What is the Separation of Goods regime, what are the validity conditions of the contract?
The Turkish Civil Code regulates how the property acquired by the parties in the marriage union will be shared in cases of divorce, death, annulment, etc., and 4 different systems for property sharing have been defined. These :
- Participation in Acquired Property (Legal Property Regime)
- Goods Separation
- Shared Property Separation
- Commodity Partnership
The aforementioned property regimes are regulated in Article 202 and the following of our Turkish Civil Code, and if the spouses do not choose any property regime when they get married or during their marriage, they are subject to the regime of participation in legally acquired property. In the regime of participation in acquired property, all assets acquired by each spouse by giving in return will be considered jointly acquired property.
One of the property regimes that the parties can choose if they do not want to be subject to the legal property regime, the regime of participation in the acquired properties, is the property separation regime. In the Separation of Property regime, each spouse’s own property, income and earnings belong to him. Again, the property, income and income belonging to each spouse are at the disposal of the spouse to whom they belong, and the other spouse does not have a say in the management and administration of these goods and incomes. The ability of the parties to choose the property separation regime is subject to the form requirement by the Law. According to Article 205 of the Civil Code, titled “Form of the contract”, “The property regime contract is made in the form of issuance or approval at the notary public. However, the parties may also notify in writing which property regime they have chosen during the marriage application. It is obligatory to sign the goods regime contract by the parties and, when necessary, by the legal representatives.” In other words, the parties will be able to choose the property separation regime by making a notification during the marriage proceedings or by signing a contract that is arranged or approved by the notary public after the marriage. The reason for seeking the validity of the law is primarily to determine the content of the contract and how long the contract has been in effect. Spouses who accept a property separation regime can always accept a previous or other property regime with a new property regime agreement. While the parties may choose the property separation regime with their joint decisions, it is possible to switch to the property separation regime with the decision to be made by the judge upon the application of one of the parties to the court, if there is a justifiable reason.
In accordance with the regulation in Article 206 of the Civil Code, the existence of a just cause shall be deemed to exist, especially in the following cases:
- The other spouse’s assets are in debt or their share in the partnership is confiscated,
- If the other spouse has endangered the interests of the applicant or the partnership,
- The other spouse’s withholding the necessary consent for the disposition of the partnership’s goods without a justifiable reason,
- The other spouse refrains from informing the requesting spouse about his assets, income, debts or partnership properties,
- The other partner’s persistent lack of discernment.
In cases where the court decides to switch to the property separation regime upon the request of one of the parties, in the event that the justified reason that obliges this transition disappears, the judge will decide to return to the old property regime upon the request of one of the spouses.
