Ar santuokos nutraukimo metu sutuoktinių bendrai jungtinei nuosavybei taikoma lygių dalių prezumpcija nepažeidžia proporcingumo principo?
Štuikytė, Milda |
Vienas iš santuokos padarinių yra turtinių teisių pasikeitimas, todėl ištuokos metu baigiasi ne tik sutuotkinių tarpusavio santykiai, bet ir turtiniai ryšiai. Valstybėse sureguliuoti sutuoktinių turtinius santykius yra nustatomas bendrumo, atskirumo ar riboto bendrumo turto teisinio rėžimo modelis. Todėl, visų pirma bus analizuojami šie turto rėžimo modeliai, kadangi būtent jie įtakoja pagrindinių principų ir sutuotuoktinių turto dalijimo būdų pasirinkimą. Lietuvoje, dalinant bendrą jungtinę nuosavybę, yra naudojama lygių dalių prezumpcija. Todėl kita šio tyrimo užduotis - išsiaiškinti, kodėl pasirinkta būtent ši prezumpcija ir atskleisti, ar aplinkybės, nulėmusios šios prezumpcijos įtvirtinimą Lietuvos teisinėje sistemoje, vis dar egzistuoja. Kaip ir visame pasaulyje, taip ir Lietuvoje yra tokių situacijų, kai vienas sutuoktinis ne tik rūpinasi materialiais, bet ir namų ruošos bei vaikų auginimo klausimais. Be to, vis daugėja bylų, kai vienas iš sutuoktinių siekia tik pasipelnyti iš sudarytos santuokos su pasiturinčiu sutuotkiniu. Taigi, vienas svarbiausių šio mokslinio tyrimo tikslų – išsiaiškinti, kodėl dalijant turtą proporcingai sutuotkinių indėliui, yra pasiekiamas teisingesnis turto paskirtymas, susiduriant ne tik su tradiciniais santuokos nutraukimo atvejais. Lietuvoje lygių dalių prezumpcija nėra absoliuti, todėl teismai gali nukrypti nuo lygių dalių principo. Bet remiantis teismų praktiką, galime daryti išvadą, kad teismai dažniausiai taiko Lietuvos Respublikos civiliniame kodekse 3.123 str. nurodytus pagrindus, ir nesinaudoja suteikta diskrecijos teise, padalyti turtą ne lygiomis dalimis kitais nei nustatyta atvejais. Todėl, svarbu išsiaiškinti ar yra teismų praktikos, kuomet skiriamas dėmesys skirtingiems sutuoktinių indėliams, taip užtikrinant teisingą sprendimo priėmimą. Palyginus lygių dalių ir proporcingumo principų privalumus padaryta išvada, kad proporcingumo principas padeda teisingiau padalyti turtą tiek tradicinėse, tiek specifinėse santuokos nutraukimo situacijose. Taigi, hipotezę galima patvirtinti iš dalies, kadangi Lietuvos raglamente įtvirtinta lygių dalių prezumpcija nėra absoliuti ir yra numatyta galimybė turtą dalinti kitokiomis dalimis, tačiau remiantis teismų praktika proporcingumo principas net specifinėse situacijose yra nenaudojamas, taip sudarant galimybę neteisingai padalyti sutuoktinių turtą.
One of the consequences of the marriage is the exchange of property rights between spouses. Therefore, during the divorce process not only the emotional ties of spouses terminate but also the specific property relations. In some countries, during the divorce process joint property is divided according to the traditions or religion beliefs. However, determined models of property legal regimes such as community of property, separation of property, limited community of property are more common in countries. The basic principles and methods used in dividing joint property during divorce process are determined by these legal models. In some countries presumption of equal parts is applicable while in the others this presumption is considered only as an additional method. There are also countries where joint property is divided by proportional contribution to the marriage. Increasingly, courts’ decisions are based not only on laws and their exceptions but also on legal principles in order to properly divide the property of spouses. Primarily, in this thesis models of property regimes and their methods which help divide the joint property more efficient and correct will be analysed in order to find out what are the basic principles used in dividing joint property during the divorce process. Because of public interest as well as economic and historical situation the model of limited community of property was established in Lithuania. In this case, it is still possible to have private property but in principle all property which is gained during marriage is divided into equal parts as required by law. Another task of this thesis is to find out why this particular presumption was chosen to divide joint property in Lithuania and also disclose whether the circumstances which led to the consolidation of the presumption in the legal system of this country still remain. In Lithuania, as in the whole world, there are situations where one spouse in not only taking care of material well-being of family but also takes care of housekeeping and children needs. In addition, number of solved cases where one of the spouses seeks only profit from the marriage is increasing. The situation when person gets married with wealthier person and after short period requests for divorce just to get half of joint property is getting more common. More and more countries in such cases when established method does not ensure right partition of property are tempted to use method of proportionality and as a result eliminate remaining gap in the law. For example, when there is no reason to deviate from equal parts presumption in case of different 5 contribution to the marriage. Accordingly, in this thesis it is explained how property is divided using principle of proportionality and why this principle helps to ensure justice. The problem of property division is increasingly common in Lithuania. Although presumption of equal parts is not absolute but restricts usage of other methods of property division as defined by law. In The Civil Code of Lithuanian Republic section 3.123 provision that property is not divided in equal parts in the following cases: 1. In view of interests of minor children; 2. Condition of health or of financial situation of one of the spouse; 3. One spouse without the other spouse’s permission reduce value of property which is the joint property; 4. If family does not receive income because of spouses particular actions or concealment. Although it also provides for judicial discretion, to decide what other important circumstances is may be exempted on the basis of presumption of equal parts. Therefore, it is one of the main issues in this thesis to identify when the courts use the right of discretion and form practice when other circumstances are considered necessary in order to exclude the presumption of equal parts. Also, to find out if proportional property division method is used in case law when is taking into account of spouse’s different contribution to marriage. The analysis in this thesis suggests that there are two commonly worldwide used property division models: Division of common joint property with equal parts presumption. This is one of the methods to implement the principle of equality when spouses’ joint property is divided in equal parts in order to protect the interests of the weaker party. The proportional property division method when property is divided right but not necessary in equal parts. Then tangible and intangible contribution into marriage of the spouses are evaluated. After determination of essential features in equal parts presumption and proportionality principle methods are also comparing the benefits of them. In this study the analysis confirms hypothesis partially because equal parts presumption in Lithuanian Law is not absolute and provides an option to divide joint property in different parts. However, the judicial practice shows that there are deviations from equal parts presumption for other reasons than law provides. This is when personal funds from the sale of personal property rights to control real estate are used to buy another real estate during marriage and also when one of spouses relative are contributed acquisition of joint property. There is no case law where the property is divided in proportions because of different contribution in marriage. The only case-law when there is focused to different contributions of spouses is when one spouse for negligence such as dismissal from work because of alcoholism problems did not receive certain income then property is not divided in equal parts. After analysis of other countries and Lithuanian legislation and case law it can be concluded that principle of proportionality in Lithuania are partially violated by dividing joint property during divorce with equal parts of presumption. But proportional property division model are increasingly more preferable based on the public interest.