Can we go back to the division of property after a divorce?

Verified 21 March 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If, after your divorce, you realize that a property was forgotten or undervalued during the sharing, you can request a complementary sharing or a share complement. If your ex-husband obtained your consent through maneuvers or lies, you can ask for the nullity of the sharing. We present you with the information you need to know.

Several situations may occur:

  • Ex-spouse injured by more than 1/4 of the property
  • Forgotten property in the share
  • Concealment of property by a spouse
  • Sharing affected by a consent defect.

Ex-spouse injured by more than 1/4 of the property

You have the right to share your property unevenly. For example, you may have received 1/3 of the property and your ex-husband 2/3.

However, if you have been injured more than 1/4, you can request a share complement. For example, if one of the shared assets was undervalued. The value of which you have been wronged may be given to you by cash or in kind (e.g. apartment, land).

To determine whether you have been harmed, you have to look at the value of the property at the time of sharingand not their present value.

Warning  

You must act for an additional share within 2 years as of the sharing.

Share complement action is not possible if share has been approved or brought by a JafJaf : Family Court Judge (e.g. divorce by mutual consent judicial).

Forgotten property in the share

You or your ex-husband may have forgotten to include a property in the act of sharing.

In this case, you can apply for complementary sharing relating only to that property, even if that property is of low value.

Your request is not subject to any time limit of prescription. It can be done at any time.

Concealment of property by a spouse

If your ex-husband hijacked or concealed intentionally an asset in order to break the equality of sharing, we are talking about community harboring.

For example, your ex-spouse does not declare shares, sells a common property for less than its real value and keeps the difference for him.

There is a harboring of community if the diverted good is a common good. This is the case for property acquired during your marriage if your matrimonial regime is that of community reduced to acquisitions.

There is no community harboring on undivided property. This is the case, for example, if you are married under the separation of property regime in which there is no common property.

If you feel you are the victim of a hiding, it is up to you to bring the proof from this hiding place.

The property concealed by your former spouse who committed the act is withdrawn from him and is allocated to you in full. If the property no longer belongs to the former spouse who took possession of the stolen goods, the restitution can be made in value.

You can also ask for damages to your ex-husband for compensation for the additional damage caused by concealment.

Sharing affected by a consent defect

An ex-spouse may invoke the nullity of sharing because of defect of consent, i.e. in case of dol, of violence or error report.

Warning  

You may not apply for a nullity of the sharing for defective consent if the sharing was pronounced by a judge.

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Dol

This is when one ex-spouse has obtained the consent of the other by maneuvers or lies.

There is also fraud when an ex-spouse has intentionally concealed important information for the other ex-husband.

A former spouse who wishes to invoke this defect of consent must act within a period of Five years.

The prescription runs from the day the ex-husband discovers the dol.

Violence

The violence of a former spouse is a defect of consent if the act has resulted in prejudice to the division of property by the other former spouse.

For example, if a former spouse has been forced to enter into a commitment or to renounce a right because of the threatening behavior of the other ex-husband.

A former spouse who wishes to invoke this defect of consent must act within a period of 5 years.

The prescription runs from the day the violence ceases.

Mistake

A former spouse may apply for a declaration of invalidity of the division in the event of an error concerning the existence or share of the rights of the spouses.

Nullity may also be invoked by a former spouse in the event of an error in the ownership of the assets to be shared (for example, a property initially considered to be its own turns out to be a common property).

The ex-spouse who wishes to plead the error must act within a period of 5 years.

The prescription runs from the day the husband discovers the error.

You can try a amicable resolution with a notary, especially if you want to request an additional share or if an asset has been forgotten during the sharing,

In case of disagreement, especially when sharing is affected by a defect of consent or there is a community harboring, you must to refer the matter to the court.

FYI  

If it appears that the consequences of the violence, theft or error can be remedied otherwise than by canceling the sharing, the court may, at the request of one of the spouses, order a supplementary or corrective sharing.

The court to be seised shall be that of the domicile of the defendant.

Who shall I contact

You must obligatory take a lawyer to do this procedure.

Who shall I contact

The court must be seised by a subpoena written by your lawyer.

If you are under-resourced, you can request legal aid to cover all or part of your legal expenses.

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