Can joint property be seized due to the debts of one spouse
Joint property of spouses can be used to repay the debts of one spouse if the court establishes that the relevant contract was concluded in the interests of the family, and the funds or property obtained under it were used for family needs.
As explained by the Sumy Interregional Department of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, according to the provisions of the Family Code of Ukraine, the wife and husband manage property that is an object of joint shared ownership by mutual consent. If one spouse concludes a transaction, it is considered that they act with the consent of the other.
Each spouse has the right to challenge in court a contract concluded by the other without their consent if such an agreement goes beyond minor household transactions. For contracts concluded by one spouse that require notarization and/or state registration, as well as contracts concerning valuable property, the consent of the other spouse must be given in writing and notarized.
At the same time, joint shared ownership can serve as a material basis for compensation for damage caused by a criminal offense committed by one spouse if the court decision establishes that this property was acquired with funds obtained as a result of the crime.
Seizure of the debtor's property involves its arrest, seizure (writing off funds from accounts), and forced sale. Specialists of the state enforcement service use available methods of influence to protect rights and enforce court decisions.
As previously written by the «Judicial and Legal Newspaper», disputes regarding spouses' responsibility for debts remain common in judicial practice. In such cases, the decisive factor is whether the loan was obtained in the interests of the family and whether the other spouse disproved the family nature of such obligation.
In case No. 372/893/23 dated June 2, 2026, the Supreme Court, composed of a panel of judges of the First Judicial Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court, confirmed the presumption of common interests of spouses and clarified under what conditions a husband or wife can become co-debtors under a loan agreement, even if they did not personally sign it.
The Supreme Court emphasized that the law does not prohibit the parties from determining the debt linked to foreign currency. If the contract provides for repayment of an amount equivalent to a certain USD amount, the debtor must pay the hryvnia equivalent of this amount at the exchange rate specified in the contract at the time of payment.
In this case, the Court concluded that proper fulfillment of the obligation is the repayment in hryvnias of the amount equivalent to 372,000 US dollars at the time of payment.
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