Who Owns Wedding Jewellery
In this article, we will give information about the issue of who owns the wedding jewellery, which is the most controversial issue during divorce and which we are asked a lot, within the framework of the new decisions of the Court of Cassation.
All valuable items worn by both the woman and the man during the wedding are called jewellery. In Turkish law, all kinds of jewellery worn by the woman at the wedding belongs to the woman. The exception to this situation is local customs. If the contrary is the case in the local customs, the contrary of this presumption will be proved.
“…As a rule, as long as there is no agreement to the contrary, the jewellery and cash worn by the woman during the marriage, regardless of who wears them, are deemed to be donated to the woman and become her personal property…” (8th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation 2015/21024 E. 2016/1292 K. 26/01/2016 K.T.)
All jewellery worn by the man at the wedding and specific to the man will belong to the man. In addition, it has been accepted by the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation that the jewellery worn on the man but which can be considered to be specific to the woman (e.g. bracelets, necklaces, etc.) belong to the woman. Accordingly, it is accepted that jewellery worn on the man but specific to the woman belongs to the woman, and jewellery that is not specific to the woman belongs to the man. Money, gold, etc. jewellery worn on the man at the wedding belongs to the man.
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“…When the concrete case is evaluated in the light of these explanations, unless there is an agreement between the spouses to the contrary or a local custom in this regard, the bracelet, which is a woman-specific jewellery item, is deemed to be donated to the female spouse, regardless of who wears it to which spouse during the marriage, and it is now her personal property…” (Court of Cassation General Assembly of Civil Chambers 2017/3-1040 E. 2020/240 K. 04/03/2020 K.T.)
Even if the wedding jewellery worn to the man is a woman’s jewellery, if the man proves before the court that there is no local custom in this regard, these jewellery items will also belong to the man. If there is a dispute about whether the wedding jewellery worn by the man is specific to the woman or not, an expert examination must be made by the court. This issue will be determined by the jeweller expert to be appointed by the court. If the jewellery worn is a jewellery item that can be used by both men and women and is worn on a man, it will be considered to belong to the man.
TO WHOM DOES THE WEDDING JEWELLERY PLACED IN THE JEWELLERY CHEST BELONG?
The jewellery chest, which has started to be used in our country, especially within the scope of Covid-19 measures, has also brought the question of to whom the jewellery belongs. In this context, it is possible to make an evaluation within the framework of the decision of the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation. Accordingly, it is necessary to evaluate the jewellery worn separately as jewellery specific to women and jewellery specific to men. Among the jewellery items placed in the jewellery chest, those specific to the woman belong to the woman, and those specific to the man belong to the man. If what is put in the jewellery box cannot be attributed to the woman or the man, then it will be considered common. However, if there is a contrary agreement between the parties, that agreement will be applied.
WHICH LAWSUIT IS FILED FOR WEDDING JEWELLERY?
The lawsuit that must be filed in order to request the jewellery worn during the wedding is the Return of Wedding Jewellery (jewellery) lawsuit. With this lawsuit, if possible, the return of the jewellery is requested. If this is not possible, it will be requested to determine the price of the jewellery and to decide to pay this price.
In case a divorce lawsuit is filed, the return of the jewellery can also be claimed together with the lawsuit. However, in this case, the request for jewellery is not considered as an additional issue to the divorce, but as an independent request. In such a case, the court separates the file for the return of the jewellery and registers it under a separate principle number and gives time for the plaintiff to pay the fee.
In the event that the return of wedding jewellery is not requested with the divorce, it is possible to assert these requests by filing a separate lawsuit with the finalisation of the divorce case or after the divorce case is filed. İn the event that a lawsuit is filed for the return of the jewellery before the divorce case is finalised, the court makes the divorce decision as a waiting matter and waits for the finalisation of the decision.
In the event that the jewellery items are requested through the lawsuit, whether the return is requested in kind or the payment of money equivalent is requested, the requested jewellery items should be explained in detail in terms of type, amount and value. The details of the requested item, up to the gram and the setting, must be submitted to the court. Because a fee will be charged based on the total value to be determined. Therefore, it is considered mandatory to specify these issues.
WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR THE RETURN OF WEDDING JEWELLERY?
In Turkish law, the lawsuits in which the return of wedding jewellery is requested in kind are called ration lawsuits. In this way, there is no statute of limitations in cases where the return will be requested. The lawsuit can be filed at any time.
In cases where it is not possible to return the wedding jewellery in kind, the statute of limitations is set as 10 years in cases where the payment of the amount corresponding to its value is requested. İn this way, the lawsuits in which the payment of the wedding jewellery is requested are generally in the nature of compensation lawsuits. In compensation cases, the statute of limitations in Turkish law is set as 10 years. This 10-year limitation period starts with the finalisation of the divorce case.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO INCLUDE WEDDING JEWELLERY IN THE DIVISION OF PROPERTY IN DIVORCE?
Who the wedding jewellery belongs to is stated in detail at the beginning of our article. It may also be possible for a party to give the jewellery belonging to him/her to his/her spouse voluntarily with his/her own decision. In such a case, the party who has given the ownership of the wedding jewellery to his/her spouse with his/her own decision will be deemed to have donated these jewellery and will not be able to ask for these jewellery back. However, if this situation occurs, it is the obligation of the other party to prove the declaration of the donor on this issue. The husband must prove that the jewellery was given to him for non-return.
“In the concrete case; the defendant witnesses who were listened to stated that the plaintiff gave 6 bracelets to the defendant with her consent not to take them back when leaving the house, and that she wanted the wedding debts to be paid with these gold. As such, since it has been proved that 6 bracelets were given to the defendant for the purpose of donation, the court should decide to dismiss the lawsuit in terms of 6 bracelets, while it was not deemed correct to accept the request in terms of these jewellery in writing with the wrong evaluation, and this issue required a reversal.” (3rd Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation 2016/8760 E. 2018/1566 K. 22/02/2018 K.T. )
Wedding jewellery that has not been requested with the divorce case cannot be requested by way of amendment. In this case, a separate lawsuit must be filed.
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