed a crime against her child(ren).

The above circumstances transfer the entire scope of the rights of the certificate holder to the father of the children and deprive the mother of the opportunity to apply for a subsidy.

The rules also apply to situations where the father of the family is a foreigner.

According to general rules, when the father is not a certificate holder, he can apply for a share in the right if maternity capital funds were used to improve living conditions during the marriage.

But since this subsidy is not the common property of the spouses, the shares are not divided equally. The father's share of the living space cannot exceed 25%.

After the divorce, the father does not have any rights to the maternity capital that was not used during the marriage.

Options for using funds

The program for supporting families with a mother's certificate is a target area of ​​activity for the state, which establishes several imperative options for the use of funds.

Among them:

• improvement of the family's living conditions (construction, repayment of mortgage lending or down payment, repairs);
  paying for a child's education;
• formation of an additional part of the pension for the mother of children;
• purchase of goods and services necessary for the life support of a disabled child (their list is limited and strictly regulated).

How is maternity capital divided during a divorce in 2020?

Is it shared and who gets it?

According to its legal nature, the parent certificate is a means of implementing the state target program, which can only be used in certain areas.

That is why such a certificate should not be treated as joint property, but as a benefit that names the person to whom it is addressed.

In other words, maternity capital in its original form cannot be divided between former spouses. The funds named in the denomination of the certificate will remain with its holder.

If the child stays with the mother

As a general rule, the first owner of the certificate is the mother of a born or adopted child. She remains the sole owner of the certificate after her divorce from her husband.

This rule does not apply to cases where maternity capital funds were used to improve housing conditions.

Then, for each family member, including children, appropriate shares in the right should be allocated.

If the child stays with the father

In cases where the child (children) remain with the father, then the authority to use their shares in real estate is transferred to him.

That is, he has the right to carry out various operations with them, if there is the consent of the authorized bodies. He can claim the payment of alimony from his wife or the repayment of this obligation by waiving her share in the common shared property and thereby repaying the maintenance obligations.

In exceptional cases, the father can become the full owner of the maternity capital.

General Rules and Procedure

In cash

Withdrawal of funds by certificate is not possible. The only option when these funds can have a cash equivalent is to use them to buy a home with subsequent resale.

However, the spouses will receive funds equal to their shares.

Before selling, you should obtain permission from the social security authorities, which will indicate that the interests of children are not infringed.

After buying and selling a home

Real estate acquired with the involvement of maternity capital has a different division procedure than the common property of the spouses.

The legislator establishes such a rule in view of the fact that the subsidy itself is directed to all family members and, accordingly, the interests of not only parents, but also children should be taken into account. Therefore, in a family of four (two parents and two children), 25% of the living space is due.

The redistribution of shares is prohibited by law. Shares may be different if the family has more than 2 children.

You can resolve the issue of the share due in one of the following ways:

• by allocating shares in kind;
• refusal of the due share on account of the repayment of alimony;
• receive other property commensurate with the share;
• demand commensurate payments.

There are a number of nuances that must be taken into account when selling and then buying a new home.

These include:

• preliminary obtaining consent to the sale from the guardianship and guardianship authorities;
• newly purchased, with the proceeds, living space should not be less than the area of ​​the previous one;
• the ownership of children (their shares) to newly purchased housing should not be less than before.

If used for renovation

When using a state subsidy for the repair or redevelopment of premises, the parent certificate holder undertakes to register such premises as common shared ownership.

At the same time, the shares of each family member will be equal, and there is no way to claim a larger share than what was previously stated.

When paying off a mortgage

If the maternity capital funds were used to pay off the mortgage, then there can be two outcomes of events:

• Payment of maternity capital and full repayment of mortgage obligations (the rules for the division of real estate are applied, which are provided for the purchase and sale of real estate using maternity capital).
• The subsidy was used as a down payment on a mortgage or to pay off part of the debt (divorced spouses are required to pay the remaining amount of the debt equally, since, in most cases, they are co-borrowers and bear subsidiary liability. However, despite the fact that only they bear the mortgage burden, this in no way affects (does not increase) the size of their shares in the property and does not detract from the property rights of their children).

After divorce

If the funds of state subsidies were not used during the marriage, then the ex-husband (in exceptional cases - the wife) cannot claim their part.

The same applies to the purchase of real estate, the education of children and the implementation of repairs. The former spouse will not be able to allocate a share, since he does not have any powers.

When buying a home using this subsidy, only a divorced mother and her children become its owners.

Practice shows that in order to eliminate the need to allocate a share to a spouse with whom the issue of divorce is acute, it is better to buy an apartment for maternity capital after the divorce process.

This point makes it possible to exclude the possibility of awarding a part of the property even through judicial challenge.

The nuances of the division of mortgaged housing

Is it possible to sell an apartment with an outstanding mortgage?

The law does not prohibit the sale of an apartment with an outstanding mortgage, in the amount of fulfillment of obligations for which maternity capital was invested.

However, the process is somewhat complicated, since, in addition to the will of the borrowers, it is necessary to obtain permission from:

• the credit institution that provided the funds;

If one of the spouses evades the obligations to repay the mortgage, the following consequences may occur:

• the bank transfers the entire amount of the debt to the second spouse;
• the bank puts the collateral property up for sale, and at the expense of the proceeds, the amount of the debt is repaid, the rest is returned to the spouses;
• one of the spouses redeems his share, and the money paid by him is transferred to pay off the obligation to the bank;
• the second spouse assumes the entire mortgage burden (including that part of the obligations from which the ex-husband, wife evades), and after paying off the debt, collects the due compensation in court.

How to divide shares after repayment of obligations?

After repayment of obligations, the shares of the former spouses are distributed according to the general rule provided for common shared ownership with a commensurate reduction in their shares in favor of children.

Can Rosreestr refuse to issue shares?

There are a number of reasons why Rosreestr refuses to issue shares.

These include:

• Violated the general procedure for filing documents(incomplete package; the person submitting the application has no authority; the documents are falsified, etc.).
• Lack of a notarized agreement on the allocation of a share of property for children(except for transactions with land or, if the mother is the sole owner of real estate that has the status of individual property) or a donation agreement.
• The proportion per child, converted to square meters, does not correspond minimum established standards (9-12 square meters).
• The amount of maternity capital funds covered most of the cost of the apartment, but this was not taken into account when distributing shares. In such cases, the proportion of children should be greater than that of the parents. The rule does not apply to the case when the living space was purchased entirely with state subsidies, then the general division rule remains in effect - no more than 25% per family member.
• The agreement on the allocation of shares does not provide for a condition on the possibility of further redistribution (reduction) of shares in connection with the birth of subsequent children.

Reasons and grounds

The basis for the division of maternity capital can only be the presence of a share in the right.

Of all the listed options for using the certificate, the share can be formed by acquiring, building, reconstructing or repairing an immovable object, then the only reason for dividing this subsidy is the common shared property of the spouses and their biological or adopted children.

How to appeal such a decision?

Appeal against decisions related to the interests of children is allowed only in court. The general procedure for treatment and jurisdiction applies.

What issues can only be resolved through litigation?

As part of the court proceedings on the issue of the division of maternity capital, the following issues can be resolved by former spouses:

• on recognition of the right to extradite state subsidies in the form of maternity capital;
• on the alienation of the right to maternity capital from one spouse and the transfer of this right to another spouse or children;
• on the recognition of the mother's certificate as invalid;
• on the procedure for disposing of state subsidy funds;
• on the division of property acquired using maternity capital (when one of the spouses refuses to provide the child with the share due to him);
• on determining the shares of children and parents in a residential area purchased with the involvement of maternity capital (when the allocation of a share is difficult or impossible);
• appeal against unjustified refusal of the authorized body to perform registration actions;
• on the division of mortgage debt when the other spouse withdraws from the obligation.

Conclusion

Maternity capital is issued in the form of a certificate in the absence of exceptional circumstances for the mother. The recipient of the document disposes of it at his own discretion, but only within the framework established by law.

In the course of the divorce proceedings between the spouses, the division of property acquired by joint efforts is made. In such situations, the question inevitably arises: how is the maternity capital divided during a divorce. To solve this problem, it is necessary to find out whether this payment is jointly acquired property.

Despite the fact that this document for receiving payment is nominal, it is issued for a family with children. The law strictly limits the scope and procedure for its use. The capital can be used for the following purposes:

• Acquisition and improvement of a home for the family, including as a contribution to a mortgage loan.
• As payment for the education of a minor.
• To increase the pension content of the mother.

You can use state support when the child reaches the age of three. An exception to this rule is the payment of a mortgage loan certificate to improve housing conditions. In this case, you do not need to wait until the child is three years old, and you can implement the certificate from the moment it is received.

How is maternity capital divided during a divorce

Legislation in the field of regulation of family relations establishes the procedure for the division of property acquired during the marriage. Spouses share property acquired during the period of registered marriage, as well as funds and payments. An exception would be targeted cash payments.

Important! Maternity capital, being a targeted cash payment, is not subject to division between spouses.

Despite the fact that the Family Code establishes equal rights to raise children, minors in the overwhelming majority of cases remain with their mother. The certificate for state support also remains in the hands of the woman. She will be able to use the amounts in full at her own discretion and within the framework of the purposes established by law.

In practice, if the children after the divorce remain to be raised by the father, then the court, by its decision, transfers the certificate to him. In rare cases, despite the fact that minors are brought up and live with their father after a divorce, the court leaves the document to the mother. But even in this case, it can be spent only for established purposes.

Maternity capital is issued to persons who have two or more children, regardless of the presence of an official marriage. There is no prohibition on the use of mother capital after the divorce process and the law. Therefore, it can be spent even after a divorce.

Division of real estate acquired with maternity capital during a divorce

According to statistics, most families use the certificate to improve their living conditions. Legislation regulates the procedure for registration of ownership of property in such situations. Mother, father and children in housing purchased, built or improved with the expenditure of maternity capital should be allocated equal shares.

Important! Parts of the living quarters belonging to the mother and father, as well as to children in a house or apartment purchased with the expenditure of the certificate funds, are not jointly acquired property of the parents and are not divided between the spouses.

Thus, after the divorce process, each member of the broken family remains with their share of housing. If the children stayed with their mother in an apartment purchased with maternity capital, then the father has the right to part of this apartment. He also enjoys all the rights of the owner of a share of housing. He can:

• Live in the apartment.
• Be written into it.
• Sell ​​your share in the manner prescribed by law.
• Object to the alienation of real estate in its entirety.
• Object to the entry of third parties into the apartment.
• Move citizens into housing with the consent of the other owners.

If the father does not want to live in an apartment or house purchased with state support money, he can sell his share to his ex-wife. Also, part of the apartment can be used to offset child support payments.

Note! The offset of the father's share as alimony must be drawn up by a notarized agreement. Otherwise, the ex-spouse will be able to claim alimony in court, and part of the father's apartment will be considered as a gift.

It is possible to sell an apartment purchased using a certificate until the children have reached the age of majority only with the permission of the guardianship authorities.

If family support funds were used to build households, then the question inevitably arises of how the house is divided during a divorce, when it has not yet been completed, and shares have not been allocated to all family members. This problem is solved by the ruling in case No. 18-KG15-224 issued by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

According to the court, despite the fact that the construction is not completed, the property built or improved using the mother's capital will also not be divided between the parents. The divorcing father and mother will be the owners of only those shares that are allocated equally to each of the family members.

How is mortgage housing acquired with the participation of maternity capital divided during a divorce

The main principle when buying a dwelling using a certificate for a mortgage loan is the subsequent division between family members in equal parts. In a divorce proceeding, such housing will also not be divided between the spouses. Each will have his share. However, the division of property in this case will have some features.

The procedure for the division of all jointly acquired means the division of not only material values, but also debts. Therefore, the remaining mortgage debt will be divided between the spouses in equal parts. This debt is jointly acquired by the spouses, in contrast to the mother's capital.

If the ex-husband or wife cannot pay their half of the loan, the obligation to repay is placed on the shoulders of the second spouse. He, in turn, will be able to subsequently recover part of this debt from the non-paying spouse.

Selling a mortgaged home to earn the equivalent of a cash share is not an easy task. This will require not only the permission of the OOiP, but also the pledgee's bank. Without the consent of these institutions, the transaction will not pass state registration, and the contract of sale will not enter into force.

In such a situation, the spouse, who will be entrusted with the obligation to pay maintenance payments, can also transfer his share to offset them. However, the mortgage debt he will be required to continue to pay.

Example. The Sidorovs, legally married, purchased a three-room apartment at a cost of 4 million rubles in a mortgage, using maternity capital. The living space was divided in accordance with the requirements of the law. After 7 years, they decided to divorce. At the time of the division of property, a debt of 2 million rubles remained. In this case, the apartment between the divorcing parents will not be divided. Only the part of the living space allocated during registration will remain in the property of each. The rest of the debt on the loan will be divided in equal shares between the ex-husband and wife.

Father's right to maternity capital

A father can receive maternity capital if he independently adopts a second child. Also, the right to a certificate passes to him in the following cases:

• By the tribunal's decision. If the children are left to be raised by a man, the court, by its decision, can transfer maternity capital to him.
• At the death of the mother of the children.
• If the spouse is declared dead or missing in accordance with the procedure established by law.
• If the mother voluntarily terminated the adoption of the child.
• The mother was deprived of parental rights.

After the appearance of a second child in the family, you can count on receiving maternity capital. However, what is the fate of these state payments in the event of a divorce? How to divide the property bought for maternity capital, to whom does the money go? This article is devoted to this problem.

Definition and purpose of maternity capital

Maternity capital is issued to a family after the birth/adoption of a second child. It is a personal certificate, which is almost always received by the mother and only in rare cases by the father. The amount directly depends on the number of children, but in this case it is not important, but the intended purpose of the state payment. Maternity capital can be spent on:

• Paying for a child's education.
• Home improvement or purchase.
• Increasing the amount of the mother's funded pension.

You can use the money at any time, provided that the child is already 3 years old. However, there is a significant exception to this rule. If the capital is supposed to be used to buy an apartment or another option for improving housing conditions, then you do not need to wait three years.

Is it possible to divide maternity capital

Article 34 of the RF IC states that any spouse is subject to division upon divorce. This also includes almost any payments, with the exception of those that have a designated purpose. Maternity capital has a designated purpose and therefore is not subject to division under any conditions. It remains strictly with the owner in whose name it was issued, and the second party does not have the right to claim the money, even if it believes that it has reason to do so.

In the vast majority of cases, the mother receives the certificate, but this is not a mandatory rule. Under certain conditions, a document can also be issued to the father, but there must be good reasons for this:

1. The man is not married and adopts a child (second or subsequent).
2. The mother of a child who caused the right to a state payment to arise commits a crime against the baby or her other children.
3. The mother has been deprived of parental rights.
4. Mother died or

Example: After giving birth, the mother, against the background of postpartum depression and due to a nervous breakdown, actively began to drink alcohol. The upbringing and care of the newborn fell entirely on the shoulders of the father. The situation worsened over time and eventually the woman was deprived of parental rights and placed in a special hospital. In such a situation, the rights to maternity capital are transferred to the spouse.

How to divide maternity capital during a divorce

As mentioned above, maternity capital is not divided. Not in a divorce, not under any other circumstances. It belongs only to a specific person, and the latter has the right to spend money only in a strictly agreed way.

The most common use case: mortgage, major repairs, buying an apartment or building a private house. In any of the options, it is imperative to re-register the ownership, allocating a share to each family member. Including all children here (and not just the one that caused the receipt of maternity capital).

Such a system sometimes causes difficulties in divorce, because the spouses continue to believe that the property belongs to them and should be divided in half. This is not true. It is divided equally, but only their shares are taken into account.

Example: There is a family consisting of a husband, wife and two children. They bought an apartment using maternity capital for this. It is mandatory to divide the property into equal parts and allocate 25% to each family member. As a result, only 50% remains with the husband and wife, and the rest belongs to the children. In the event of a divorce, the spouses will divide only their share among themselves, but have no right to share the share of the children.

The procedure itself will not differ in any way from the standard options, but the interests of children must be taken into account. As a rule, spouses cannot get along in the same living space. They go to court to determine who stays with the apartment and who moves out anyway (and usually receives the value of their share as compensation). In the case of the presence of children, the problem is solved quite simply: the property remains with the one with whom the children remain.

Features of the use of maternity capital for mortgages

If the apartment was purchased on credit using maternity capital (as a down payment or other payment options), the division of real estate will go on a general basis, but taking into account the share due to each spouse, as described above. However, the loan amount is not shared by all family members, but only by parents. As a result, owning only 25% of the property, each parent will be required to repay 50% of the debt.

Example: An apartment worth 3 million rubles was purchased on credit using maternity capital. There are four people in the family: two spouses and two children, each of whom is entitled to 25% of the property. The loan repayment amount is 30 thousand rubles per month. In the event of a divorce, this amount is divided not into 4, but into 2 parts. That is, the husband and wife are required to repay 15 thousand rubles a month.

There is an alternative option, possible if the owner of the maternity capital wishes. You can require the second party to return the amount of maternity capital and half of all payments made. In practice, this is rarely used.

How to divide maternity capital between children

As already mentioned, if maternity capital is used to buy or build real estate, as well as to improve living conditions, it is imperative to allocate a share to each child (clause 4, article 10). A specific proportion is not indicated, but it must be equal for each child. In practice, usually real estate is divided into several identical parts, divided between the owners.

Separately, it should be noted the need to share property between all children, without exception. If maternity capital is received after the appearance of a second child, the apartment is divided not between three people (parents and one child), but between four (two parents and two children). Moreover, after the appearance of the third child, it is necessary to once again divide the property into more parts, allocating an equal share to the third child at the expense of a small decrease in the shares of each of the existing owners. A similar operation must be performed every time after the appearance of a new child.

Example: The apartment was originally registered for a husband and wife. After the birth of the first child, there are no requirements for the redistribution of property, so the husband and wife each have 50% of the property. After the birth of the second child, provided that living conditions improve, the apartment is divided into 4 parts, 25% for each spouse and each child. When the third child appears, the apartment will need to be divided into 5 parts, 20% each, and so on.

The use of maternity capital sometimes causes many problems when dividing property during a divorce. If one of the parties does not know the laws and tries to claim for itself what cannot belong to it by definition, this does not mean that a person cannot sue. The features of such cases may vary in each individual case, and in order to deal with all claims, we offer to discuss the issue at our free consultation. Experienced lawyers will help solve the problem, give comprehensive explanations and help with all the elements, from preparing a document to representing the client’s interests in court.

Maternity capital means the payment of additional financial assistance to families where a second baby was born or adopted. The payment is also provided for subsequent children. Often, after a decision is made to officially dissolve a marriage, maternity capital turns into a bone of contention for both spouses, because each of them is equally entitled to apply for this assistance. Let's look at how to divide maternity capital during a divorce?

The current legislation determines the citizens who are entitled to financial support. First of all, we are talking about women who managed to give birth or a second baby, starting from the first days of January 2007. A father can also claim the payment, as well as a child whose parents have lost their right to assistance.

You can use this money for the following purposes:

• to improve housing conditions, namely the reconstruction or repair of housing, the payment of a mortgage, participation in shared construction;
• for the child to receive an education;
• in the situation of raising a disabled child, namely, his social rehabilitation;
• for the parents' funded pension.

A large number of disputes regarding maternity capital arise in families where the spouses have made a decision. The current legislation does not define capital as jointly acquired property. Hence the impossibility of its separation. Therefore, after a divorce, it remains the property of the spouse for whom the registration procedure was carried out initially.

A number of circumstances affect the disposal of the certificate by the father, the main of which is the initial registration in his name.

In addition to using it, a man has the right to:

• if he independently decided to adopt another baby;
• by a court decision, the mother of the child is assigned the status of missing, as well as in the event of her death;
• the mother committed a crime against the child, thereby depriving herself of parental rights.

With regard to the purchase or construction of housing through, the current legislation gives ownership to all family members. Children are no exception. So, the divorced spouses will have their own share, which everyone has the right to manage independently.

Only on the basis of previously established agreements or a court decision, it is allowed to carry out the division of joint property. Given that children also have the right to a share, without the permission of the guardianship and guardianship authorities, it will not work to sell this housing.

Housing will be at the disposal of the one who, in fact, will remain to live with the children. In a situation where children live with their mother, the father, in payment of alimony, has the right to his housing share in favor of the children.

When divorcing a married couple, consider the following:

• regardless of the wishes of the spouse, after the dissolution of the marriage, the ex-husband, like other family members, has the right to live in this apartment;
• a woman, without the consent of her ex-husband, will not be able to register other persons in the apartment;
• it is not in the power of the court to oblige the father to give up his part, when the maternity capital is not registered for him, then he can apply for housing only if his purchase was made before the divorce. In other situations, occurs on children and mother.

Regardless of the fact that housing is purchased simultaneously with a mortgage loan and maternity capital, its official registration should apply to each family member.

Given the impossibility of transferring the property of minor children to a mortgage, the owner of the certificate is obliged to sign an obligation, according to which, after the absolute payment of the mortgage, each family member will be allocated a share.

Regarding mortgage repayment, spouses acting as co-borrowers have completely equal obligations to the credit institution. What part will go to each of the parties as a result of the dissolution of the marriage does not matter. But if any of the parties manages to prove that the loan repayment was mainly carried out for his personal money, then he can safely count on more than 1/4 of the housing.

Attention! This article may be out of date! To clarify the information, fill out the application below and a qualified lawyer will help solve your problem or call the numbers listed on the site.Free consultation or call!

For the first time, an explanation was given of how to deal with real estate purchased with maternity capital during a divorce.

Judging by the fact that the state is not yet going to refuse payments of maternity capital, and the number of families that have received this money is increasing, it is realistic to assume that there may be many such cases in the courts. Therefore, the explanations of the Supreme Court in the case of the division of real estate purchased by the family for maternity capital may be useful both to judges in the regions and to ordinary citizens if they have to face a similar problem.

It all started with the decision of the city court of the city of Slavyansk, Krasnodar Territory. There, the court considered the claim for the division of the unfinished house. The ex-husband demanded that the court recognize the ownership of half of the unfinished house behind him. The family built the house in marriage, the marriage ended, the house remained. But they could not complete it, as it is unfinished.

The City Court acted as standard - everything acquired by the spouses in marriage is considered their common property and in the event of a divorce is divided in half. Such a decision was made - the court awarded half of the house to the ex-wife, the second half - to the ex-husband.

The regional court, where the dissatisfied ex-wife applied, challenging such a division, confirmed the correctness of his colleagues - the division, they say, was fair.

But the citizen reached the Supreme Court, and the court, having re-read the case in the most attentive way, said that the applicant was right. And the city and regional courts made a decision in which "the norms of substantive and procedural law are significantly violated."

According to the Supreme Court, these violations affected the consideration of the case so much that they did not make it possible to make a correct and lawful decision. The Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court overturned both decisions and explained why.

So, the spouses from the Krasnodar Territory have been married for seven years. They have two children. As expected, the state allocated maternity capital to the woman. The money went to build a house for the family. The house was not completed, but the mother was recognized as the owner of the building.

The woman who received the maternity capital signed an obligation, which stated that she must, within six months after receiving the cadastral passport for the building, register the property in common ownership for herself, her spouse and children, determining the size of the shares for each. This is required by law.

Maternity capital money cannot be jointly acquired property and is not subject to division

Local courts, when considering the case, came to the conclusion that they built the house during the marriage and it was jointly acquired. But the house has not been completed, it cannot be put into operation, so the proportion of children in it cannot yet be determined.

The Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court stated the following. Maternity capital can be spent only on goals strictly prescribed by law. One of them is the improvement of the living conditions of the family. Moreover, parents have a choice - to build a house, to reconstruct an existing one, to invest in a building cooperative. In general, to participate in everything that will eventually give adults and children housing and that does not contradict the law. You can lay the brick yourself, you can negotiate with the company, or you can also with an individual.

By law, such housing must be formalized in the common shared ownership of all family members - parents and children. Moreover, for all children, and not only for those after the birth of which the state gave mom money.

The Supreme Court emphasized that the law on maternity capital specifically outlined the circle of subjects whose property is residential premises purchased or built with the funds of this capital. And this law also establishes the type of ownership - common share.

According to the Family Code (Articles 38 and 39), in the event of a divorce, only common property acquired during marriage is subject to division of property between spouses. This list of common property also includes monetary payments received by each of the spouses. But only those cash payments that do not have a special purpose will be common. This is stated in the 34th article of the Family Code.

And the funds of maternity capital, according to the law, have a designated purpose. They cannot be jointly acquired property, which means they are not subject to division between spouses. Children, the law says, should be recognized as participants in shared ownership of a property purchased with maternity capital. And it doesn't matter if the money was spent on it in whole or in part. Therefore, a house, even an unfinished one, must be divided among all, as required by the Family Code and the law on maternity capital. The Supreme Court ordered the case to be reviewed in the light of its clarifications.