Court of Appeal Rejects Citizen’s Lawsuit Seeking Sole Ownership of House Title
Abdulkarim Ahmad: A court ruling has affirmed that there is no legal basis for modifying a residential property ownership document issued jointly to a citizen and his wife, merely due to the occurrence of divorce and the subsequent revocation of the Kuwaiti nationality from the wife. It clarified that rights established under the document are not affected by subsequent changes in the social status or legal standing of the owner.
The Court of Appeal upheld a ruling rejecting a lawsuit filed by a citizen who sought to issue a property ownership document in his name exclusively, instead of joint ownership with his ex-wife, citing the divorce and her loss of Kuwaiti nationality.
The case dates back to the plaintiff’s demand to compel the relevant authorities to issue a property ownership document in his name alone, after the property had been registered as jointly owned between him and the defendant, who was his wife and held Kuwaiti nationality at the time the housing unit was allocated and the ownership document was issued.
In its reasoning, the Civil Commercial Court of Appeal at the Court of Cassation confirmed that the ownership document was issued jointly to the plaintiff and the defendant during the existence of their marital relationship, while the defendant held Kuwaiti nationality, indicating that the necessary conditions for issuing the document in their names were met.
The court clarified that the plaintiff’s divorce from his ex-wife occurred after the issuance of the joint ownership document for the property. Therefore, this divorce does not justify modifying the ownership document or depriving her of her ownership rights, based on housing care regulations that do not permit altering the entitled owners after the specified date, regardless of any changes affecting the family, such as marriage, divorce, death, or otherwise.
The court also examined the impact of revoking the Kuwaiti nationality from the defendant, concluding that the Cabinet decision regarding the retention of certain rights and benefits for individuals whose nationality was revoked, provided they acquired it under Article Eight of the Nationality Law, allowed the category of foreign wives of Kuwaiti nationals to participate in ownership documents for alternative housing units with ownership rights, without restricting this to a specific social status, whether the woman was married or divorced.
The court noted that the defendant adjusted her status after the revocation of her Kuwaiti nationality and regained her Gulf nationality, considering that this does not preclude her right to own the property. It emphasized that the plaintiff’s arguments essentially reiterated what was previously presented before the court of first instance, and that the appealed judgment was based on sound grounds consistent with the correct facts and law.
For his part, the lawyer representing the defendant, Mohammed Jadaan, told “Al-Anbaa” that the ruling reaffirms that established rights under an ownership document cannot be undermined merely due to subsequent changes in the social status or legal standing of the client. He pointed out that the judiciary considered the circumstances under which the ownership document was issued and refused to impose legal consequences that arose after her ownership right had been established.
