Under Ethiopian family law, as interpreted in Cassation Case No. 179231, common property acquired during a marriage is treated as a single, indivisible asset as long as the marital union remains active. This principle means that the specific individual share of each spouse is not definitively identified or separated while the marriage is in effect. Because the property is viewed as a unified whole, any attempt by one spouse to waive their interest or claim they have no share in the property to facilitate a transfer to a third party is considered a violation of the Revised Family Code (specifically Articles 62(1) and 66). The law prevents such unilateral actions to ensure that the “unity of the marriage” is not undermined by the premature disposal of marital assets.
This legal framework provides robust protection for marital property through the FDRE Constitution (Articles 34(1), 35(2), and 35(7)) and regional family proclamations, such as Proclamation No. 75/96. Since the property is an indivisible resource, one spouse cannot legally authorize a third party to sell or transfer the entire asset without the consent of the other spouse, particularly when the property was built or acquired during the marriage. In cases where a spouse attempts to bypass these protections through “collusion and deceit”—such as using unauthorized representatives to sell the other spouse’s share—the courts will invalidate the unauthorized portion of the sale to protect the aggrieved spouse’s rights.
The status of the property as an indivisible unit only changes when the marriage is officially or effectively dissolved. Upon dissolution, the property is then subject to division, which often results in a 50/50 split to ensure both parties receive their fair share. However, the right to request this division is not indefinite; a ten-year statute of limitations (prescription) applies from the time the marriage is considered dissolved. If a spouse fails to bring a claim for property division within this ten-year window, their legal right to claim a share of the common property may be extinguished. Thus, the concept of indivisibility serves to maintain the economic stability of the family during the marriage while providing a structured path for division once the union ends.