Spousal gifts and joint property raise legal disputes after divorce

In the context of family disputes that reach the courts, husbands and divorced persons demanded the recovery of property they had written in the names of their wives, including real estate, companies, cars, etc., and bank loans taken by one of them in the name of the other, considering that it was not as a gift or gift, but rather in the context of specific circumstances to facilitate procedures. It ensures mutual trust between them during the marital relationship.

But when family disputes occurred between them, and reached the point of demanding divorce, a dispute arose over the entitlement of each spouse to these properties and funds, while a legal advisor confirmed that what the husband gives to his wife is a gift that cannot be returned, and he must prove otherwise.

A reader said in a letter to the newspaper that he and his wife bought a property with bank financing, registered its ownership in her name, and it was their marital home. He paid about 600,000 dirhams, while the wife paid about 100,000 dirhams.

He added that after disagreements with his wife, she changed the lock on the house and prevented him from entering it, then registered a divorce case due to harm, and he proved the case. He said that he loaned his wife the amounts she paid for the apartment, while she acknowledged these amounts, but stated that they were for assistance from the husband. She also acknowledged that the aforementioned residence was the marital residence.

He wondered: Is the money paid in this case from him to his wife considered a loan or a contribution to building a home? What is the best way to recover it if the marital relationship continues? Does he have the right to housing even if the wife refuses?

In a lawsuit filed by a man against his ex-wife, he requested a ruling to prove his ownership of a property they shared, noting that the defendant was his wife. Four years before their divorce, he wanted to buy an apartment and applied for financing from the banks, but he was rejected, because his salary did not qualify him to obtain financing. He asked the defendant to provide her salary as a guarantee for the purpose of completing the purchase of the apartment, and in fact the apartment was purchased, and the monthly installment was deducted from his account, but – due to administrative procedures – he put the ownership in her name, even though he was the one who paid the installments, and the defendant is only his guarantor. No amount will be deducted from her salary.

In a second case, a man filed a lawsuit before the court against his wife, and requested that she be forced to pay him 120,000 dirhams, or return a car and relinquish its ownership to him, pointing out that he had purchased a car and registered it in the name of the defendant (his wife), due to the presence of traffic violations registered in his name, and due to the existence of disputes. Between him and his wife, she took the car and did not give it to him.

A man filed a lawsuit against his wife, requesting that she be obligated to pay him sums of money to pay off a housing loan to build a residential plot of land shared equally between them. He sponsored the payment of the installments until the date of filing the lawsuit, but she did not pay her share of the value of the loan granted to them, and he said that he demanded that she pay. She delayed and did not respond.

The wife said in the details of the lawsuit that she and her husband own a joint plot of land, and that they obtained a loan and built four villas on it, and that the plaintiff took over the rental of the villas and received the rental value collected from them in full, and therefore he has no right to demand that she pay her share of the loan that is the subject of the lawsuit.

For his part, legal advisor Dr. Youssef Al-Sharif confirmed that joint property between spouses, whether real estate, lands, companies or cars, may turn into judicial disputes in the future when divorce occurs.

He added: “Some husbands believe that including the wife as a partner or owner of his property is merely ownership on paper, nothing more, and that his property will return to him when he requests it, but he is wrong, because the law does not take into account the intention, but rather the identification papers and evidence provided.”

Al-Sharif said that what the husband pays to his wife during the marital relationship is a gift, unless proven otherwise, and it is not permissible to demand it, as long as the marriage exists, and the best way to recover it is to prove that the amounts were as a loan.

He stated, “With regard to real estate registration and other participation between spouses for a reason related to bank procedures and the like, in order to be entitled to this money, this must be proven, and that the wife’s participation was merely to follow the procedures required for banking facilities, and not as a gift to her, courtesy, or the like.” .