Divorces | The couple’s divorce escalated into a “furniture episode” – It cost the man dear

The couple the contentious divorce escalated to the point where the man emptied the vacation apartment that had been transferred to his ex-wife’s ownership. The apartment was left with dirty pillows, a rusty coffee maker and a stereo whose wires had been cut.

The estate divisor divided the property of the divorced couple three years ago. In the partition, the wife agreed to redeem the husband’s share of the apartment in Spain for around 40,000 euros.

The couple signed the contract for the apartment in autumn 2021.

The wife paid the purchase price and the deed of sale was signed, so the ownership of the apartment and its movable property was transferred to her.

When the wife went to visit the apartment, it was almost empty. According to the wife, a double bed, a sofa bed, three armchairs, a dining table and sunbeds were missing from the apartment.

The list of lost items also included four computers and a gas grill. According to the wife, the man had even taken the bedding and linens from the apartment, except for a couple of dirty pillows and a sleeping blanket.

A rusty coffee maker was found in the apartment, which the ex-wife did not recognize, as well as a stereo whose wires had been cut.

Wife the chattels agreed to be left in the apartment had mostly been taken away. In the deed of sale, it was agreed that all shared movables that were there when the wife last lived there would remain in the apartment.

There was also no electricity in the apartment, as the man had terminated the electricity contract instead of the contract being transferred to his ex-wife’s name.

It took a couple of weeks to get a new electricity contract, during which time the ex-wife had to live in a hotel.

The wife estimates the value of the lost chattels to be at least 8,000 euros. The new purchase price of furniture and other goods was multiple times.

The wife took the matter as a dispute to the district court of Varsinais-Suomen. A contractual penalty clause was entered in the apartment purchase deed. According to it, there was a fine of 700 euros for each delayed week in delaying the transfer of ownership.

District court issued a unilateral judgment in the case in January 2023. A unilateral judgment means that one of the parties has not participated in the proceedings of the case. The ex-husband lived in Spain and did not receive a subpoena.

When the man did not respond to the summons within the deadline, the district court ruled in favor of the ex-wife.

The weekly fine of 700 euros meant that the court ordered the man to pay his ex-wife a contractual fine of almost 40,000 euros.

The man only found out about the sentence when the enforcement agency contacted him. The contractual penalty of tens of thousands of euros had been transferred to enforcement.

Fortunately for the man, the unilateral judgment given by the district court can be appealed with a so-called restitution application.

The man sent an application to the district court and demanded that the unilateral verdict be annulled in its entirety.

District court discussed the matter again in August.

The ex-husband demanded that the liquidated damages claim be dismissed in its entirety. He also denied most of the claims regarding the movables of the apartment.

According to the man, he had left the apartment in a condition that corresponds to what was specified in the contract.

He had only taken the bed he had bought and the armchairs he had brought from the apartment. He had cut off the electricity, because the transfer of control had been agreed on the original date of signing the deed of sale.

The district court rejected the ex-wife’s demand for a contractual penalty. According to the court, the control of the apartment was transferred to the ex-wife on the day the sale deed was signed.

The fact that, in the ex-wife’s opinion, the apartment did not match the equipment or condition agreed upon, did not delay the transfer of control.

However, emptying the apartment turned out to be expensive for the man, as the district court decided in favor of the ex-wife’s claim for compensation related to the missing chattels. The man had to compensate his ex-wife for movable property and apartment compensation of almost 6,000 euros. The compensation also included the costs of reopening the electricity contract.

In addition, the court ordered the man to pay his ex-wife’s legal expenses for a good 8,000 euros.

The judgment of the district court is not legally binding.