Question:
During our marriage, my spouse and I bought a piece of land and mutually agreed to register it under my wife’s name for convenience in transactions. However, as we are now going through a divorce due to conflicts, my wife claims that the land is solely hers since it is registered in her name. Is this claim valid? I would appreciate your legal guidance. Thank you!
Answer:
Thank you for submitting your question to Mys Law. After reviewing the relevant legal provisions, we provide our opinion as follows:
Pursuant to Article 33 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family, the regulations regarding the common property of spouses are outlined as follows:
“1. Common property of spouses includes property created by a spouse, income derived from labor, production, and business activities, yields and profits from separate property, and other lawful income during the marriage, except for cases prescribed in Clause 1, Article 40 of this Law. It also includes property jointly inherited by or given to both spouses, as well as other property agreed upon by both spouses as common property.
Land use rights acquired by either spouse after marriage are considered common property, unless they are separately inherited, gifted exclusively to one spouse, or acquired through transactions made with separate property.
2. Common property of spouses is jointly owned and used to meet the family’s needs and fulfill shared obligations.
3. If there is no evidence to prove that a property in dispute between spouses is the separate property of one party, it shall be deemed common property.”
Furthermore, Article 34 of the same Law regulates the registration of ownership and use rights for common property as follows:
“1. For common property that requires registration for ownership or use rights, both spouses’ names must appear on the ownership or use certificate, unless the couple agrees otherwise.
2. If only one spouse is named on the ownership or use certificate, any transaction involving the property must comply with Article 26 of this Law. Disputes regarding such property shall be resolved based on Clause 3, Article 33 of this Law.”
In your case, as the land was acquired during the marriage, it is initially presumed to be common property. If your wife claims it as her separate property, she bears the burden of proving this claim in court. Absent sufficient evidence to establish that the land is her separate property, it will be considered common property shared by both spouses.
The above information is provided by Mys Law. For any questions regarding the content of this article, please contact 0969.361.319 or email: [email protected] for further clarification. Best regards!
Compiler: Nguyen Anh Quan
