The most common among the matrimonial property regimes is community property. Three properties operate simultaneously in this system: wife’s personal property, husband’s personal property and joint property. Distinguishing which items fall into which property can be problematic in some situations. It can be difficult to determine which of the properties entered an object that was bought partly with money from the personal property of one of the spouses and partly from joint property.
This issue has been raised many times in the past by the Supreme Court with various outcomes. Finally, on October 19, 2018, the Supreme Court issued a resolution composed of three judges (file reference number III CZP 45/18), in which he argued for the rightness of the theory according to which „an item acquired during marriage, in which statutory property community applies , in part from the proceeds of the personal property of one of the spouses, and partly from their joint property, enters the personal property of the spouse and the joint property of the spouses in shares corresponding to the ratio of funds allocated from those assets for its acquisition, unless a benefit from personal property or the joint property transferred for the acquisition of things was an expenditure on the joint or personal property, respectively. „
For example, you can imagine a marriage, Ania and Tomek, between which there is property commonality. Ania received PLN 300,000 in inheritance (inheritance and donations are in principle included in the spouse’s personal property). The spouses collected together (from remuneration for work, which as a rule enters the joint property) PLN 200,000 and bought a flat for PLN 500,000. This flat will be 60% owned by Ania and 40% jointly by both. If Ania and Tomek divorce and there is an even division of property (which is the most typical situation), Ania will be the owner of 80% of the apartment, and Tomek 20% of the apartment.
It should be remembered that the resolutions of the Supreme Court are not binding on the courts, therefore different judgments may appear in individual cases. However, such situations are extremely rare because the Supreme Court enjoys high authority and its judgments and resolutions are considered valuable interpretative guidelines.