Divorced but continued living together: court overturned refusal to pay 15 million UAH to the ex-wife of the deceased serviceman

The ex-wife of the deceased serviceman, who continued to live with him as one family after the divorce, may be entitled to a one-time financial aid in case of the serviceman’s death. If the fact of living as one family has already been established by a court decision that has entered into legal force, the Ministry of Defense must take these circumstances into account when deciding on the appointment of aid. This conclusion was reached by the Vinnytsia District Administrative Court.

The woman appealed the decision of the Ministry of Defense commission, which refused to grant her the one-time financial aid provided by Cabinet Resolution No. 168 after the serviceman’s death. The court canceled this decision and obliged the ministry to reconsider her application taking into account the circumstances established by the court and the legal conclusions set out in the decision.

Case circumstances

The plaintiff was married to the serviceman from 1995 to 2019. Two children were born during the marriage. After the divorce, they continued to live as one family, maintain a joint household, and raise the children together.

In March 2022, the man was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In December 2022, he died while performing a combat mission near Maryinka in Donetsk region.

In 2025, the woman applied to the Ministry of Defense for a one-time financial aid due to the death of the serviceman.

The Ministry of Defense commission refused the payment, concluding that the submitted documents did not confirm the applicant’s entitlement to receive the aid. In particular, the Ministry pointed to the absence of documents confirming her right to a pension due to the loss of a breadwinner or the status of a dependent of the deceased serviceman.

Disagreeing with this decision, the woman appealed to the administrative court.

What the court established

The key to resolving the dispute was another court decision that entered into legal force in July 2025.

The Vinnytsia City Court established that after the divorce, from March 2019 until the day of the serviceman’s death, the parties lived as one family as husband and wife without registering the marriage, and that the plaintiff was dependent on him.

The administrative court noted that these legally significant circumstances are already confirmed by a court decision that has entered into legal force, and therefore the Ministry of Defense should have taken them into account when considering the application for the one-time financial aid.

The court drew attention to Article 16-1 of the Law "On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Their Families," which defines certain categories of persons entitled to one-time financial aid: family members, parents, and dependents of the deceased serviceman. At the same time, family members are defined according to the Family Code of Ukraine, which provides that a family may consist of persons who live together, maintain a common household, and have mutual rights and obligations.

According to the court’s conclusion, the civil court decision confirms exactly those circumstances that the Ministry of Defense should have considered when deciding on the aid appointment.

Why the court disagreed with the Ministry of Defense’s position

The court in case No. 120/989/26 noted that the Ministry of Defense commission actually did not evaluate all the documents submitted by the plaintiff, focusing only on the absence of confirmation of her status as a dependent according to the Law "On Pension Provision for Persons Released from Military Service and Some Other Persons." Meanwhile, the current court decision on the parties living as one family and the plaintiff being dependent on the deceased serviceman was left without proper evaluation.

The court also rejected the Ministry of Defense’s references to new Supreme Court rulings regarding the irrevocability of Law No. 3515-IX.

The court explained that those rulings were made under different factual circumstances and concerned persons who were never in a registered marriage with the deceased serviceman. In contrast, in this case, the parties were previously married, continued to live as one family after the divorce, and these circumstances are confirmed by a court decision that has entered into legal force. For this reason, the court recognized the relevant legal position of the Supreme Court, particularly expressed in the ruling dated February 5, 2025, in case No. 120/17960/23.

Separately, the court referred to the principle of in dubio pro persona, according to which in case of ambiguous interpretation of the law, preference should be given to the approach that most protects human rights. The court believes this principle applies also to social protection issues of families of deceased servicemen.

Court decision

The Vinnytsia District Administrative Court recognized as unlawful and canceled the Ministry of Defense commission’s decision to refuse the one-time financial aid and obliged the Ministry of Defense to reconsider the plaintiff’s application taking into account the court’s conclusions. In addition, the court recovered from the Ministry of Defense in her favor the court fee of 1,331.20 UAH.

At the same time, the court did not oblige the Ministry of Defense to directly grant or pay the aid. The proper way to protect the violated right was recognized as canceling the illegal commission decision and reconsidering the application with regard to the circumstances and legal assessment established by the court.

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