One cannot escape death and taxes, a famous saying goes, but it’s possible to avoid debts and divorce. However, life happens and it needs to be dealt with. What is the situation with marital debts in case of a divorce in Ukraine?

How debts are viewed in Ukraine in a divorce

When marriage breaks down, there is sometimes a need to decide not only on splitting the assets, but also debts.

If a debt is acquired before marriage, then it remains the responsibility of the person who signed the contract, Finance.ua informs. Even if the person purchased an apartment where he or she lived with the spouse, it’s still the responsibility of the owners to pay out the home loan.

Even if a loan was taken during the marriage, it’s not certain that it would be viewed as a mutual responsibility by spouses in a court of law. The family law in Ukraine looks at whether the need for a loan was to satisfy family requirements or for a personal gain. For instance, if a home loan was taken by the wife to purchase an apartment where the family lived, then the husband will be able responsible for the debt, since it was to meet the needs of a family.

But if the wife took a personal loan to support her parents, then the husband won’t be held responsible. The same if a guy borrowed funds to satisfy his gambling addiction, then then wife won’t have to carry the load of repayments in case of a divorce.

From this point of view, if the wife borrowed funds to build a house, but it was used as an investment in a company she built before she got married, then the debts of the company would be her own and the husband won’t need to pay the loan.

If a spouse borrowed funds for the purposes of education, then it is also a solo responsibility of the one who studied.

However, there is one aspect of a divorce that is still rather peculiar in our times: Ukrainian women usually look after kids and there is no shared custody between parents. Men pay child support, but the amount has a cap.

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