In a contested divorce, the ownership of the car is determined according to the provisions of property sharing. According to the Turkish Civil Code, properties acquired during the marriage are shared between the spouses within the framework of the regime of participation in acquired properties. According to this regime:
1. Who and How Was the Car Acquired?
A car acquired during the marriage: If the car is acquired during the marriage, it is considered acquired property regardless of whether it is registered in the name of one of the spouses. In this case, the car is shared according to the spouses’ contribution shares.
A car acquired before the marriage: Properties acquired before the marriage are generally considered as the personal property of that spouse and are excluded from sharing.
2. The Value of the Car and the Contribution Share
The value of the car is determined during the divorce.
If one of the spouses has made a financial contribution to the purchase or maintenance of the car, they can request a contribution share by documenting this contribution.
3. The Car Can Be Allocated According to Needs
The court may take temporary measures during the divorce process. For example, the car may be allocated to a spouse for essential needs such as transporting children or a spouse’s commute to work. However, this does not necessarily determine who will receive the property in the division.
4. Contribution and Documentation Are Important
If one spouse proves that they contributed more than the other when purchasing the car, this may affect the sharing ratios.
Briefly:
In a contested divorce, the car is usually divided between the spouses according to their contribution rate. However, who will use the car is determined by temporary decisions that the court will make according to needs. The issue of property division is definitely determined after the divorce case.
