In case of divorce of spouses, the division of personal property is carried out by mutual consent or by a court decision. If the specifics of a section of real estate and other examples of real property are most often understood, credit obligations can cause confusion. Russian legislation will help to understand this.
Loans received and directed to family needs are related to general debt obligations, regardless of which of the spouses the loan agreement was drawn up for. The debt community is formed on the basis of the following criteria:
- obtaining a loan by mutual agreement;
- awareness of both spouses about the loan;
- the loan is intended to meet general family needs.
Thus, in the event of a divorce, payment of the debt in the future is carried out by both spouses in an equal share. If there are special circumstances, for example, one of the spouses took out a loan for personal needs without notifying the other, the payment of the debt after the divorce falls entirely on him (if this fact is provable).
Section of debt obligations by mutual agreement
The easiest and safest way to avoid disagreements in the presence of financial debts is an agreement that can be concluded in the process of registering either a marriage (prenuptial agreement) or after its dissolution (property division agreement). A marriage contract is a notarized document, and at present, many credit institutions require it to be drawn up when obtaining a mortgage and other loans on a large scale. In this case, neither the spouses nor the bank will have any disagreements in the future over who will pay the rest of the debt.
As for the property division agreement, it can be concluded at any stage of the divorce process and does not require notarization. However, this agreement is legally binding, and its existence obliges a man and a woman to follow the obligations specified in it. In order to finalize the agreement, the spouses are best to calmly discuss their financial situation, in which they will find themselves after marriage, and divide the amount of the payment of the debt in the appropriate percentage.
Division of debt obligations in court
If the spouses did not manage to reach an agreement on the fate of the total financial debt, its division will be decided in court. In this case, the court establishes under what conditions and for what purposes the loan was taken. If the conditions for the formation of the general marital debt were met, and the financial situation of the former spouses remains equal, most often the debt is assigned to a man and a woman in an equal share.
In order for the court to oblige only one of the spouses to pay the debt, or to divide it in a different percentage, it is required to prove that the loan was taken by one of the couple for personal needs. This can be helped by the information provided by the bank, as well as testimony. In addition, the current financial situation of each of the parties is taken into account. The final provision on the debt obligations of the former spouses is drawn up in the form of a judicial act, sent to the place of residence of each of them.
