Legal Aspects of the Joint Ownership Regime in Immovable Property
Legal Aspects of the Joint Ownership Regime in Immovable Property
By Alexander Khomenko and Ivan Mishchenko
Alexander А. Khoтепко is an partner with Vasil Kisil & Partners (Kiev) I. Mishchenko is lawer with Vasil Kisil & Partners (Kiev)
A collision exists between the legal provisions envisaged by the Civil Code of Ukraine and technical rules of the BTI, regarding the joint ownership regime
One of the problems that have recently evolved in practice and in real estate legislation is the joint ownership regime and specific allocation of the share belonging to one of the owners. The question becomes even more complicated, given the fact that in some cases there is no shared ownership from the legal standpoint. However, let us analyze the situation in detail.
In accordance with Article 355 of the Civil Code, property that is owned by two or more persons belongs to them on the basis of the joint ownership title. According to Part 2 of the same article, the legal regime of property can be either shared, when the share of each owner is exactly determined, or joint, when no shares are determined. Both regimes impose a number of limitations on the freedom of disposal. For example, the owners should agree on the issues regarding the property, determine the distribution of the profits which they receive from the estate, agree upon the management scheme, etc. The classic example is matrimonial assets — most of the actions of a spouse performed in respect of the property that was acquired by the united efforts of the family require confirmation from the other spouse.
