In this article, we will give information about the most disputes that occur during divorce and who owns the wedding jewelry, which we are asked a lot about, within the framework of the new decisions of the Supreme Court.
All valuable items worn by both a woman and a man during a wedding are called trappings. In Turkish law, all kinds of jewelry worn by a woman at a wedding belong to a woman. The exception to this situation is local customs. If this situation is contrary in established local customs, this presumption will be proven otherwise.
“…As a rule, jewelry and cash worn by a woman during marriage, no matter who wears it, are considered donated to a woman, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, and now they become her personal property …” (Supreme Court 8. Legal Department 2015/21024 E. 2016/1292 K. 26/01/2016 K.T.)
All jewelry worn by a man at the wedding and of a male-specific nature will belong to the man. In addition, trappings that are worn by a man, but can be considered unique to a woman (for example, bracelets, chokers, etc.).) it has been accepted by the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation that it belongs to women. Accordingly, jewelry worn on a man, but unique to a woman, belongs to a woman, and jewelry that is not unique to a woman is considered to belong to a man. The money, gold, etc. trappings worn by the man at the wedding belong to the man.
“…When the concrete event is evaluated in the light of these explanations, the bracelet, which is a woman-specific Decoy, is considered donated to the wife by whoever was worn to which wife during the marriage, no matter who, unless there is an agreement or a local custom on the contrary between the spouses, and now it becomes her personal property …” (General Assembly of the Court of Cassation 2017/3-1040 e. 2020/240 K. 04/03/2020 K.T.)
Even if the wedding jewelry worn by a man is a woman-specific piece of jewelry, if a man proves in front of a court that there is no local custom in this regard, these jewelry items will also belong to a man. If there is a dispute about whether the wedding jewelry worn by a man is unique to a woman, an expert examination should be conducted by the court on this issue. This issue will be determined by the jeweler expert appointed by the court. If the piece of jewelry worn is a piece of jewelry that can be used by both a woman and a man, and if it is worn on a man, it will be considered a man’s.
TO WHOM DO THE WEDDING JEWELRY PLACED IN THE JEWELRY CHEST BELONG?
Especially in our country, the jewelry chest, which has started to be used within the scope of Covid-19 measures, has also brought with it the question of who will own the jewelry items. In this context, it is possible to make an assessment within the framework of the decision of the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation, which we have presented above. Accordingly, it is necessary to evaluate the jewelry worn separately as female-specific jewelry and male-specific jewelry. Of the ornaments placed in the jewelry chest, those that are unique to a woman belong to a woman, and those that are unique to a man belong to a man. If the thing placed in the jewelry chest cannot be specific to a woman or a man, then it will be considered common. However, if there is a contrary agreement between the parties, that agreement will be applied. Dec.
WHAT CASE TO MAKE FOR WEDDING JEWELRY?
The case that needs to be opened in order to request the jewelry that was worn during the wedding is the case for the Return of Wedding Jewelry (jewelry). With this case, if possible, it is requested that the jewelry items be returned in kind. If this is not possible, the price of the jewelry will be determined and a decision will be made to pay this price.
In the case of a divorce case, the issue of the return of jewelry jewelry can also be brought forward together with the case. However, in this case, the request for jewelry is not considered as an additional October to the divorce and is qualified as an independent request. In such a case, the court shall serialize the file in terms of the return of the trappings and register it in a separate basis number and give the plaintiff a period of time to pay the tuition fee.
In the event that the return of the wedding jewelry has not been requested together with the divorce, it is possible to put forward these requests by filing a separate lawsuit together with the finalization of the divorce case or after the opening of the divorce case. In the event that a lawsuit is filed regarding the return of jewelry before the divorce case is finalized, the court makes the divorce decision a pending matter and waits for the decision to be finalized.
In case the jewelry items are requested through the lawsuit, whether the exact return is requested or paid for, the requested jewelry items should be explained in detail in terms of type, quantity, value. The details of the requested goods up to the gram and the setting must be submitted to the court. Because an allowance will be made on the total value to be determined. Therefore, it is considered mandatory to specify these issues.
WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IN THE CASE OF THE RETURN OF WEDDING JEWELRY?
Cases in which the exact return of wedding jewelry is requested are called ration cases in Turkish law. In this way, there is no statute of limitations in cases where extradition will be requested back. It is possible to open the case at any time.
In cases where it is not possible to return the wedding jewelry in kind, the limitation period is determined as 10 years in cases where the payment of the amount corresponding to its value is requested to be paid. In this way, the cases in which paying the price of wedding jewelry is requested are generally in the nature of compensation cases. The statute of limitations in Turkish law for compensation cases is set at 10 years. This 10-year statute of limitations period begins with the finalization of the divorce case.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO INCLUDE WEDDING JEWELRY IN THE DIVISION OF PROPERTY IN A DIVORCE?
Who the wedding jewelry will belong to is indicated in detail at the beginning of our article. It may also be the case that a party gives his/her own jewelry to his/her spouse completely by his/her own decision with his/her consent. In such a case, the party who has given ownership of the wedding jewelry to his wife by his own decision will not be able to ask for these jewelry back again, as he will be considered to have donated these jewelry. However, if this situation occurs, it is the obligation of the other party to prove the statement of the forgiver on this matter. The husband must prove that the jewelry was given to him not to be returned.
“In the concrete case; the defendant’s witnesses testified that the plaintiff gave 6 bracelets to the defendant with his consent not to take them back when he left the house, and that he wanted his wedding debts to be paid with these gold coins. In this case, since it was proved by the court that 6 bracelets were given to the defendant for the purpose of forgiveness, it was necessary to decide to dismiss the case in terms of 6 bracelets, while it was not considered correct to accept the request in writing for these ornaments with an erroneous assessment, this issue required a reversal.”(Supreme Court 3. Department of Law 2016/8760 E. K. 2018/1566 22/02/2018 k.T. )
Wedding jewelry that has not been requested with the divorce case cannot be requested by way of correction. In this case, a lawsuit must also be filed.
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