Protection of Property Rights to Property Acquired Family Unions under Legislation of Ukraine and States of the European Union

Abstract

In the scientific article, the author explores the peculiarities of legal regulation of protection of property rights to property acquired in marriage by spouses, in actual, religious marriage, other family unions by its members under the civil and family law of Ukraine and some European Union states. In particular, the author determined that in Ukraine and the leading states of the European Union legal regulation of the main methods and forms of protection of property rights is carried out in accordance with the general provisions of civil law with certain features to protect the property of spouses and family unions, illegal behaviour of one of the spouses. In this aspect, there is a dualism in the legal regulation of these issues regarding the protection of property rights of spouses: in legal relations with third parties are subject to general methods of protection, in legal relations between spouses — methods defined by family law. The protection of property rights of de facto spouses, spouses in a church marriage and partners in a registered partnership has a different legal nature in the European Union: some of them do not recognize these family unions and protection of property acquired in these unions is governed by general rules; the other part of the states recognizes features in protection of the property right to the property acquired in the specified family unions, fully or partially equating them on these parameters to protection of the property right to property of spouses. In particular, French civil law lays down a special procedure for the protection of spouses’ property rights and the extension to civil partners (including de facto spouses) of the general provisions of civil law on the protection of their property rights. The German Civil Code does not recognize the legal consequences of actual marital relations, as well as church marriages, and civil partnerships concluded before 2017 (the time of recognition of same-sex marriages) in terms of protection of property rights and obligations equates to a registered marriage. Czech civil law defines the same ways of protecting the property of spouses and civil partners, and the protection of property rights acquired by de facto spouses is regulated on a general basis in accordance with the provisions on joint property and the protection of civil rights. Latvian civil law recognizes the possibility of protecting only the right of ownership of property acquired in a registered marriage, without recognizing other family unions.