Invalidation of a marriage contract: judicial practice, claim, grounds

In judicial practice, there are different cases of concluding and terminating a marriage contract. Despite the fact that a marriage contract is concluded by both spouses, there are cases when it can be terminated, and the court will make a decision declaring it legally invalid.

Legal grounds for challenging a marriage contract

Legal grounds that can make a contract invalid:

• conclusion of a marriage contract by a person with limited legal capacity, without the consent of the trustee;
• the marriage contract was concluded on the terms of an enslaving transaction;
• the contract was concluded under conditions in which one of the capable spouses could not adequately understand the significance of his actions;
• one of the spouses was under the influence of a misconception and was not informed of any additional conditions;
• the marriage document established extremely unfavorable conditions for one of the parties;
• the document was concluded using intimidation, threats or violence.

First of all, a person who intends to challenge a marriage contract needs to take care of collecting compelling reasons that can be documented.

How to invalidate a contract?

Collection of documents

In addition to the statement of claim itself, the plaintiff is obliged to provide to the court a receipt for payment of the state fee, a marriage contract, a copy of the marriage/divorce certificate, a copy of the passport, title documents for property, contracts, receipts.

Where to contact?

Documents are submitted at the defendant’s place of residence. If the plaintiff has good reasons (children, caring for an incapacitated person), he can file a claim at his place of registration.

Another condition under which a contract can be declared invalid is a defect of will. It means that it was concluded with the use of violence, blackmail or threats from the second spouse or third parties acting in the interests of one of the spouses.

Rarely, a marriage contract can be declared legally invalid if it was concluded by an incapacitated person without the presence of a guardian or other authorized person. Also, a marriage contract can be challenged if it was concluded under the influence of a mistake.

One of the spouses may have a false idea about certain circumstances, for example, about the state of health, property status, or the presence of children of the second spouse, which he did not disclose before concluding the marriage contract.

A common reason for concluding a wedding contract is coercion by one of the spouses, often using blackmail and persuasion.

Recognition of a marriage contract as an imaginary transaction

• A contract is considered imaginary if any parts of it do not comply with the requirements of the current law or other legal acts (Article 168 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation)
• Some people may deliberately enter into a contract and transfer property to their spouse in order to avoid paying taxes and become “unattractive” to a creditor, owing him a large amount of money.
• In this case, the creditor files a statement of claim with a request to recognize the marriage contract as an imaginary transaction.

A prenuptial agreement can be drawn up as a sham transaction covering up another transaction in which both spouses and third parties may be involved. For example, the hidden drafting of a will, a purchase and sale agreement.

In judicial practice, an agreement can be drawn up with the aim of infringing on the rights of heirs and creating the appearance of a real marriage between persons who entered into a fictitious marriage.

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Is it possible to challenge a court decision on the invalidity of a marital agreement?

It is necessary to provide the court with additional material evidence and conditions that were not taken into account during the hearing to declare the marriage contract legally invalid.

District judges can appeal decisions of magistrates. To do this, an appeal is submitted to the office of the initially considering magistrate within 10 days from the date of the decision.

If the court of first instance was a district court, you can appeal its decision by filing a cassation appeal with a regional court, a court of a republic or a regional court.

The complaint must have the name of the district court to which it was sent, the full name of the person/persons filing the complaint, the decision being appealed, the essence of the request and related documents (receipts, copies of other complaints, decisions, claims).

With the spread of this practice, errors of the judicial system will be minimized.

Requirements for challenging a court decision:

1. new evidence, conditions or requirements have appeared;
2. the evidence previously reviewed had not been properly examined.

Both the plaintiff and the defendant can challenge the court's decision in a civil case. To do this, you need to properly file an appeal or cassation appeal.

It should be noted that appealing a court decision will cost 20-25 thousand rubles, and the filing period is exactly one month.

Examples from judicial practice on declaring a marriage contract legally invalid

Case No. 1

Citizen Markova N.V. filed a claim in court. The statement indicated that a marriage contract had been concluded between her and her ex-husband. She was the initiator of the agreement.

During their marriage, the spouses took possession of real estate: a room in a communal apartment. However, the plaintiff filed a counterclaim for division of property, in which he indicated that a room in a communal apartment was purchased with funds received from the sale of an apartment previously privatized by the plaintiff.

Agreements for the sale of an apartment and the purchase of a room in a communal apartment were concluded on the same day. After the divorce in the registry office, according to the terms of the contract, citizen Markova was supposed to take possession of the specified room, while the money for its purchase was used from the sale of the spouse’s personal property acquired before the conclusion of the contract.

After the hearing, the court declared the marriage contract invalid, since the contract put one of the spouses in an extremely unfavorable financial situation, contrary to family law.

Case No. 2

In the Petrov family, the husband and wife decided to enter into a marriage agreement. At the time of drawing up the document, their jointly acquired property included a three-room apartment and a car. According to the marriage contract, after the divorce, the apartment became the property of the wife, and the car became the property of the husband.

After the divorce, the husband filed a claim to declare the previously concluded contract invalid. However, the recognition of the contract as legally invalid was refused, since the husband voluntarily signed the contract.

Case No. 3

The marriage contract, which the spouses concluded in a hurry, did not in any way affect the division of acquired property, which was ultimately distributed between the spouses in equal shares in accordance with the established judicial procedure.

Case No. 4

The text of the agreement states that in the event of divorce, personal funds located in the bank accounts of each spouse will become the property of each spouse.

The wife indicated that when concluding the contract she was not informed about the actual amount of funds in her husband’s account. The initiator of the marriage contract was the husband, and she did not attach any importance to the document and agreed to sign the marriage document, thereby unwittingly giving up a large sum of money.

After hearing all the facts, the court ruled that the plaintiff’s claims were unfounded and the claim was not subject to satisfaction.

No matter how your fate turns out, respect your spouses, even former ones, do not break the law and take into account court decisions.

Source: https://prozakon.guru/semejnoe-pravo/brak/brachnyiy-dogovor/priznanie-nedeystvitelnyim-sudebnaya-praktika.html

How to invalidate a marriage contract

Family legislation of the Russian Federation considers the mutual agreements of the spouses, their will and desire to build a family to be priorities. The state intervenes in disputes between spouses only on their initiative if they themselves cannot figure it out. Therefore, in the section concerning the conclusion of marriage contracts, signs of their invalidity are given.

This provision is included in the Family Code (FC) for the purpose of:

• protect the disadvantaged party;
• warn partners against concluding an illegal transaction;
• prevent cases of partners abusing agreements for their own benefit;
• exclude violation of the rights of incapacitated persons.

A marriage contract is declared invalid on the basis of:

• 44th article of the UK;
• provisions of the Civil Code.

However, it is not always possible to prove the obvious invalidity of a marriage contract. In such a situation, it is possible to challenge the marriage contract by filing a claim, that is, in court. Let's look at how to break free from obligations that infringe on the rights of one of the parties.

Reasons for invalidating a marriage contract

There is a whole list of circumstances used by lawyers to nullify a contract in whole or in part. They are divided into two large groups. Thus, the grounds for invalidating a marriage contract are given in paragraph 44 of the Family Code. These include obvious cases of violation of current family or civil legislation:

• lack of notarized registration of the document;
• incapacity of one of the signatories;
• presence of illegal items;
• violation of the registration procedure;
• sham (pretense) of the contract.

If the documents contain one or more of the above characteristics, then they are invalid. This circumstance does not require proof in courts.

Tip: A void contract may require litigation if both parties comply with its terms. It may be necessary for partners to challenge the consequences of a void act in whole or in part.

Reference: persons who have not reached the age of majority (there are exceptions) or are recognized as such by a court are legally incompetent.

Reasons why a contract is contested in court

When figuring out how to invalidate a marriage contract, you need to familiarize yourself with all the probable reasons for such a legal action. In fact, to prove the nullity of a transaction, it is necessary to recognize its illegality. That is, if under a contract one party infringes on the other, then its nature does not meet regulatory requirements.

A marriage contract between spouses may be declared invalid if one of the following circumstances occurs:

1. The marriage agreement was signed under duress, as a result of deception or threats. This means that the signatory was provided with inaccurate or false information. Or the spouse (third party) sought to enter into an arranged marriage using violence (mental or physical).
2. The agreement was signed by a person who was not aware of his actions, but was not recognized as incompetent (for example, if the person was drunk).
3. The disputed agreement was concluded with a person with limited legal capacity, and the consent of the trustee was not obtained.
4. According to the marriage contract, the signatory becomes enslaved to the partner. The signs of such a transaction consist in the partner using the unfavorable circumstances in which the spouse finds himself to his advantage.
5. In marriage, the partner finds himself in extremely unfavorable conditions.

Hint: According to the law, a contract can be contested in whole or in part. In addition, we should not forget that paragraph 43 of the Insurance Code provides the parties with the opportunity to change the terms of the contract voluntarily. Consequently, litigation becomes unnecessary.

Let's look at an example. Petrova turned to a lawyer. The woman was interested in how to challenge a marriage contract in her situation. She got married four years ago for love. Her husband was already a wealthy man at that time and had his own thriving business.

He suggested formalizing the marriage bond with a contract. The agreement included Petrova’s renunciation of claims not only to her husband’s personal property (apartment, car, country house), but also to the company. Now, if the bond is dissolved, she will be left with nothing.

There are grounds for challenging the provisions of the contract in such a situation. Its essence violates the foundations of paragraph 44 of the UK. Namely, it puts the wife in an extremely unfavorable situation. When a lawsuit is examined by a court, the contract may be declared void. Moreover, only the text of the signed contract is sufficient. The basis for canceling its action will be Article 44 of the IC.

What to do to obtain a court decision

The grounds and procedure for challenging a contract are described in civil law. If it is impossible to prove that the act is void due to violations of the law, then it is necessary to file a claim with a judicial authority. Practicing lawyers recommend not to rush into drawing up a document. Preliminary work required.

Hint: Judicial practice shows that most refusals in cases where contracts are disputed occur due to insufficient evidence.

Algorithm of actions when challenging a contract

In practice, the procedure for invalidating a marriage contract has long been developed. It is advisable not to skip a single step. But first you need to decide whether the plaintiff wants:

• continue family life with the defendant;
• prefers to dissolve the bond.

Read also: Receiving child benefits without registration: now it is possible

It is clear that the partner will not be happy with the legal proceedings. Therefore, it is necessary to talk to him about canceling the controversial conditions. In addition, in practice, evidence of such a conversation will be required by the court. Therefore, you need to do one of the following:

• record a conversation with a request that the partner invalidate part or the entire agreement on video (audio);
• make a proposal to change the marriage contract in writing, sending it by message with notification and a list of investments.

Hint: the fact that a transaction is declared invalid by agreement of the parties should be documented in a new document. It requires mandatory notarization.

Let's return to the analysis of how to appeal an unfair contract. It should be remembered that the judicial authorities may not accept a claim for invalidation of a contract if its text:

• violates basic legal requirements;
• has no evidence base.

Step 1. Assess the situation. 

A full analysis of marital obligations needs to be done. This is done in order to identify circumstances that are legally recognized as unlawful. If necessary, at this stage you can go to a specialist with a marriage contract, but his services are paid. Another option is to read the legislation and compare the provisions of the contract with it.

Hint: in order for the court to recognize a marriage contract as void, all possible grounds must be collected.
There may be many of them. Step 2. Drawing up a claim.

The claim is drawn up in the form prescribed by civil law. It must not be violated, otherwise the application will not be accepted for consideration. The form of the document is as follows:

• in the header you should indicate the name of the recipient authority and its address (take it from the reception office of the authority);
• full information about the plaintiff and defendant:
  • Full name (in full in the nominative case);
  • registration and residence address;
  • Date of Birth;
• the cost of the claim (if financial claims are made);
• the meaning of the requirement (what in the agreement violates the rights);
• describe on what grounds the claim was filed with references:
  • to the evidence base;
  • to articles of legislation;
• the essence of the requirement (what the defendant needs to do);
• list of applications;
• signature and date.

Hint: the package of documents must be submitted in triplicate:

• one will remain in the judiciary;
• on the second they will put a mark of acceptance;
• the third will be sent to the defendant.

Step 3. Court hearing. 

The court will set a hearing date. It is necessary to appear at the meeting and prepare to speak. When challenging a contract, both parties are given the floor. Everyone can put forward their arguments and provide evidence.

Hint: if the defendant is not ready to recognize the contract as void, then he can put forward a counterclaim. Their consideration is combined into one proceeding.

The proceedings may drag on for a long time. It depends on the complexity of the situation and the irrefutable evidence base. As a result, the court makes a decision by which the contract is recognized:

• invalid in whole or in part;
• insignificant;
• denies the plaintiff's claim (recognizing the invalidity of the agreement).

Hint: By law, an unsatisfied party can challenge the court's decision. Ten days are allotted for this (indicated in the text).

Is it possible to challenge a prenuptial agreement after a divorce?

The law establishes a one-year limitation period for cases related to the recognition of the invalidity of a contract. Consequently, if a citizen was unable (didn’t have time, didn’t realize) to protect his rights during a divorce, there is time to return to the proceedings.

Important: a marriage transaction can be challenged after a year, counted not from the date of divorce, but from the day of receipt of information about the violation of rights.

Thus, the period for challenging unsuitable agreements is recognized by law as almost endless. It is only necessary to prove that the plaintiff recently (within the last year) discovered new circumstances.

After a divorce, a claim is filed in the same manner as described above. Additionally, you should select evidence that new information was discovered recently, after the ties were broken. Judicial practice has proven that there are always some facts indicating that the plaintiff is right. They need to be clarified and presented correctly in court.

The legislation still recognizes agreements as the best way to resolve disputes between spouses; this should not be forgotten. Moreover, the court is obliged to require evidence that such an option was offered to the defendant by the plaintiff.

Source: https://VseProRazvod.ru/razvod/priznanie-brachnogo-dogovora-nedejstvitelnym-2/

Why prenuptial agreements don’t work: the Supreme Court explained how property should be divided - Pravo.ru news

The couple entered into a prenuptial agreement, according to which the husband received a car and a garage, and the wife received an apartment and mortgage debt.

A month later, the couple divorced, after which the ex-husband decided that the terms of the agreement did not suit him and went to court, demanding that the contract be declared invalid and the apartment divided in half.

In the first instance, he was denied, the appeal upheld the claim, and the Supreme Court put an end to the dispute. And Pravo.ru experts commented on why marriage contracts in Russia do not yet work.

An apartment for you, a car for me

Svetlana and Sergey Gladkov* got married in March 2007 and soon started thinking about purchasing a home. In October of the same year, Svetlana took out a loan from Sberbank in the amount of 750,000 rubles. Part of this money, namely 250,000 rubles.

, the couple paid a deposit for the apartment, and planned to use the rest of the amount for repairs, purchase of furniture and household appliances. In May of the following year, the Gladkovs became the owners of their own living space in Anapa, a mortgage agreement with Sberbank for 2.25 million rubles.

was also issued to Svetlana, and Sergey acted as a guarantor for both loans. Gladkova was listed as the sole owner of the apartment in the certificate of ownership.

On April 12, 2013, the spouses entered into a marriage contract, under the terms of which the owner of any property acquired during marriage will be considered the one in whose name it was purchased (clause 4 of the document). Separately in paragraphs.

7 and 8 stipulated that Svetlana becomes the sole owner of the apartment, and therefore Sergey does not have any rights to it, and his consent to the alienation of housing is not required.

Gladkov was recognized as having ownership of the car and the garage box, which were registered in his name.

A month later, the couple divorced, and Sergei filed a lawsuit with the Anapa City Court, demanding that the condition of the marriage contract that the apartment go to his ex-wife be invalidated, that it be established as the common property of the spouses, and divided in half. 

In support of his demands, he referred to paragraph 2 of Art. 44 of the Family Code (invalidation of a marriage contract):

– The court may also invalidate the marriage contract in whole or in part at the request of one of the spouses if the terms of the contract place this spouse in an extremely unfavorable position. The terms of the marriage contract that violate other requirements of paragraph 3 of Article 42 of this Code are void.

The court of first instance rejected the claim because, in its opinion, the marriage contract complied with the law, and it did not provide evidence that Gladkov was placed in an extremely unfavorable position by its terms.

At the meeting, Sergei said that the property acquired during marriage was divided unfairly and disproportionately, but the court noted that “the possibility of deviating from equality of shares through the conclusion of a marriage contract is provided for by law, and the disproportionate property allocated to each of the spouses is not in itself a basis to invalidate it." At the same time, Svetlana Gladkova complies with the property obligations imposed on her by the agreement - she pays off the mortgage debt at her own expense. In addition, Gladkov owned another apartment, so the court found his argument about the lack of real estate to be unfounded.

The appeal overturned this decision and allowed the claim. The panel of judges drew attention to the fact that Gladkov was the guarantor for two loans, through which the apartment was purchased, and during the marriage he repaid the debt on them together with his wife.

In addition, the definition states that Sergei sold another apartment that belonged to him for 2.3 million rubles, and part of these funds went to the purchase of “family” housing.

Therefore, the transfer of the disputed living space to the ex-wife “completely deprives Gladkov of the right to property acquired by the parties during the marriage” and puts him in an extremely unfavorable position, despite the fact that he received a car and a garage.

Was the situation “extremely unfavorable”?  

Gladkova filed a complaint with the Supreme Court (case No. 18-КГ16-10), and on May 24 of this year it was considered by judges of the civil cases panel Tatyana Vavilycheva, Tatyana Nazarenko and Igor Yuryev.

The main thing was to understand whether the prenuptial agreement puts the ex-husband, who was left without an apartment, in that very “extremely unfavorable position.” According to clause

15 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court “On the application of legislation by courts when considering cases of divorce” dated November 5, 1998, an example of such a situation would be a situation where a husband or wife is completely deprived of the right of ownership of property acquired during marriage.

In this case, the court may invalidate the discriminatory terms of the marriage contract at the request of the offended spouse.

Meanwhile, as the Supreme Court pointed out, in the agreement that the Gladkovs entered into, there is no provision that all the property goes to Svetlana.

According to the agreement, Sergei was given a garage and a car, and his ex-wife received not only an apartment, but also an obligation to repay the loan taken out for its purchase.

“There is no evidence in the case of the existence of a significant disproportion in the distribution between the spouses of property acquired during the marriage and the property responsibilities of the spouses in connection with the transfer of a specific type of property to each of them,” the judges of the Supreme Court found.

They also recognized as erroneous the conclusion of the appeal that Gladkov’s guarantee for the loan agreements concluded by his ex-wife and the transfer of the apartment to her put the man in an extremely unfavorable financial position. According to Art. 363 (liability of the guarantor) and Art.

365 (rights of a guarantor who has fulfilled an obligation) of the Civil Code, the guarantor is liable to the creditor if the debtor fulfills his obligations improperly. After this, all rights of the creditor under this obligation, including the rights of the pledgee, are transferred to him (to the extent of the claims satisfied by the guarantor).

Meanwhile, Gladkova regularly pays her mortgage payments, and the bank made no demands on her ex-husband as a guarantor.

In addition, according to the Supreme Court, the appellate court did not take into account the fact that the disputed apartment is pledged to the bank, and its current owner under the marriage contract (clause 4) accepted the obligation to independently repay the mortgage. Gladkov actually sold another apartment that belonged to him for 2.3 million rubles.

, but did this more than a year after the divorce and was unable to provide the court with evidence that part of the funds received was used to pay off the debt for the “family” housing.

The Supreme Court considered that the terms of the contract still did not put him in an extremely unfavorable position, and upheld the decision of the trial court, canceling the appeal ruling.

Expert opinion  

Experts interviewed by Pravo.ru agree with the opinion of the judges of the Supreme Court, since it confirms the existing practice. “The position of the Supreme Court fits into the approach that is generally accepted in such cases,” says Marina Krasnobaeva, partner at Yukov and Partners . According to her, the case is quite typical, and the appeal’s approach to it is somewhat surprising.

“The marriage contract is formulated in such a way that the property remains with the spouse in whose name it is registered. This condition in itself is not unfair. When the Gladkovs bought an apartment, even through joint funds, this condition was known and understood by both.

Moreover, the plaintiff himself received property that he does not want to share with his spouse,” she comments.

Dmitry Shtykov from the Padva and Epstein legal bureau agrees that in fact the property of the spouses was divided and did not pass to one of them.

“Taking into account the fact that the marriage contract was concluded after the spouses acquired an apartment and other property, and the fate of all property is clearly stated in the marriage contract, the spouses, by signing the agreement, themselves determined its fate and were well aware of the procedure for its division in the event of divorce,” - he thinks.

Read also: Temporary registration of a child: for kindergarten, for school, what the owner faces

“A conservative interpretation of the norms of paragraph 3 of Art. 42 and paragraph 2 of Art. 44 SK" called the approach of the Armed Forces Ilya Aleshchev, a partner from Alimirzoev and Trofimov . In his opinion, the very “extremely unfavorable position” in which a marriage contract can place one of the spouses is an evaluative norm, and its content actually depends on the discretion of the court.

“As an analysis of judicial practice shows, courts are reluctant to apply this ground of invalidity. As a rule, the circumstances of the case indicate the transfer to the plaintiff - the spouse whose interests have been violated - of some property from the common property of the spouses.

Referring to this, the courts indicate that the plaintiff “is not deprived of all property,” including the only residential premises, and refuse the claim,” the lawyer comments. “A different outcome would be possible in the case where one of the parties to the marriage contract was completely deprived of ownership of any property acquired during the marriage.

In general, practice in this category of disputes, as a rule, comes down to the denial of the plaintiff’s claim,” confirms Tatyana Kormilitsyna, partner of the Yakovlev and Partners legal group.

A prenuptial agreement is not a panacea: why prenuptial agreements are not common in Russia

Concluding prenuptial agreements in Russia is not a very common practice. Meanwhile, this is a completely effective way to divide property not only in case of divorce, but also without breaking family relations.

However, sometimes, after concluding an agreement, one of the parties decides that its terms are unfair and goes to court, demanding that the agreement be declared invalid. However, according to our experts, this does not happen often.

“The legislative opportunity to change the legal regime of the spouses’ property gives the parties the opportunity to agree, think about, evaluate and only after that sign a marriage contract,” comments Svetlana Burtseva, chairman of the Lyubertsy Bar Association .

“There is very little practice of declaring an agreement invalid, since its drafting involves calculating the risks of the parties even before signing.”

Anton Sonichev, a lawyer at the Delovoy Farvater bureau, believes that marriage contracts in most cases are designed to protect wealthy citizens from the adverse consequences of marriage.

Therefore, they reflect the position of a person seeking to protect his property interests, contrary to the provisions of the Family Code. “Suppose a businessman has a share in a company, which during the marriage has significantly increased in value.

According to the law, this is joint property, but the contract stipulates that this share is not common property. There is a pre-created unfavorable situation for a family member,” the lawyer gives an example.

“A textbook example of a disproportionate distribution of jointly acquired property is the condition that all debts be transferred to one of the spouses after the divorce.

However, in practice, spouses rarely enter into such “undoubtedly illegal” marriage contracts,” develops the idea of ​​​​his colleague Artem Sokolov, lawyer at Forward Legal .

According to him, there is no uniform practice on such disputes, and courts have different assessments of the terms of the marriage contract and their compliance with the rules on equal distribution of joint property.

“For example, courts in one district often invalidate the terms of a prenuptial agreement that require only one spouse to repay a loan taken out to purchase a joint home. In another district, courts invalidate marriage contracts if, according to their terms, one of the spouses receives significantly more expensive property after the divorce,” says the lawyer.

A specific example of the “unfair” division of property of spouses under a marriage contract is given by Dmitry Shtykov, head of the legal department of the Padva and Epstein bureau . In April 2013, the Moscow City Court considered the appeal in case No. 11-17943.

The plot of the case is as follows: the husband, after 24 years of marriage, realized that as a result of the concluded marriage contract, all the common property, which included two plots of land, a residential building and three apartments, belongs to his wife, and he has nothing left.

Having considered his claims to challenge the marriage contract, the courts of three instances came to the conclusion that the marriage contract containing such conditions was invalid.

Ekaterina Ekimova, a lawyer in the practice of family and inheritance law at the YUST law firm , believes that since the insurance company obliges to certify a marriage contract with a notary, it is to a certain extent that he is entrusted with the function of monitoring the equality of the parties to the agreement. “The notary explains to the parties the essence and legal consequences of concluding such a transaction.

This is a legal guarantee for the participants in the marriage agreement and allows one to avoid signing marriage contracts with truly enslaving conditions, when, in particular, all property acquired jointly during the marriage is transferred to the personal ownership of one of the spouses, and the common debts of the married couple are assigned entirely to the other spouse.” , she says.

* – names of event participants have been changed by the editors

Source: https://pravo.ru/story/view/130923/

Case N5-КГ14-144. On invalidation of a marriage contract

Laws and codes » Family Code of the Russian Federation » Section III. Rights and obligations of spouses » Chapter 8. Contractual regime of property of spouses » Article 44. Invalidation of a marriage contract » Case N5-КГ14-144.

On the recognition of the marriage contract as invalid.

• SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
• DEFINITION
• dated January 20, 2015 N 5-KG14-144
• Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, consisting of

presiding Klikushin A.A.,

judges Vavilycheva T.Yu. and Nazarenko T.N.

considered in open court the case based on the claim of Safaryan A.A. to Karapetyan L.G. on the recognition of the marriage contract as invalid

on the cassation appeal of Safaryan A.A. against the decision of the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow dated December 23, 2013 and the appeal ruling of the judicial panel for civil cases of the Moscow City Court dated March 28, 2014.

Having heard the report of the judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation T.Yu. Vavilycheva, having listened to the explanations of the representative of Safaryan A.A. - lawyer Schneider O.V., who supported the arguments of the cassation appeal, representative Karapetyan L.G. — Kovalenko L.V., who objected to the satisfaction of the complaint, Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

installed:

Safaryan A.A. filed a lawsuit against L.G. Karapetyan. on the recognition of the marriage contract as invalid.

In support of the claim Safaryan A.A. indicated that from October 20, 1988 to September 9, 2008, he was married to L.G. Karapetyan.

The marriage was dissolved by the decision of the magistrate of court district N of Moscow dated September 9, 2008.

On October 8, 2013, the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow rendered a decision on the claim of L.G. Karapetyan. to Safaryan A.A.

on the division of jointly acquired property, which is based on the marriage contract concluded between Safaryan A.A. and Karapetyan L.G. May 17, 2001.

According to the plaintiff, the marriage contract is void, since he did not conclude it and has never been to the notary office where it was certified.

In addition, Safaryan A.A. pointed out the invalidity of the marriage contract due to the fact that this contract puts him (A.A. Safaryan) in an extremely unfavorable position.

By decision of the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow dated December 23, 2013, the claims were rejected.

By the appeal ruling of the judicial panel for civil cases of the Moscow City Court dated March 28, 2014, the decision of the trial court was left unchanged.

By the ruling of the judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 4, 2014, Safaryan’s representative A.A. — Schneider O.V. refusal to transfer the cassation appeal for consideration in a court session of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

By the determination of the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation V.V. Khomchik dated December 22, 2014, the ruling of the judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 4, 2014 and the cassation appeal of A.A. Safaryan were cancelled. with the case transferred for consideration in a court session of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

1. Having checked the case materials and discussed the arguments set out in the complaint, the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation finds that there are grounds for canceling the court decisions taken in the case.
2. In accordance with Article 387 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the grounds for canceling or changing court decisions in cassation are significant violations of substantive or procedural law that influenced the outcome of the case and without eliminating which it is impossible to restore and protect violated rights, freedoms and legitimate interests, as well as protection of public interests protected by law.
3. Such violations of substantive law were committed by the courts of first and appellate instances in this case.

The court found that from October 20, 1988 to September 9, 2008 Safaryan A.A. and Karapetyan L.G. were married (case sheets 8, 9).

May 17, 2001 between Safaryan A.A. and Karapetyan L.G. a marriage contract was concluded, certified by a notary of the Lyubertsy notary district of the Moscow region P. (case sheet 9).

As follows from clause 1.4 of the marriage contract, in the event of divorce on the initiative of Safaryan A.A. or as a result of his unworthy behavior (adultery, drunkenness, hooliganism, etc.), the property acquired during the marriage and related to the common joint property of the spouses becomes the property of L.G. Karapetyan. (case sheet 9).

Refusing to satisfy the claims of Safaryan A.A.

, the court of first instance (and the court of appeal agreed with it) came to the conclusion that the statute of limitations for declaring the marriage contract invalid had expired, since the execution of the marriage contract concluded by the parties began from the moment of its signing, that is, from May 17, 2001, and to the court Safaryan A.A. applied 12 years later (November 25, 2013). The petition to apply the statute of limitations was filed by representative Karapetyan L.G.

• This conclusion of the courts cannot be considered legal due to a significant violation of substantive law.
• The law (Article 44 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation) establishes general and special grounds for declaring a marriage contract invalid.
• According to paragraph 1 of Article 44 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, a marriage contract may be declared invalid in whole or in part by the court on the grounds provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation for the invalidity of transactions.

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 44 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the court may declare a marriage contract invalid in whole or in part at the request of one of the spouses if the terms of the contract place this spouse in an extremely unfavorable position. That is, this norm establishes special family law grounds for invalidating a marriage contract.

The legal basis for Safaryan’s presentation of A.A. the requirements for recognizing the marriage contract as invalid were the provisions of both paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 44 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation. Challenging the marriage contract, Safaryan A.A.

pointed out both the nullity (Article 168 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation as amended until September 1, 2013) and the contestability of this transaction (clause 3 of Article 42, clause 2 of Article 44 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation).

1. Article 2 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation determines that family legislation establishes the conditions and procedure for marriage, termination of marriage and recognition of its invalidity, regulates non-property and property relations between family members: spouses, parents and children (adoptive parents and adopted children), and in cases within the limits provided for by family law, between other relatives and other persons, and also determines the forms and procedure for placing children left without parental care into the family.
2. By virtue of Article 4 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, civil legislation is applied to the property and personal non-property relations between family members that are not regulated by family legislation, as mentioned in Article 2 of this Code.
3. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, claims arising from family relationships are not subject to limitation, except in cases where the period for protecting the violated right is established by the said Code.
4. The Family Code of the Russian Federation does not establish a statute of limitations for claims to challenge a marriage contract.

Read also: Husband’s apartment after divorce: how to share it, how to discharge your husband

However, by its legal nature, a marriage contract is a type of bilateral transaction, but it has its own specifics, determined by the basic principles (principles) of family law.

Since the claim of the spouse under paragraph 2 of Article 44 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation for the recognition of a marriage contract as invalid by this Code is not established by the statute of limitations, then to such a claim of the spouse, based on the provisions of Article 4 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, for the purposes of stability and legal certainty of civil transactions, a period of limitation is applied the limitation period provided for in Article 181 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, for requirements to recognize a transaction as invalid.

According to Article 181 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (as amended in force until September 1, 2013), the statute of limitations for a claim to apply the consequences of the invalidity of a void transaction is three years. The limitation period for the specified claim begins from the day when the execution of this transaction began (clause 1).

The limitation period for a claim to declare a voidable transaction invalid and to apply the consequences of its invalidity is one year.

The limitation period for the said claim begins from the day the violence or threat under the influence of which the transaction was concluded ceased (clause 1 of Article 179), or from the day when the plaintiff learned or should have learned about other circumstances that are grounds for declaring the transaction invalid ( point 2 ).

In accordance with the second paragraph of paragraph 15 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of November 5, 1998 No. 15 “On the application of legislation by courts when considering cases of divorce,” if the marriage contract changes the statutory regime of joint ownership, then the court, when resolving a dispute about the division of property, spouses must be guided by the terms of such an agreement. It should be borne in mind that, by virtue of paragraph 3 of Article 42 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the terms of the marriage contract on the regime of joint property, which place one of the spouses in an extremely unfavorable position (for example, one of the spouses is completely deprived of the right of ownership of property acquired by the spouses during the marriage) may be declared invalid by the court at the request of this spouse.

From the foregoing it follows that when a spouse challenges the validity of a marriage contract or its terms on the grounds provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 44 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the statute of limitations should be calculated from the moment when this spouse learned or should have learned that as a result of the implementation According to the terms of the marriage contract, he found himself in an extremely unfavorable property situation. In this case, this moment coincides with the division of property carried out under the terms of the marriage contract, as a result of the execution of which a situation has arisen indicating that one spouse is completely deprived of the right of ownership of the property acquired by the spouses during the marriage.

As established by the court of appeal, the existence of a marriage contract dated May 17, 2001 to A.A. Safaryan. became known on July 22, 2011 (case sheets 165 - 166).

Any evidence indicating that the existence of a marriage contract for Safaryan A.A. was known before the specified date, is not available in the case.

By the decision of the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow dated October 8, 2013, which entered into legal force on April 8, 2014, the division of jointly acquired property between former spouses Safaryan A.A. and Karapetyan L.G. produced taking into account the contested Safaryan A.A. marriage contract.

Thus, the fulfillment of the terms of the marriage contract began at the time of division of property carried out under the terms of the marriage contract.

Taking into account the above, the moment of the beginning of the limitation period for claims to recognize the marriage contract as invalid (on the grounds of nullity and voidability) coincides with the moment of division of the property of the former spouses of Safaryan A.A. and Karapetyan L.G.

A statement of claim to recognize the marriage contract dated May 17, 2001 as invalid was filed by A.A. Safaryan. to the court on November 25, 2013 (case files 3 - 5).

Under such circumstances, the conclusion of the courts that Safaryan A.A. the limitation period does not comply with the provisions of Article 181 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (as amended in force before September 1, 2013) and the established circumstances.

The panel of judges finds that the contested court decisions cannot be recognized as legal and, by virtue of Article 390 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, are subject to cancellation, since without eliminating the judicial error, it is impossible to protect and restore the significantly violated rights and legitimate interests of A.A. Sarafyan.

Since Safaryan A.A. the court rejected the claim only on the grounds that it missed the statute of limitations without examining the factual circumstances associated with the conclusion and content of the marriage contract, the case is subject to remand for a new trial in the court of first instance.

When reconsidering the case, the court should take into account the above and establish the circumstances that are important for the correct resolution of the dispute related to the conclusion and signing of the marriage contract, as well as establish what kind of property status each of the parties acquires as a result of fulfilling the terms of the marriage contract and whether the terms of the contract between parties to the marriage contract, which changed the statutory regime of joint property of the spouses, Safaryan A.A. in an extremely unfavorable property position compared to his wife L.G. Karapetyan, and also make a decision in strict accordance with the provisions of Articles 195 - 198 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

Guided by Articles 387, 388 and 390 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

determined:

the decision of the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow dated December 23, 2013 and the appeal ruling of the judicial panel for civil cases of the Moscow City Court dated March 28, 2014 were canceled and the case was sent for a new trial to the court of first instance.

Source: https://advokat-malov.ru/zakony-i-kodeksy/semejnyj-kodeks-rossijskoj-federacii/razdel-iii—prava-i-obyazannosti-suprugov/glava-8—dogovornyy-rezhim-imuschestva-suprugov/ statya-44—semeynyy-kodeks-kodeks-rf/sud-praktika-k-state-44-semeynyy-kodeks-rf-30565.html

Marriage agreement: judicial practice

By concluding a marriage contract, each spouse hopes to avoid controversial situations that arise during the division of jointly acquired property. However, sometimes the contract itself becomes the subject of a dispute, which leads the parties to court with demands for its invalidation or termination. The marriage contract is regulated by Ch. 8 tbsp. Art. 40-44 IC of Russia.

A marriage contract falls into the category of bilateral transactions in accordance with the general provisions of current legislation. All property rights of the parties to the contract, as well as obligations towards each other, arise subject to compliance with the requirements established by law for concluding a transaction and its validity.

If a dispute arises, a marriage contract can be declared invalid in full or in part through the courts. The grounds for declaring a transaction invalid are established by the Civil Code and have an exhaustive list.

Legal grounds for invalidating a marriage contract

The legal grounds for declaring a marriage contract invalid in court are the following cases:

• if it was concluded by a person who did not realize the significance of his actions and could not manage them;
• if the contract was concluded under the influence of a mistake;
• if the contract was concluded under the influence of deception, threat or due to difficult circumstances on extremely unfavorable terms;
• if the contract was concluded with an incapacitated or limited legal capacity person.

Also, the law (clause 2 of Article 44 of the Family Code) provides for the possibility of invalidating a marriage contract in cases where the contract puts one of its parties in an extremely unfavorable position. It can be said that the last ground is most often the legal position in claims to invalidate a marriage contract.

Invalidation of a contract in a separate lawsuit

One example of judicial practice is a case that was considered by the Presidium of the St. Petersburg City Court. As a result of the consideration of the case, a decision was made on the complaint against the decision of the supervised authority. The basis for the consideration of the case was a claim to declare the marriage contract invalid.

Since its provisions, namely paragraphs 5 and 6, put the plaintiff in an extremely unfavorable position.

Based on the terms of the contract, the apartment that was purchased during the marriage becomes the property of the defendant, and the plaintiff in the case is obliged, under the terms of the contract, to check out of the apartment and move out of it within 7 days from the date of registration of the divorce.

The courts of both instances refused to satisfy the plaintiff's claims, based on the fact that the plaintiff had missed the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit. (Resolution dated December 9, 2009 No. 44G-199).

This legal position, which is often taken by the courts, regarding the application of the limitation period is quite controversial, since Art. 44 of the Family Code does not establish the legal possibility of applying the above norm, and all legal relations that the marriage contract provides for are regulated by the norms of family law.

Invalidation of a contract in a dispute over the division of property

Also in judicial practice, in addition to declaring an agreement invalid in a separate lawsuit, such a requirement can be presented by the parties in disputes related to the division of property of spouses.

One example of judicial practice is the ruling of the Moscow Regional Court No. 33-1778/2015 in a case in which an appeal was considered against a court decision in a case declaring a marriage contract invalid and recognition of ownership of a share of property.

The reason for the legal dispute was that the plaintiff, being the heir of his deceased father, learned that before his death the testator had entered into a marriage contract with citizen N. Under the terms of this contract, the entire alleged inheritance mass (real estate) became the property of the deceased’s wife in full.

In substantiating the legal position when declaring the marriage contract invalid, the plaintiff referred to the fact that the party to the marriage contract (the plaintiff’s deceased father) during the period of its preparation was being treated for cancer, while carrying out medical procedures that, in the plaintiff’s opinion, affected the ability of the deceased to understand the meaning their actions and the ability to consciously dispose of property.

These requirements are based on the provision of Article 177 of the Civil Code of Russia, which provides for the possibility of recognizing a transaction as invalid if it was concluded by a person who is unable to understand the meaning of his actions. However, the reason for the refusal to satisfy the claim was the plaintiff’s violation of the rules of procedural law (Article 156 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Russia), which obligated him to provide evidence of his legal position.

The determining legal position when courts consider disputes related to the execution of a marriage agreement (contract) and its recognition as invalid is Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of Russia dated November 5, 1998 No. 15.

Paragraph 15 of this legal act sets out the position according to which a marriage agreement (contract) can be declared invalid if its conditions, when changing the statutory regime of joint ownership, puts one of the spouses in an extremely unfavorable position.

  This, according to the court, is the complete deprivation of ownership of the property of one of the spouses acquired during the marriage.

Legal grounds that imply the possibility of changing the conditions of the legally established property regime by a marriage contract make it possible to avoid the division of loans during a divorce, as well as the division of a mortgaged apartment. If a marriage contract is concluded, its terms may determine who will be responsible for repaying the loan and who will have ownership of the apartment.

As examples of judicial practice show, a marriage contract is one of the types of bilateral transactions, and the regulation of disputes regarding them in court is a rather complex category of court cases. Therefore, its conclusion, termination, recognition as invalid or partially invalid requires the participation of a legal specialist.

Source: https://SudebnayaPraktika.ru/semejnye-voprosy/brachnyj-dogovor.html