Court Rules On Sharing of Property, Marriage Rights After Divorce

The Court of Appeal in Kampala has clarified in a ruling on Tuesday November 15, 2022 that division of matrimonial property will not always be equal for couples seeking divorce.

The unanimous ruling was made by tree justices of the Court of Appeal including Elizabeth Musoke,  Muzamiru Mutangula Kibeedi and Christopher Gashirabak following an appeal in Ambayo Versus Aserua Civil Appeal No. 100 of 2015 .

One Joseph Waigo Ambayo filed an appeal against Jackline Aserua after the high court judge granted the latter access to 50 percent of the matrimonial property    .

Ambayo appealed a ruling by then Justice Catherine Bamugemereire of the family division of the high court after the couple’s divorce was finalized in 2012.

Justice Bamugemereire had ruled then that the couple divided the property by half , each taking 50 percent.

Ambayo however appealed against the  ruling on grounds that Aserua did not contribute equally to the marriage. In his petition, he stated that he educated the ex wife from primary to the level of doing a course in   hair dressing and design course. He also paid for her driving skills.

The justices today ruled that Aserua gets only 20 percent of the property.

“The spousal contribution to the matrimonial property can be direct or indirect; monetary or non-monetary provided it enables the other spouse to either acquire or develop the property in question. There is no doubt that the non-monetary contribution of spouses is valuable and of great economic significance at the family and national or macro level. The non-monetary contribution usually consists of “unpaid care and domestic work” rendered by a spouse during the marriage like caring for the children, elderly and the sick members of the family, household chores, cultivating food for the family subsistence et cetra,” the justices ruled.

This ruling also redefines the matrimonial property rights of spouses

The judgment means that marriage doesn’t give a spouse an automatic 50% share of the matrimonial property and the share is dependent on his or her contribution to it.

2.       A spouse’s share in the matrimonial property is dependent on his/her contribution to it.

3.       Contribution can take either monetary or non-monetary forms or both.

4.       The non-monetary contribution usually consists of “unpaid care and domestic work” rendered by a spouse during the marriage like caring for the children, elderly and the sick members of the family, household chores, cultivating food for the family subsistence et cetra.

5.       When the court is determining the value of the “unpaid care and domestic work” rendered during the marriage it should take into account monetary value principles like the value or cost of similar or substitute services available on the labour or service market.

6.       Where one party has, in the course of the marriage, contributed towards upgrading the other spouse in terms of educating her/him, such contributions should be deducted from the beneficiary spouse’s total claim for “unpaid care and domestic work”.