The bitter legal truth about property sharing

What you need to know:

Separation troubles. When long term relationships end, especially if a couple was married or living together, one of the major issues will be how to deal with the accumulated property. Roland Nasasira found out what is allowed by law and how you can protect yourself.

I have read and heard about couples who, unfortunately, have had misunderstandings in their relationships, failed to amicably resolve them and have separated or even divorced in due course.
Some of these dissolutions have happened with popular couples, that when they break up because of property, it leaves onlookers thinking.
However much a relationship maybe characterised by romance, gifts and vacations, when things get to a breaking point, issues involving sharing property will arise.
The once generous partner will turn out like a greedy lion while even one who did not contribute to amassing the wealth in the relationship wants the lion’s share. So, what happens when you are not married?
Stuart Oramire, a lawyer, explains that unlike the 1974 Mortgage Act which provides that a woman needed to have contributed monetarily for her to benefit from property sharing after a divorce, the Act that was amended in September 2009 states otherwise.
A woman’s domestic contribution shall be recognised even if she may not have contributed monetarily in amassing property in a home.
Article 31, Section B of the Constitution, on the other hand, provides that a man and woman are upon marriage, entitled to equal rights at marriage, in marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
Even when couples divorce and fail to agree on sharing property, Oramire says modern courts no longer consider contribution of a spouse in amassing matrimonial property as it maybe monetary or non-monetary.
“For as long as you are legally married and the woman is looking after the children, makes the husband tea, maintains the marital home, prepares food and puts it on the table, she is building the home as the man is given an environment to go and work. When such a couple divorces, a woman is entitled to a certain share of matrimonial property considering her domestic contribution,” Oramire says.
Matrimonial property in this case is property jointly owned by a couple outside their home.
Although the Act ensures that each party receives a fair share, Oramire says couples can acquire property individually even in marriage because each of the partners may not be financially endowed as the other. However, if a man or woman owns property upon making marriage vows, it becomes joint matrimonial property.

Possible deals
Oramire says before entering into a marriage, the Divorce Act encourages partners to agree on how to share property.
“In the absence of any agreement after marriage and they divorce, the couple will be forced to share the property equally.” This also includes money saved on a joint account.
However, the same section offers a harmonious platform to couples that after entering into marriage, a man or woman can agree with the partner in writing that if any of them buys property with their personal money, it is not part of matrimonial property, and that upon dissolution of the marriage, it becomes personal property.
This may also apply to things such as family and personal cars and bank accounts. It also states that a wife and husband can agree on what property to share and what not to share upon divorce. In such an agreement, the wife cannot rise and claim for an equal share of property.
Emmanuel Byaruhanga, a lawyer with Rugambwa, Gadala Advocates, advises that in situations where a husband had given his wife a car and they later divorce but he still held the car documents, the husband can take back his car because the wife did not have full ownership of the car and its documents.
“If a man had given his wife the car with its documents and they divorce, the man ceases to own the car even if they go to court,” Byaruhanga explains.

The cohabitation rights
The same applies to land and houses. When the man gives his wife land or a house with all the necessary paperwork and they were legally married, upon divorce, the said land or house ceases to be the man’s.
“If couples were not legally married and the man had given the wife land with a land title, the man can go to court to challenge the woman if they never had children,” Byaruhanga says, adding that if they were legally married and had children or not, the woman is entitled to 50 per cent of the property.
According to the Cohabitation Act, a man is entitled to 100 per cent of the property upon separation, even if the woman’s family was aware of the relationship. This means that they were not legally married.
“If couples were cohabiting and have children, the law protects and considers children by awarding the woman a 50 per cent share of the property,” Byaruhanga stresses.
In a situation where the man is not well off, but marries a woman who already owns property and the couple gets married, upon divorce, Byaruhanga says the man is entitled to 50 per cent share of matrimonial property, even if the property was registered in the woman’s names.
The reverse is true, even if the case is presented before court.