About half of all marriages end in divorce. But sometimes it can take several years before the spouses agree on a property division.
“Karin’s” marriage was fraught with control and oppression. A lot of arguments were about money, where she covered most of the household and the two children’s expenses while the man secretly saved, according to “Karin”.
– I protested wildly, and the more I protested, the more I was told that I was mentally ill, says “Karin”.
After twenty years of marriage, they divorced. But “Karin’s” ex-husband did not agree that their accommodation and joint assets should be shared equally. After six years and a settlement, the property division was completed. The whole process cost Karin half a million kroner.
At the same time, her ex-husband delayed the process, says Karin,
– Partly it was because he wanted me to give up, of course. I also think he had evil intentions. He wanted me to be financially destitute, says “Karin”.
Today, there is no distant time limit for how long a division of property can take, and the executor of the division of property also has no effective tools to drive the process.
– As a rule, Swedish legislation has strived to protect the weaker party, which is not done at all in this area, says Elisabeth Näsman, senior professor of sociology at Uppsala University.
See the interview with “Karin”, in the player above.