Time limits for divorce of spouses through the registry office and court

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When deciding to divorce, a couple strives to make it a reality as quickly as possible. The fastest option is to get a divorce through the registry office by mutual consent of the spouses, but this service is not available to everyone. The Family Code provides for cases when divorce proceedings are carried out in court, and the duration of the period from filing an application to receiving a certificate depends only on the consent of the spouses and their readiness to find a compromise on controversial issues.

When should you go to court during a divorce?

Official divorce occurs through the court in the following cases:

1. If the couple has common children under 18 years of age. Adopted children are treated as natural children.
2. The court divorces in the absence of the consent of the other party to dissolve the marriage. The statement of claim is filed by one of the spouses - the initiator of the divorce.
3. If a couple has unresolved questions regarding the division of property, the place of residence of a common minor child and the procedure for paying alimony for his maintenance.

The case may be heard in the district or magistrates' court.

The magistrate acts based on the Federal Law “On magistrates in the Russian Federation” dated November 11, 1998. His competence includes:

• consideration of divorce cases in the absence of a dispute about children;
• resolving issues of distribution of jointly acquired property if its total value does not exceed 50 thousand rubles.

A district or city court hears divorce cases where:

• one of the parties does not agree or refuses to appear in court;
• there are property disputes between the spouses, the subject of which is property worth more than 50 thousand rubles;
• if there is a dispute about children.

Plaintiff - the initiator of the divorce, the person filing the claim; the second party is the defendant.

Place of filing the claim

The claim is filed at the place of residence of the defendant, but there are exceptions to this rule. According to Art. 29 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, a claim can be brought at the applicant’s place of residence if he has a child under 18 years of age (his own or someone else’s) with him or if it is extremely difficult to travel to the defendant’s place of residence.

What circumstances influence the duration of the process?

There are circumstances that delay the duration of the divorce process for a period of up to six months. To avoid this, it is recommended to study individual situations.

Defendant's failure to appear in court

Some people mistakenly believe that systematic failure to show up will save the family. It all depends on the reasons for missing a meeting:

Disputes between spouses

Consideration of a divorce case in the presence of disputes takes up to 2 months. Along with the divorce process, additional disputes may arise, in which case the conciliation period may increase - up to 5 months. Additional disputes should be understood as:

• collection of alimony;
• property division;
• determination of the child’s place of residence with one of the parents.

Issues are resolved within one proceeding.

Disagreement of one of the parties

The defendant’s objection is the basis for setting a period for reconciliation of 1 to 3 months. Time is given to the parties to establish relationships and preserve the family. When, after the expiration of the specified period, the initiator insists on divorce, the claim is granted.

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Minimum period for divorce through court

It is possible to file a divorce through the court as quickly as possible only if the following conditions are met:

• mutual consent of the spouses for divorce;
• conclusion of a settlement agreement about children and division of property.

The whole process is divided into several stages:

1. Preparation and submission of a statement of claim to the court. The judge’s decision to open a divorce case depends on how competently and accessible it is written. A receipt for payment of the state duty should be attached to the document (according to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it is 600 rubles).
2. Acceptance of the claim, setting a hearing date. The judge has the right to schedule the first hearing only 1 month after filing the claim. If the decision is made earlier, it is considered illegal.
3. Court hearing. During the hearing, the judge checks whether there is agreement between the spouses and whether there is a formalized agreement on children. The latter must specify the conditions: the child’s place of residence, the terms and amounts of alimony paid. An agreement containing financial information must be notarized. If the spouses did not have time to draw up the document, but expressed their desire in court, they will be given time to draw up an agreement.
4. Making a decision. By law, the judge is given 5 days to finalize the decision, but in most cases it is announced immediately.
5. Entry of the decision into legal force. This takes 1 month. This period is necessary to exercise the right to appeal if one of the parties changes its decision.

Form of claim to the magistrate's court:

From the moment of filing the application until the decision on divorce is made, 1 month passes, and this is the minimum possible period. However, you can receive a decision only after another month, when it comes into force.

Legislation on the timing of divorce

The legislation of the Russian Federation does not give a specific answer to the question of how long the divorce process lasts. It all depends on the specific situation.

The legislation defines only a minimum - 1 month if the divorce is carried out through the registry office, and 2 months if the spouses are divorced in court.

There are often situations when spouses seek to file a divorce before the required minimum period (for example, they urgently need to leave for another country as a free person). It is impossible to achieve such a goal. The law does not provide for exceptions.

If somehow you managed to circumvent the requirements of the law, and the divorce was filed ahead of schedule, the procedure is considered invalid.

Consequences of a divorce filed prematurely:

• maintaining the joint ownership regime;
• preservation of the right of inheritance of the surviving spouse;
• a newly registered marriage is invalid by law, etc.

According to Article 294 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is impossible to interfere with the work of the court in order to shorten the period provided for by law. Such actions are punishable by up to 2 years in prison. If a judge took part in the illegal scheme, he will be tried under Article 305 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (up to 4 years in prison).

Duration of divorce if one party is against

Only one of the parties can experience discomfort in a marriage. What if the second spouse is against divorce? There is only one way out - to file a claim in the district (city) court.

Divorce in this case takes longer. The judge may take steps to resolve the conflict by giving the couple a period of time to reconcile.

In accordance with Art. 22 of the RF IC, the reconciliation period is no more than 3 months from the date of its announcement. In practice, the judge initially grants 1 month, and if necessary, extends it. If the plaintiff does not change his mind as a result, a divorce is granted.

Petition for reconciliation: features

A spouse who wishes to extend the divorce period must submit a corresponding petition. When appealing to the judge, you should justify the reasons why it is possible to save the marriage. You can write about attachment to children, about undying feelings for your other half.

Example document:

The plaintiff then acts according to one of the possible scenarios:

1. Takes a wait-and-see attitude. When the reconciliation period expires, the court will reconsider the claim.
2. Insists on divorce. Strong arguments must be made why reconciliation is impossible. This could be living away from each other for a long time; use of violence by a spouse; immoral behavior in the presence of a young child. If there are compelling reasons, the court will reject the petition and move forward the date of divorce. An objection to a petition for a period for reconciliation is written in any form. The standard for this type of document is to indicate in the header the full name of the court, the full name of the judge, the plaintiff and the defendant. After presenting all the facts, a petition is written: “I ask you to shorten the period for reconciliation due to the fact that I consider it impossible to further preserve the family. We do not live together; cohabitation ended on (specify date). I consider the defendant’s behavior unacceptable for the continuation of family relationships.” At the end there is a date and signature.
3. Tries to reach an agreement with the defendant and submit a joint petition to reduce the period for reconciliation.

The latter option is the most preferable, since a request to reduce the time limit may be rejected if only one of the spouses submits it, and the time for reconciliation will remain the same.

If the parties disagree, the period for divorce is extended by a maximum of 3 months. Then the process will take 5 months.

Duration of divorce if one spouse refuses to divorce

The following situation is also possible: the second spouse agrees, but does not appear in court. What to do?

You should not deviate from the intended course and file a claim for divorce.

The judge’s duty is to notify the other party to the proceeding about the time and place of the hearing. A notice is sent to the defendant by registered mail, telegram or other convenient and quick method with the ability to record the sending. Upon receipt of the summons, the defendant must sign the document corresponding to the method of mailing.

In the absence of the defendant and information about the reason for the failure to appear, having proof of receipt of the summons, the judge has the right to consider the case in his absence and make a decision (Article 167 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

Postponement of hearing at the initiative of the defendant

The reason for failure to appear in court can be valid: being on a long trip, the death of a loved one and other circumstances. The defendant has the right to ask the court to postpone the date and time of the court hearing, which will also prolong the divorce process. To do this, you must submit an application.

The document indicates the name of the court, information about the plaintiff and defendant. The reason for postponing the date of the hearing must be circumstances the postponement of which does not depend on the identity of the defendant. Otherwise, the judge will deny the request for postponement, and the decision will be made only in the presence of the plaintiff. Proof of the reason for absence may be a sick leave certificate, business trip certificate and other documents.

Sample request to postpone a court hearing:

If a spouse avoids being present in court, avoids receiving a summons, or fails to appear at a hearing, the case can be considered without him. A mandatory condition is to carry out all possible measures to notify the defendant. This includes:

• Issuing a summons to the plaintiff. The interested spouse can personally arrive at the place of residence of the other half and hand over the document against signature. If the spouse refuses to sign the document, it is necessary to call witnesses, enter their passport details on the summons and indicate that the defendant refused to sign the summons.
• Providing the judge with your spouse's phone number. This method of notification is not excluded.
• Notification of the defendant through the employer.
• Telegram direction. If the second spouse refuses to sign for its receipt, the postman will do so, which will be evidence of the defendant’s unwillingness to come to court.

If the defendant requests a postponement and the reason is valid, the court will reschedule the hearing for the period specified in the document.

In practice, failure to appear at a meeting three times entails a decision being made without the presence of the defendant. The latter can express disagreement within a month by filing an appeal.

How long do disputes prolong a divorce?

Unresolved disputes: about children, about jointly acquired property increase the duration of divorce to the maximum.

In the magistrate's court, people get divorced without having any disagreements. Material assets whose value is less than 50 thousand rubles are distributed according to the agreement. Questions about children are always raised. The settlement agreement specifies the amount of alimony, the frequency of its payment, discusses the rules of communication with children, and determines their place of residence. The judge checks whether the children's living conditions will not be worse. The specified amount of alimony should not be lower than the amount that they would receive by law (1 child - ¼ of the income of the second parent, 2 children - 1/3 of the income, 3 or more children - no more than ½ of the income).

If an agreement is not reached, the case is heard in the district (city) court, and the duration of the process can reach six months or more. Appealing to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities, inspections, attracting witnesses or finding out new circumstances of the case significantly increases the time frame. How long it takes to get a divorce cannot be determined without knowing the nature of the disputes. There is no time limit.

Divorcing people can speed up the process by coming to a common decision.

Time for divorce in case of property disputes

Some people are sure that the three-year limitation period for the division of jointly acquired property, provided for in paragraph 7 of Art. 38 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, begins at the moment when the marriage is dissolved. It's a delusion.

The starting point is the moment when the spouse learned (or he should have known by law) that his rights to the common property were violated. Violations of this kind can occur immediately at the time of divorce, or they can occur several years later.

If, after a divorce, spouses continue to use joint property, then the limitation period will be calculated from the moment when one of the spouses prevents the other from using such property.

Summarizing

How long a divorce lasts depends on the surrounding circumstances. The minimum period for filing a divorce in court is 1 month - from the moment of filing documents until the decision is made, and an additional one month is allotted for filing an appeal (Article 321 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). Then both spouses can take the court decision or wait for it to be sent to the registry office at the place of marriage, and receive the relevant certificates there.

The maximum period not burdened by disputes about children is 5 months: 1 - from filing an application to the meeting, 3 - if the spouse requests a deferment, 1 - for appeal.

The length of the divorce process depends on the spouses. A quick divorce is one that is carried out in a magistrate's court if there is an agreement about children, about property, with the consent of both parties. Long - when the parties disagree and are not ready to compromise.

A lawyer from the ros-nasledstvo.ru portal will help determine the procedure for subsequent actions. What questions should you ask? For example, how to draw up a claim and convincingly express your reluctance to agree to reconciliation, how to draw up a petition for reconciliation or an objection to it, how to notify the evading spouse and what to do if he fails to appear. Knowledge of the laws will help you choose the right decision in a difficult situation.

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At what point does marriage end?

If the divorce was carried out through the registry office, then the marriage ends on the day of state registration in the civil register.

If the divorce was carried out through the court, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, the marriage is terminated exactly at the moment when the court decision entered into legal force. In this case, the court sends an extract of the decision to the civil registry office. Once the spouses receive a divorce certificate, they have the right to remarry.

Court decisions come into force as soon as the period for appeal has expired. This period is 1 month from the date of the decision. If a complaint has been filed with the appellate authority, the decision is considered legal after consideration of this complaint.

If the spouses have no disagreements and they divorce peacefully, then the minimum divorce period will be only 1 month. The same period will apply to unilateral divorces. If the litigation involves disputes about the future fate of minor children or disputes over property valued at more than 50 thousand rubles, then the trial will drag on for months.