Alexander Plaksin won the property case against Luba Uspenskaya

On May 12, 2021, the Krasnogorsk City Court of the Moscow Region divided the Russian properties between Alexander Plaksin and Luba Uspenskaya. Our requirements were fully satisfied: Mr. Plaksin received the rights for 1/2 of all spousal properties located in the Russian Federation.

Initially, we did not shed light on this matter in the press to avoid increased interest in our client, Alexander Plaksin. However, Luba Uspenskaya and her attorneys opted to disregard the obligation of privacy and make this internal family case a matter of public intrigue. Streams of dirty, deceitful information fell on Russian-language media because Ms. Uspenskaya's attorney chose this way to attempt to get full rights for all spousal properties.

Naively, they believed that the slander and insults that they had shown the plaintiff would discourage him from a legal struggle.

Contrary to their expectations, Mr. Plaksin, who was represented by his attorney Karina Duvall, won the case against Luba Uspenskaya. It was a clear, honest, and absolute victory.

Luba Uspenskaya's legal position was, frankly, weak. Initially, her attorneys alleged that the marriage, which was registered between two U.S. citizens (Mr. Plaksin and Ms. Uspenskaya) in Nevada state (the U.S.) in 1987, was invalid and did not warrant any significant legal consequences.

Yet, Russian law provides an unequivocally different answer to this question. According to Article 158, Part 2 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, marriages between foreign citizens in foreign countries that are in compliance with foreign law are recognized as valid in the Russian Federation.

This means that as long as the Las Vegas marriage is recognizable in the United States, the marriage is valid in the Russian Federation. Consequently, the marriage of Mr. Plaksin and Ms. Uspenskaya is valid.

Further, Articles 33-34 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation establish that the legal regime of the spouses' property is the regime of their joint ownership. The legal regime of the spouses' property is valid unless otherwise provided by the prenuptial agreement. By the prenuptial agreement (Article 42 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation), spouses have the right, by mutual consent, to make any changes: establish a regime of joint ownership, or establish shared or separate ownership of all spouses' property, including its individual types or the property of each of the spouses.

However, Mr. Plaksin and Ms. Uspenskaya did not make a prenuptial agreement in either the United States or Russia. Therefore, they are entitled to equal rights for all spousal properties. They lived thirty-three years together.

On October 27, 2020, Karina Duvall on behalf of Alexander Plaksin filed his equitable distribution claim to the Russian Court. Yes, according to Russian law, any spouse can divide spousal property during marriage. The division of property may have nothing to do with divorce. You can get your part of the property and never ask for a divorce. This is your legal choice.

Despite our intention to settle this case, the attorneys of Luba Uspenskaya were not ready for a constructive dialogue. On a freeze frame from the program "Men and Women" dated April 30th of 2021, we can clearly read their "offer" and see it has little to do with the law:

1. Resolve a child support issue for the parties’ daughter Tatiana Plaksina, DOB: December 27, 1989;
   • It's no secret that a child, in accordance with the legislation of both Russia and the United States, is a person under the age of 18.
2. Resolve the divorce issues;
• Neither Mr. Plaksin nor Ms. Uspenskaya filed divorce claims. Why should attorneys consider divorce if their clients want to keep the marriage?
3. Resolve the division of property in Los Angeles, California state (U.S.);
   • The U.S. property is out of frame in this Russian case, as attorneys of Luba Uspenskaya never claimed U.S. property in the Russian court. Therefore, it is not relevant to discuss.

The attorneys of Luba Uspenskaya conducted themselves unreasonably and failed in Luba’s case. Instead of considering valid legal arguments, they opted to make ad hominem attacks against Mr. Plaksin.

Our side successfully proved that Plaksin and Uspenskaya shared a life together for 33 years with joint income taxes, bank accounts, medical expenses, and other necessities. Mr. Plaksin and Ms. Uspenskaya made their wealth together. Therefore, both of them have equal rights to divide their joint properties.

Luba’s attorneys made a number of missteps, even calling for a motion to recuse and attempting to change the judge presiding over this case. Luba's attorneys accused the judge of creating a traumatic situation for Luba, disregarding the own interests of their client, and demonstrating particular confidence in the information provided by Mr. Plaksin and his attorneys. But they did not provide any evidence to consider by the Court, just tears. Tears cannot be considered testimony in the legal procedure.

As a result, we won the case Alexander Plaksin v. Luba Uspenskaya and were able to divide the spousal properties into two equal parts. Luba Uspenskaya lost her case in full.