How should the small property purchased after marriage be divided in a divorce?

Summary of the Case

The plaintiff and defendant were registered as married in 1996 and had a son in 1997. In April 1997, the plaintiff purchased a property at XX building, XX village, Fu Rong Road from the Shenzhen Residential Bureau for a price of 97307.3 yuan. In June 2003, due to the breakdown of the couple's relationship, the plaintiff filed for divorce and sought to confirm ownership of the small property purchased after marriage.

In this case, the plaintiff explicitly requested the confirmation of ownership of the property at XX building, XX village, and disagreed with the handling of the property's ownership. The plaintiff claimed that the property was a welfare house allocated by the plaintiff's unit, with the purchase price paid in full by the plaintiff, and that during the marriage, the family expenses were borne by the plaintiff. The defendant was at fault for not taking care of the family and child-rearing, and thus argued that the property's usage should be owned by the plaintiff.

After the plaintiff filed the lawsuit, the defendant engaged a lawyer to handle the case. The lawyer fought for the defendant's maximum rights and interests from the following aspects:

Firstly, the ownership certificate provided by the plaintiff indicates that the registered share is 1/2 for both the plaintiff and the defendant, and it is not a market commercial house. Considering the purchase time and the registration status of the property, it should be recognized that both the plaintiff and the defendant have acquired ownership of the property.

Secondly, if the plaintiff wants to obtain the usage rights of the property, compensation should be given to the defendant. The plaintiff is required to compensate the defendant a lump sum of 2225 yuan per month for a period of 30 years, and the compensation funds should meet the defendant's needs for renting or buying a house.

The final judgment of the court was that the usage rights of the property at XX building, XX village, in Shenzhen (registration number:××) before the disposal of ownership were owned by the plaintiff, but the plaintiff was required to compensate the defendant Guo Mu Jia 2000 yuan per month (starting from November 2013 and continuing until the disposal of property ownership, to be paid before the 15th of each month).

Legal Analysis

Considering the circumstances of this case, the property involved, XX building, XX village, was purchased during the marriage of the plaintiff and the defendant, with the registration share being 1/2 for each. The property should be considered as the joint property of the couple. The property was purchased by the plaintiff through their unit and has a "green book" property certificate, which should be recognized as the ownership of the property by both the plaintiff and the defendant.

Furthermore, since the plaintiff does not agree to dispose of the property ownership, the court did not handle the ownership of the property. Although the ownership was not addressed, for the usage rights of the house, the plaintiff claimed the usage rights of the involved property for themselves. As the property has been lived in and used by the plaintiff, the court determined that the usage rights before the disposal of ownership should be owned by the plaintiff. Given that the involved property is a joint property of the couple, the plaintiff should compensate the defendant for using the property.

Regarding the standard of compensation, the court referred to the current market rental prices in the area where the property is located and decided that the plaintiff should compensate the defendant 2000 yuan per month until the disposal of property ownership. In divorce proceedings, property is a common target for property division, and the specific nature, ownership, and usage of the house will affect the final division result.