According to article 209 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, ownership is the right to own, use and dispose of their property. The law allows the owner to perform any actions with his property, including those related to his alienation. However, these actions should not be unlawful, should not violate the rights of citizens and other legal and physical persons established by the constitution and other laws.
The right of common ownership of property appears when the property is owned by two or more persons at the same time. Quite often, individuals and legal entities acquire property together, it is financially beneficial, or is a consequence of a combination of various circumstances. As a result, this issue becomes most relevant, and the legislator devotes a number of articles of the civil code to it.
As follows from the law, common property can be shared, as well as joint.
Shared ownership arises if the share of each of the participants in the property is determined by an agreement between them or by a court decision. In other situations, joint ownership appears.
Article 253 is devoted to the joint ownership of property in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It states that persons owning property under the right of joint ownership dispose, as well as own and use this property together. Other conditions for the disposal, possession and use of property may be specified in an agreement between them. The article emphasizes that even if a transaction to manage the property is made only by one of the owners of the property, he still needs to obtain consent for such a transaction from all other participants in the joint property. At the same time, participants equally have the right to dispose, own and use the property they have. But the law allows other participants in the joint ownership to demand the recognition of such a transaction as invalid if they prove that the participant who made the transaction lacked the necessary authority, and the person with whom the participant made the transaction knew, or at least should have known .
Most often, joint ownership of property arises in spouses. If there was no prenuptial agreement concluded between the spouses, then all the things, objects and real estate that the husband and wife were able to acquire during the marriage will be considered their joint property. Such property can be various inexpensive things, for example, a tea service, and more valuable items (household appliances, furniture, vehicles). It should be remembered that the joint property of the spouses will be the immovable property acquired in the marriage, even if it was acquired with the money of only one of the spouses, for example, the husband, and the wife did not work at that time.
The common joint property of the spouses also arises if the property previously owned by only one of the spouses was significantly improved in the marriage due to material investments, for example, major repairs of the apartment. It is not taken into account, such improvements were made for joint money, or the spouse invested his own money in such improvements, because in marriage, all funds are recognized as common, with the exception of those received as a gift or by inheritance.
For such property, spouses will be recognized as joint property by a court decision, unless a different regime of such property is provided for by a marriage contract concluded by the spouses before a court decision is made.
It should be remembered that only one of the spouses will have the right to ownership of the following things, objects, other movable and immovable property:
- which was in his possession even before marriage. If this is movable property, it is advisable to have checks and receipts on it confirming the date of acquisition;
- things, objects that were received by the spouse in marriage as a gift or by inheritance. It is advisable to issue such gifts notarially, otherwise, in the event of a dispute about the ownership of these things, it will be difficult in court to prove that they were really given only to the husband or only to the wife;
- property that is an individual use item, for example, a toothbrush. It should be remembered that the exception to this rule will be jewelry and luxury goods ;
- and the last thing that will be recognized as property of only one of the spouses is the right to the result of intellectual activity.
Joint shared property between spouses arises in the division of property that the husband and wife have acquired in marriage. The property is divided into shares, which in most cases are equal. However, the court can also recognize for one spouse a larger share of joint property than for the second, if it considers that it is necessary to take into account the interests of common children under the age of eighteen who are left to live with the first spouse. The court, when dividing shares, may take into account the interests of one of the spouses. Also, shares can be divided unevenly, based on the terms of the marriage contract.
Not only between husband and wife, but also between other participants in joint ownership, the division of property and allocation of shares of each of the participants, or only a share of one of them, is possible. The shares during the division will be equal, but a different procedure for the division of shares may be provided for by law or by an agreement concluded between the participants.