Mrs. M and Mr. K got married in 2005 and had two children. In 2008, Mr. K founded his own software company named “K-Soft IT Ltd.” Mrs. M, on the other hand, left her profession in 2010 to take care of the children and the household to support Mr. K’s focus on his career, becoming a homemaker.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the parties decided to divorce, and a lawsuit was filed. While the divorce case was ongoing, Mrs. M filed a lawsuit for the “Liquidation of the Matrimonial Property Regime” (property division).<\/p>\n
The center of the dispute is the company shares established by Mr. K in 2008, which currently have a market value of 20,000,000 TL. Mr. K claims that the company was established entirely through his own efforts, is his personal success, and that his wife, who is a homemaker, has no right over this company.<\/p>\n
Legal Evaluation<\/b> This case demonstrates one of the most important application areas of the legal “Regime of Participation in Acquired Property” (Turkish Civil Code Art. 218 et seq.), which is valid for marriages after January 1, 2002.<\/p>\n
1. Are Company Shares “Acquired Property”?<\/b> Yes. According to established Supreme Court precedents, companies established or acquired while the marital union continues (between 2005-2024) and shares belonging to these companies are considered “acquired property”<\/b> because they are obtained in return for labor.<\/b><\/p>\n Mr. K’s defense of “my effort” proves exactly why this asset is considered “acquired property.” The law subjects the return of any labor (work) spent within the marital union to sharing.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The fact that Mrs. M is a homemaker does not deprive her of this right. The law views the contribution of the spouse who does housework, raises children, or supports the other spouse as equal in value<\/b> to the commercial activity of the other spouse. Mrs. M’s contribution at home enabled Mr. K to focus on work.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n 2. How is Sharing Performed? Does Mrs. M Become a Partner in the Company?<\/b> This is the most critical point. As a result of the divorce, Mrs. M does not become a shareholder (partner)<\/b> in “K-Soft IT Ltd.” The liquidation of the property regime is not a partnership lawsuit, but a receivable lawsuit.<\/b><\/p>\n Mrs. M’s right is the “Participation Receivable”<\/b> (Kat\u0131lma Alaca\u011f\u0131) to be calculated over the value of the company.<\/p>\n 3. Calculation Process (Expert Report)<\/b> The court appoints an ex officio committee of experts (usually a CPA, a jurist, and a valuation expert if necessary) in such a case.<\/p>\n Company Valuation:<\/b> The expert calculates the current market value (fair value) of the company as of the “moment the property regime ended” (the date the divorce case was filed). In this case, the value was determined as 20,000,000 TL.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Residual Value:<\/b> The net value remaining after deducting the company’s debts (residual value) is calculated. Let’s assume this value is 20,000,000 TL based on a simple calculation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Participation Receivable:<\/b> According to the law, a receivable right arises for the other spouse over half<\/b> of the residual value of the acquired property (the company).<\/p>\n 20,000,000 TL \/ 2 = 10,000,000 TL<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Legal Result<\/b> The court will rule that Mrs. M has a “participation receivable” of 10,000,000 TL over the company shares, in line with the expert report.<\/p>\n This means: Mr. K will continue to be the sole owner of his company. However, when the divorce decree becomes final, he will be obliged to pay 10,000,000 TL in cash<\/b> to his ex-wife Mrs. M. If he cannot pay this money, Mrs. M will have the right to place a lien on Mr. K’s personal assets (and if necessary, on those company shares) to collect this receivable.<\/p>\n Conclusion and Advice<\/b> Companies established within the marital union are not assets that can be smuggled from property division by saying “it’s my company.” The Regime of Participation in Acquired Property is based on the principle that marriage is a joint effort. In such property division cases requiring high-value and technical calculations, working with a family law lawyer experienced especially in company valuation and financial analysis is an absolute necessity to prevent loss of rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If one spouse establishes a company during the marriage, how is this company’s value shared in a divorce? A case analysis on the regime of participation in acquired property and company valuation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":881,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","project-cat":[784],"class_list":["post-882","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project-cat-family-law"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sura-hukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sura-hukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sura-hukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sura-hukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sura-hukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sura-hukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project-cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sura-hukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project-cat?post=882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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