When a couple divorces, they need to divide the assets they jointly accumulated during the marriage. In this case, the right of one divorced couple to claim property division from the other spouse is the right to claim property division.

The right to claim property division is a right aimed at fair settlement of common property created during marriage that reflects each party's contribution. This is premised on equality of economic and social status in marriage, and is a right recognized to realize the ideology of social justice and equity by allowing a spouse with economic ability to support a certain amount of a spouse who lacks the ability to live after divorce.

Our case law recognizes the right to claim property division even in a common-law marriage (Supreme Court decision 94M1584, March 28, 1995).

In principle, property subject to property division is joint property that is acquired through joint cooperation between spouses during marriage, and it is unclear which of the spouses owns it.

According to precedent, even if the property is in the name of one of the couple or in a title trust in the name of a third party, if the property was actually acquired through the cooperation of the couple, it is subject to property division (Supreme Court decision 96M1434, April 10, 1998). A couple's common property includes a house, savings, stocks, loans, etc., and if there is any debt, it is deducted from the property.

Property owned by each spouse before marriage or property acquired by either spouse through inheritance, gift, or bequest during marriage are the unique property of one spouse (Article 830, Paragraph 1 of the Civil Act) and, in principle, cannot be subject to property division. However, if the other party contributed to the maintenance or increase of the unique property, the increase may be included in the property division (Supreme Court decision 93M1020, May 13, 1994, etc.).

When a couple divorces, the right to claim property division expires after two years from the date of divorce (Civil Act Article 839-2, Paragraph 3).

In the case of a judicial divorce, it is common to file a claim for property division together with a claim for divorce, so there is little concern that the period for exercising the right to claim property division will expire. However, in cases of divorce by agreement, there are often cases where the divorce occurs without agreement on property division. In this case, you can only receive division of property if you exercise your right to claim property division within two years from the date of divorce.

Property acquired jointly during marriage can be divided upon divorce. However, if the property is in the sole name of the spouse rather than in the joint name of the couple, the other party can arbitrarily dispose of the property for the purpose of avoiding or reducing property division.

Therefore, when dividing property, it is necessary to apply for provisional seizure or injunction to the court to preserve the property (real estate, deposits, rental deposit, etc.) in the spouse's name.