Divorce and separation in Poland

Property matters are usually an important, though not a key issue in a matter of divorce or separation.

The apartment / house

If the spouses occupy a common flat, the court decides in the divorce decree on the manner of using the flat, occupied by the spouses, in the period of cohabitation after divorce. In practice, this involves, for example, granting one room for exclusive use to your wife and the other to your husband (of course, if the flat has more than one room).

In exceptional cases, when one of the spouses condemns abnormal actions in court, the court may order his eviction at the request of the other spouse. This is particularly the case when a criminal case against family abuse was previously committed against this spouse.

At the mutual request of the parties, the court may also decide on the division of a shared flat or on granting a flat to one of the spouses, if the other spouse consents to leave it without providing a replacement and substitute accommodation, if the division or its granting to one of the spouses is possible.

It should be remembered that the court will only deal with housing, which should be shared by both spouses. In addition, the court, when deciding on a shared flat of the spouses, will take into account primarily the needs of the children and spouse who is entrusted with the exercise of parental authority.

Division of assets

At the request of one of the spouses, the court may divide the joint property in a divorce decree, if such division does not cause undue delay in the proceedings. In practice, this division is very rare, because the judges usually try to finish the case as soon as possible (and thus improve their "statistics"). On the other hand, the division of property usually prolongs the proceedings, because the spouses are generally in conflict with each other and it is difficult to reach agreement on any matter. The division of joint property must then take place in a separate court case, initiated only after the divorce case has been completed.

However, if the spouses reach an agreement, the risk of excessive length of proceedings is much smaller. You can then try to convince the court that the property should be divided already during the divorce case (or for separation). For this purpose, it is worth preparing all the documents necessary for the court to issue an appropriate ruling. Usually, these will be the same documents that are required to sell a given item (eg a certificate from a housing co-operative, a copy from the land and mortgage register, or a car registration document).

It should be remembered that divisions are not subject to debts. For this reason, the bank's consent is necessary if only one of the spouses is to be a party to the loan agreement - contracted by the spouses.