After 30 years of marriage, the married couple decide to separate and even before the divorce is pronounced by the court, the woman wins the postcode jackpot of almost 2.1 million euros. The woman bought the lottery ticket with her own money and, although the man and the woman had not been living together for some years, the man still wanted to claim half of the enormous sum. He missed the mark!
When partners are married in community of property and they decide to divorce, all the assets of the partners have to be divided equally, for example, the house, cars, the balance in a bank account. In a divorce proceeding, the date of filing the petition for divorce with the court is used to determine the extent of the community of property. If, after this date, an asset becomes the property of one of the partners or one of them incurs a debt, it does not fall within the community of property and will no longer be distributed as a joint and several liability.
This was also the case in this instance. In October 2014, the petition for divorce was filed with the District Court of Amsterdam. This date was used as the reference date for determining the extent of the community of property. As the woman had paid for the lottery ticket after this date and as she won the Postcode Kanjer after this date (January 2015), the Postcode Kanjer did not fall within the community of property and she did not have to share the enormous amount with her ex-partner, according to the District Court of Amsterdam. According to the court, there were also no other circumstances that made it reasonable for the husband to claim half of the amount.
If you have any questions or would like information about divorce proceedings and the consequences for the community of property, please feel free to contact us.