In Armenia, disputes over property division between spouses are classified as marital conflicts.

The legislation stipulates that property acquired jointly during cohabitation is considered joint property, with natural exceptions related to personal gifts and property acquired before marriage.

“Property division issues become acute during divorce, and since it often doesn’t end in reconciliation, meaning couples can’t find an amicable solution to the problem, they turn to court, and the court decides and divides the property. This can be real estate or household items,” notes lawyer Marat Atovmyan.

These types of cases seem easy, but complications arise during the process. For example, sometimes couples dispute the ownership of a painting: the wife insists it was gifted to her and belongs to her, the husband claims the opposite, and it becomes difficult for the court to resolve the issue in the absence of necessary evidence.

Highlighting several examples, Marat Atovmyan notes: “It even happens that curtains become subjects of dispute, as well as washing machines, tea and coffee cups, dinner sets, and so on, and the court is forced to sit and decide who should get these. Such cases occur in practice as well.”

According to the lawyer, if the parties have a signed prenuptial agreement, it’s much easier in this case, as property issues are regulated by that agreement.

“Other problems arise related to the division of real estate because, for example, if we’re talking about an apartment acquired through a mortgage, there’s a third party in the form of the bank, and there are cases when the mortgage is registered in the name of one spouse, they make the payment, but the property is joint property, one of the parties applies for the property to be divided, here the bank also needs to be involved. This, of course, becomes a subject of additional disputes and discussions in court,” emphasizes Marat Atovmyan.

Details are in the video.