In this article, we will tell you about the issue of who owns the wedding jewelry, which has the most disputes during the divorce and which has been asked quite a lot about us, within the framework of the new decisions of the Supreme Court.
All valuables worn by both a woman and a man during a wedding are called trappings. In Turkish law, all kinds of jewelry worn by a woman at a wedding belong to a woman. The exception to this situation is local customs. If this is the case otherwise in the established local customs, this presumption will be proven otherwise.
“…As a rule, jewelry and cash worn by a woman during marriage are considered donated to a woman, regardless of who wears them, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, and they are now her personal property …” (Supreme Court 8. Legal Department 2015/21024 E. 2016/1292 K. 26/01/2016 K.T.)
All jewelry worn by a man at a wedding that is unique to a man will belong to a man. In addition, jewelry items that are worn by a man but can be considered unique to a woman (for example, bracelets, necklaces, etc.) it has been accepted by the General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Law that it belongs to a woman. According to this, it is accepted that the jewelry worn on the man but unique to the woman belongs to the woman and the jewelry that is not unique to the woman belongs to the man. The money, gold, etc. trappings worn by the man at the wedding belong to the man.
“…Considering the concrete event in the light of these explanations, unless there is a contrary agreement between the spouses or a local custom in this regard, the bracelet, which is a woman-specific jewelry, is considered to have been donated to the wife no matter which wife it was worn by during the marriage and is now her personal property …” (General Assembly of the Supreme Court dec 2017/3-1040 E. 2020/240 K. 04/03/2020 K.T.)
Even if the wedding jewelry worn by a man is a woman-specific adornment, if a man proves in front of a court that there are no local customs in this regard, these adornments will also belong to a man. If there is a dispute about whether the wedding jewelry worn by a man is unique to a woman, an expert examination should be conducted by a court in this regard. This issue will be determined by the jeweler expert who will be appointed by the court. If the worn adornment is an adornment that can be used by both a woman and a man, and if it is worn by a man, it will be considered a man’s possession.
TO WHOM DO THE WEDDING JEWELRY PLACED IN THE JEWELRY CHEST BELONG?
In our country, especially within the scope of Covid-19 measures, the jewelry chest that has started to be used has also raised the question of who the jewelry items will belong to. In this context, it is possible to make an assessment within the framework of the decision of the General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Law that we have presented above. Accordingly, it is necessary to evaluate the jewelry worn separately as female-specific jewelry and male-specific jewelry. Of the trappings placed in the jewelry chest, those that are unique to a woman belong to a woman, and those that are unique to a man belong to a man. If what is placed in the jewelry chest cannot be specific for a woman or a man, then it will be considered common. However, if there is an agreement between the parties to the contrary, this agreement will be applied dec
WHAT CASES ARE FILED FOR WEDDING JEWELRY?
The case that must be opened in order to request the trappings that were worn during the wedding is the case of the Return of Wedding Jewelry (trappings). In this case, if possible, the return of trappings in kind is requested. If this is not considered possible, it will be requested to determine the price of the trappings and decide on the payment of this price.
The issue of returning jewelry jewelry can also be brought forward together with the lawsuit in the event that a divorce is filed. However, in this case, the request for trappings is not considered an october consideration for the divorce and is considered an independent request. In such a case, the court shall review the file for the return of the trappings and register it in a separate basis number and give the plaintiff time to make a fee payment.
In the event that the return of wedding jewelry was not requested with the divorce, it is possible to put forward these requests together with the finalization of the divorce case or by filing a separate lawsuit after the opening of the divorce case. If a lawsuit is filed for the return of trappings before the divorce is finalized, the court makes the divorce decision a pending matter and waits for the decision to be finalized.
If the trappings are requested through a lawsuit, whether a refund is requested in kind or payment of money is requested, the trappings requested should be explained in detail in terms of type, quantity, value. The details of the requested item up to the gram and its setting must be submitted to the court. Because there will be a charge based on the total value to be determined. For this reason, it is considered mandatory to specify these issues.
WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR THE RETURN OF WEDDING JEWELRY?
Cases in which the exact return of wedding jewelry is requested are called ration cases in Turkish law. In cases where extradition will be requested in this way, there is no statute of limitations. It is possible that the case will be opened at any time.
In cases where it is not possible to return the wedding jewelry in kind, the statute of limitations has been set at 10 years in cases where payment of the amount corresponding to its value has been requested. In this way, the cases in which the payment of the price of the wedding jewelry is requested are generally in the nature of compensation cases. The statute of limitations in Turkish law for compensation cases is set at 10 years. This 10-year statute of limitations period begins with the finalization of the divorce case.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO INCLUDE WEDDING JEWELRY IN THE EXCHANGE OF GOODS IN A DIVORCE?
To whom the wedding jewelry will belong is detailed at the beginning of our article. It may also be the case that a party gives its own adornment to its spouse completely by its own decision with its consent. In such a case, the party that has given its spouse the ownership of the wedding jewelry by its own decision will be deemed to have donated these jewelry and will not be able to ask for these jewelry back again. However, if this happens, it is the obligation of the counterparty to prove the donor’s statement on this issue. The husband must prove that the jewelry was given to him for non-return.
“In the concrete case; the defendant’s witnesses who listened stated that the plaintiff gave 6 bracelets to the defendant not to take them back with his consent when he left the house, and that he wanted his wedding debts to be paid with these gold coins. As a result, since it was proved by the court that 6 bracelets were given to the defendant for the purpose of donation, it was necessary to decide to dismiss the case in terms of 6 bracelets, while accepting the request in terms of these trappings in writing with a erroneous assessment was not considered correct, this required overturning.”(Supreme Court 3. Legal Department 2016/8760 E. 2018/1566 K. 22/02/2018 K.T. )
Wedding jewelry that has not been requested by divorce proceedings cannot be requested by reclamation. In this case, it is also necessary to file a lawsuit.
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