When dividing joint property, one of the spouses who was a co-owner of funds contributed to the charter capital of LLC may claim payment of half the value of the other spouse's share - SC GC

If one of the spouses contributes funds to the charter capital of an LLC that are jointly owned, the said company becomes their owner. Instead, the person who contributed to the charter capital of the LLC acquires the right to a share in the company.

The other spouse, who was a co-owner of the funds contributed to the charter capital of the company, in order to protect his or her right to divide the marital property, acquires the right to demand payment of half the value of the spouse's share in the charter capital.

This was emphasized by the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.

In the case under consideration, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against her ex-husband, in particular, to compensate for half the value of contributions to the charter capital of three legal entities.

The court of first instance partially satisfied the claim and, among other things, ordered the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for the value of her share of the contribution to the charter capital of one of the legal entities. However, the court of appeal overturned this decision and issued a new one, in particular, by recovering from the defendant in favour of the plaintiff the value of her share in the charter capital of one of the legal entities, but different from that determined by the court of first instance.

In considering this case, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court noted that if one of the spouses contributes funds to the charter capital of an LLC that are jointly owned, the said company becomes their owner. Instead, the person who contributed to the charter capital of the company acquires the right to a share in the company.

The other spouse, who was a co-owner of these funds, in order to protect his or her right to divide the marital property, acquires the right to demand payment of the value of the spouse's share in the charter capital. At the same time, both the company's shareholder who contributes jointly owned property to the company's charter capital and its other shareholders must understand the consequences that will arise if a decision is made to pay the value of the spouse's share in the charter capital.

In other words, when dividing jointly owned property, one of the spouses may claim payment of a share in the charter capital of the LLC, which is different from payment of half the value of the founder's contribution to the charter capital of this company.

The court proceeded from the presumption that the value of a share in the charter capital corresponds to the amount of the contribution, unless the party claiming a change in this value at the time of the case proves that the value of the share has changed (increased or decreased as a result of the company's ordinary activities).

Therefore, in the opinion of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, the conclusion of the court of appeal to satisfy the claim in part of compensation from the defendant in the amount of UAH 750,000 - half of the value of contributions to the LLC's charter capital - is erroneous.

In this case, the plaintiff was entitled to demand payment of the value of her ex-spouse's share in the charter capital. However, she sought monetary compensation for the value of the share of the contribution to the charter capital.

At the same time, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court also took into account the fact that the defendant did not refute that the amount of UAH 750,000 claimed against him did not correspond to the value of his share in the LLC's charter capital.

The Resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 10 April 2024 in case No. 760/20948/16-ц (proceedings No. 14-70цс22) - https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/118520073.

This and other legal positions of the Supreme Court can be found in the Database of Legal Positions of the Supreme Court - https://lpd.court.gov.ua.