The Supreme Court has recognized the right to reimbursement, in the liquidation of community of property, of the money paid by one of the spouses, from a private donation, in the marriage bank account.

If one of the spouses receives a private donation in the marriage bank account, being confused with the rest of the community money used for family needs, even if said spouse did not make any kind of reservation about its private nature at the time of the payment of said donation , nor on the right to its reimbursement, the spouse will have the right to obtain its reimbursement as a private one in the liquidation of assets of the community of property.

Is the wife entitled to the money her mother donated to her and paid in the marriage’s bank account?

In the judgment of the Supreme Court of June 1, 2020, the controversy of whether the money that her mother donated and put into the marriage’s bank account should be reimbursed to the wife, being confused with the marital money, and without any type of warning, reservation or caution made about the exclusive nature of said donation, nor about the right to reimbursement for the wife, is analyzed.

In the first instance, the Court ruled that said donation could not be interpreted as a contribution of money to the mass of the marital assets. That is, it could not be considered that said donation went to the marriage, but to the exclusive possession of the wife. For this reason, the Court included in the liability a right to credit in favor of the wife for the updated amount of money donated to the wife by her mother. In addition, the first instance Court specified that the ownership of an account does not in itself entail a change in the ownership of the balances (of the monies that are owned by one or the other spouse).

It is not necessary when making a donation to a marriage bank account that the nature of the donation is exclusive, so that it is so considered in the marriage settlement, in the divorce.

Can it be assumed that a donation was voluntarily contributed to the conjugal community?

In this particular case, the husband appealed the judgment of first instance, arguing that the money donated by the wife’s mother was voluntarily contributed to the marital partnership, as it was contributed by the wife’s mother without announcing the reservation, or condition of being exclusive money for his daughter, nor mention of the right to reimbursement for his daughter.

The Provincial Court found, however, by accepting the husband’s appeal, that the will to contribute to the community of property assets was appreciated, since the money had not been donated with the reserve of a private nature.

The wife appealed on cassation. And, the Supreme Court has recently estimated the appeal based on three considerations:

1. The simple fact of depositing proprietary money in a joint/marriage bank account does not allow to attribute to it a community property feature. And if said money is used to meet the needs of the family, a right of reimbursement arises in favor of its owner, in this case the wife.
2. Various articles of the Spanish Civil Code clearly establish the right of the spouse who contributes his/her own (proprietary) funds to satisfy family needs, to be reimbursed. Not even the agreement between the spouses to consider an asset as community of property, converts the money used for its acquisition into community of property. Therefore, said money generates a credit in favor of the husband to whom it belongs, in a private way.
3. The Supreme Court makes it clear that the point of view of the Provincial Court that the return of the money to the wife does not proceed because when it was entered into the common/joint account, the right to reimbursement of the wife was not specified, is contrary to the criteria and rulings of the Supreme Court.

CONCLUSION: the money that a family member donates to one of the spouses, even if it is deposited in a common/joint bank account of the marriage that is used to cover family expenses, does not mean that said money is diluted and confused with the common money, belonging to the couple. And, on the other hand, said money must be considered exclusive to the spouse who received the donation, having to be returned by the other spouse, who will have a debt with the first if said money was consumed to meet the needs of the family.

If you need to liquidate your community property after a contentious divorce, do not hesitate to contact the Pérez Parras Economists & Lawyers Firm. We are experts in Family Law (divorces, separations and modifications of measures).

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