Court Awards Man Half of Ex-Wife’s Property in Moroccan Divorce Case

The verdict has been handed down. Based on Article 49 of the Family Code, the court of first instance in Sefrou - family law section, granted a man the right to half of the real estate property held by his ex-wife. It also authorized the land registrar to register the judgment on the land title once it becomes final, putting the court costs at the expense of the defendant and rejecting the other claims. Prior to this decision, the court established the husband’s contribution to the purchase of the land and its construction. Located in the province of Sefrou, Imouzzer Kandar district, the property is registered in the name of his wife. The man had filed a complaint against his wife on the grounds that he had not obtained his share.

In court, the plaintiff explained that he had registered the property in the name of the defendant due to his good faith and the good marital climate. He claimed to have purchased the land in co-ownership with the defendant, each having paid 120,000 dirhams, and that he had given her 120,000 dirhams in cash. The construction work had cost 1.05 million dirhams, he specified, ensuring that he had contributed more than half of the amount and had been in charge of overseeing the work from start to finish. To support his statements, the plaintiff cites a written acknowledgment signed by the defendant, in which she admitted to being his partner in the real estate property. This acknowledgment had been drawn up after a dispute between the couple that resulted in a divorce.

For her part, the wife claimed that she had given her husband sums of money during the construction of the villa. According to her, she had at the time inherited from her father a set of assets that she had sold during the construction period. She also claimed to have taken out two loans, for 112,000 dirhams and 228,000 dirhams. Sums that she would have given to her husband to deposit in his bank account to cover the construction costs. The defendant also acknowledges not having followed the construction work due to her job as a teacher and a psychological illness from which she still suffers and for which she is still under treatment.

Relying on the jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation, which stipulates that the absence of a prior agreement between the spouses on the management of assets acquired during the marriage does not prevent one of them from proving his or her contribution or the charges he or she has assumed to develop family resources and claim his or her share, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff.