{"id":4474,"date":"2026-07-27T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T09:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/?p=4474"},"modified":"2026-09-15T01:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T22:57:21","slug":"chi-dilitsya-biznes-i-dohodi-fop-pri-rozluchenni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/en\/blog\/chi-dilitsya-biznes-i-dohodi-fop-pri-rozluchenni\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a business and a sole trader’s income divisible on divorce in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

A business created or acquired during a marriage is divisible, but what is divided is its value and its income, not the business itself. From a sole trader\u2019s income you first deduct taxes, duties and the costs of the business, and only the net profit becomes divisible (Supreme Court judgment of 8 October 2025 in case No. 545\/725\/18). A shareholding in a limited company is usually compensated in money.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Article 60 of the Family Code lays down a presumption: everything spouses acquire during a marriage belongs to them jointly, and registering a sole trader business or a shareholding in one spouse\u2019s name does not rebut it. Shares are presumed equal under Article 70 until one side establishes grounds to depart from that.<\/p>\n

What makes dividing a business difficult is that family law here meets company and tax law. The other side often believes they are entitled to half the equipment, the accounts and the company\u2019s property, while the owner believes their spouse \u201chas nothing to do with my business\u201d. Both beliefs are wrong, and the difference between them runs into hundreds of thousands of hryvnia.<\/p>\n

Is a business divisible on divorce<\/h2>\n

The general rule is the same as for a flat or a car: a business created or acquired during the marriage forms part of the joint property whatever the paperwork says. The right to divide arises under Article 69 of the Family Code and does not depend on whether the marriage has been dissolved.<\/p>\n

Not divisible is a business acquired before the marriage, or received by one spouse by inheritance or gift (Article 57). The presumption can be rebutted either way, but the burden lies on whoever asserts: documents are needed on the date of acquisition and the source of the money \u2014 statements, contracts, the certificate of the right to inherit. General explanations without paper do not persuade a court. More on the rules of division is on the page of our property division lawyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

Sole traders: the profit is divided, not the turnover<\/h2>\n

A sole trader is not a separate company but a status held by the person. So \u201cdividing the business\u201d is impossible: there is no share in the register to transfer. What is divided is something else \u2014 the income from the business earned during the marriage, and the assets bought for it with joint funds: equipment, stock, vehicles, commercial premises.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court has confirmed that the presumption of joint property extends to a sole trader\u2019s income earned during the marriage. But in its judgment of 8 October 2025 in case No. 545\/725\/18 it stressed the arithmetic: to arrive at the profit you must deduct from the income the taxes, duties and the costs of production and of buying goods and services, and only what is left can be divided. In retail or haulage the gap between turnover and profit easily reaches 80\u201390% of the sum, and that is exactly where claims filed by guesswork fail.<\/p>\n

A second line of authority concerns money already spent: income that went on the family\u2019s needs during the marriage cannot be divided a second time. If money from the business account paid for renovating the shared flat, half of that sum cannot also be claimed.<\/p>\n

A shareholding in a limited company and corporate rights<\/h2>\n

Here lies the commonest mistake. A limited company\u2019s property (premises, equipment, money in its accounts) belongs to the company, not to its members. The other spouse does not claim the company\u2019s assets directly and does not automatically become a member: the membership changes under the Law \u201cOn Limited and Additional Liability Companies\u201d No. 2275-VIII, not by a decision dividing matrimonial property.<\/p>\n

What is divided is the value of the shareholding, if it was acquired during the marriage. Most often the question is settled in money: one spouse keeps the shareholding and control, the other receives a sum equal to half its value. A private enterprise is a separate case: in its decision of 19 September 2012, No. 17-rp\/2012, the Constitutional Court interpreted Article 61(1) of the Family Code as meaning that the charter capital and the property of a private enterprise are jointly owned by the spouses. Corporate disputes of that scale are run together with our commercial disputes lawyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What exactly is divided, by form of business<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Form of business<\/th>\nWhat is divisible<\/th>\nWhat is not<\/th>\nUsual way of dividing<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Sole trader<\/td>\nthe net profit during the marriage, and assets bought for the business with joint funds<\/td>\nthe trader status itself, the turnover, and what was spent on the family<\/td>\na money payment of half the profit, division of equipment in kind<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A shareholding in a limited company<\/td>\nthe value of the shareholding acquired during the marriage<\/td>\nthe company\u2019s own premises, accounts and equipment<\/td>\ncompensation of half the value on a valuer\u2019s report<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A private enterprise<\/td>\nthe charter capital and the enterprise\u2019s property (Constitutional Court No. 17-rp\/2012)<\/td>\nproperty contributed to the charter capital from personal funds<\/td>\ncompensation, or division of the enterprise\u2019s property<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shares and securities<\/td>\nsecurities bought during the marriage and the dividends on them<\/td>\nsecurities received by inheritance or gift<\/td>\ndividing the holding or compensation at market value<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A business predating the marriage, inherited or gifted<\/td>\nthe increase in value attributable to joint funds or the other spouse\u2019s work<\/td>\nthe business itself, as personal private property<\/td>\ncompensation for what was contributed, where contribution is proved<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

What dividing a business costs<\/h2>\n

The compensation is fixed by an independent valuation taking account of assets, liabilities, profitability and market value. For a sole trader the calculation is built on the tax returns and primary records for the period of the marriage, adjusted for the tax regime, so such cases almost always involve a court-appointed financial expert.<\/p>\n

A claim to divide property is a monetary one, so an individual pays a court fee of 1% of its value, but not less than 1,331.20 and not more than 16,640 UAH in 2026. Filing through the Electronic Court reduces it by 20%. Our fees are on the page of legal service prices<\/a>: pre-action settlement from 5,000 UAH, procedural documents from 5,000 UAH, one hearing from 3,000 UAH, comprehensive handling of a civil case from 25,000 UAH.<\/p>\n

Step by step, with timescales<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Fix the period of the marriage and the dates the business was acquired: the marriage certificate, an extract from the companies and sole traders register, the articles as they stood when the shareholding was acquired. The register extract is generated online the same day.<\/li>\n
  2. Gather the financial base: tax returns for every year of the marriage, income ledgers, bank statements, contracts with counterparties. A lawyer\u2019s request to an authority or a bank is answered within 5 working days.<\/li>\n
  3. Calculate the net profit on the formula from case No. 545\/725\/18, marking separately the sums spent on the family\u2019s needs. That calculation becomes the core of the claim.<\/li>\n
  4. Commission an independent valuation of the business or the shareholding. A valuer usually takes 2\u20134 weeks, and without the report the court has nothing to base compensation on.<\/li>\n
  5. Try to close the matter by agreement. A notarised division agreement settles it in one visit, whereas litigation takes months; the options and the risks are worked through at the stage of pre-action settlement of civil disputes<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  6. If no agreement is reached, file the claim. Mind the deadline: a division claim brought after the marriage is dissolved is subject to a three-year limitation period running from the day the person learned or could have learned of the breach (Article 72). While the marriage subsists, limitation does not apply.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Typical mistakes<\/h2>\n