The material was checked by an expert: Evgenia Kalinina
Kalinina Evgenia, economist by education and linguist by vocation. Editor-in-Chief of the Alimenty-urist.ru project. Has 11 years of experience working in various publications.
Often the divorce process is accompanied in court by heated disputes and acute conflicts between spouses. There are cases when one of the parties begins to think about how to delay the divorce in order to try to restore normal family relationships. However, be that as it may, legal practice is often faced with such a task and has different approaches to solving it.
How to achieve red tape at the registry office?
Divorce in Russia occurs in two ways:
- through the registry office - if there are no children and there are no disputes between spouses;
- through the court - if there are children, or one of the couple objects to the divorce.
In the event that there are no children at all, or they have already reached the age of majority, the spouses can divorce at the nearest registry office. Here the way to delay time is very simple - just not appearing at the registry office, not submitting applications and not signing any papers. Without the clearly and unambiguously expressed consent of both spouses, divorce in the registry office is impossible. And in this situation, anyone who wants to end the marriage will have only one option - to go to the magistrate with a statement.
Delay in court proceedings
The method described above will no longer work with a judge: it is enough to receive a notice and not appear at the court hearing a couple of times - and the judge will make a decision without the participation of the second spouse. You need to act more subtly here. There are two main options that you can use if you do not want to get a divorce:
- Get a reprieve. Family legislation of the Russian Federation provides that the court, at the request of one of the spouses, has the right to give time for reconciliation. In this case, when you appear at the court hearing, try to convince the judge that there is still a chance to save the marriage - and ask for a reprieve. If the judge agrees, in this way the divorce process can be delayed for three months - the maximum period given for resolving a family conflict. However, you need to remember: the judge is obliged to give a period for reconciliation only once. It won't be possible to take the same three months again. However, this option will allow you to win back some time.
- Use procedural subtleties.
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The last option is worth taking a closer look at.
Is it possible to delay the divorce process?
It is possible to slow down the process of dissolution of a marriage. There are several ways to achieve this goal. The optimal option is selected taking into account the specific circumstances, as well as the appeal authority where the initiator of the divorce filed a personal statement.
How to delay a divorce through the registry office
The registry office considers applications for divorce only if they are filed bilaterally. If the second spouse is against dissolution of the family union, he should not sign any documents confirming consent to the upcoming procedure.
The registry office will not accept the application unilaterally, since in these situations divorce is possible only by court decision.
How to delay divorce in court
The plaintiff who initiates the divorce may apply to the court unilaterally. The application will be accepted and reviewed. The court determines the day and time for the hearing. A notice will be sent to the respondent with this information.
You can delay the divorce for a short period if you do not appear in the courtroom at the appointed time. However, after three such absences without good reason, the court will consider the divorce case without the participation of the second party and make a decision in favor of the plaintiff.
To legally delay the divorce process, you can obtain a deferment. The defendant must appear in court and request a probationary truce. The maximum period can be 3 months. During this period, the spouses can find a compromise and make a mutual decision to preserve the family union.
It is also possible to postpone the consideration of a divorce case if there are compelling reasons:
- If at the time of the meeting the defendant is being treated in a hospital. A corresponding certificate from a medical institution is provided to the court.
- If the spouse is outside the city or country, for example, due to a long work trip. In this case, you also need to send to the court a document confirming a valid reason for postponing the hearing for a certain period.
At trial, the defendant can also use procedural methods that allow the divorce process to stretch out over long months. In this case, the issue of further living and raising joint minor children works effectively.
For example, a wife has filed for divorce, and the husband wants to achieve a truce, which requires a probationary period. At the trial, he speaks about his attachment to the child, about his disagreement regarding the minor’s residence after a divorce from his mother. The defendant also states his readiness to independently raise and raise the child. Acting in the interests of the minor, the court will decide to impose a long conciliation period.
The defendant can also file counterclaims to challenge the place of residence of children, the division of property and resolve other issues connecting the couple. All these circumstances will become a legitimate reason for delaying the divorce process. The main thing is not to miss the opportunity and find a compromise with your other half in a timely manner in order to save the marriage.
How not to break the law?
How can you drag out a divorce in court without breaking the law? The first thing to remember is the principle that both parties to the process have equal rights. Therefore, the court guarantees each of them the opportunity to appear at the hearing, express their thoughts and arguments, present evidence and object to the opponent’s evidence.
That is why such a delaying method as failure to appear for a good reason works well. The legislation does not contain a complete list of reasons that are valid, but in practice they can be:
- Being treated in a hospital;
- Long business trip;
- Emergency, etc.
Therefore, if you need to postpone the divorce, submit a petition to the judge, according to which you are physically unable to be present during the hearing and ask to postpone the consideration.
The petition must be motivated - which means it must be accompanied by a copy of the sick leave, a business trip order or another document that confirms that you cannot appear in court in person.
How to prevent your wife (husband) from divorcing your marriage
In cases where the divorce occurs unilaterally, Themis takes over the matter. And even if one of the family members does not want to separate and ignores court hearings, the judge will still dissolve the union. But the defendant may try to prevent his spouse from breaking off the family relationship.
The law provides for cases when a man does not have the right to divorce:
- if the spouse is pregnant;
- until the child is one year old;
- if the child is killed or dies during childbirth, the husband also cannot initiate a divorce for a year.
Of course, in order to keep her husband, a woman can try to get pregnant and give birth to a baby. But what should a man do who doesn’t want to break up?
First, you can try to correct the situation. And solve the problem that caused the divorce petition. This could be the financial side of the issue or the revival of relationships.
Expert opinion
Irina Vasilyeva
Civil law expert
The court does not immediately divorce spouses. They are given time to reconcile. And during this period it is quite possible to change the situation in your favor.
If this does not help, you will need the help of a lawyer. A competent lawyer will be able to influence the judge to give a longer period for reconciliation.
The presence of children is a serious reason for a judge to refuse to terminate a family relationship. If there are disagreements between spouses regarding the issues of living with children and raising them, a divorce certificate will be issued only if the disputes are resolved.
Subpoena – to take it or not?
You can often hear the opinion that if you do not take a subpoena and sign for its receipt, then the judge will not be able to do anything. Actually this is not true. The procedural legislation of the Russian Federation provides that, if necessary, the case can be considered in the absence of one of the parties, if the participant was properly notified about where and when the trial will take place. And the judge may consider a simple evasion of receiving a summons to be proper notice.
Therefore, if you simply do not accept the summons and do not appear before the judge, you will be able to win a maximum of two to three weeks, depending on the work schedule and the workload of the court with cases. After the second or third failure to appear, the divorce will still take place. However, if you urgently need to win back a few days, this method is quite suitable.
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How to stop divorce proceedings
It is possible to stop the divorce process only in one case - a truce has occurred between the spouses, and they have made a mutual decision not to divorce. To terminate the lawsuit, the plaintiff files an objection to the statement of claim, indicating his desire to preserve the family union.
Based on this document, a second meeting is scheduled, at which the two spouses must appear. If they confirm their desire not to dissolve the marriage relationship, the court decides to uphold the objection.
There are no other ways to stop the divorce process. No one can force a husband or wife to remain in a marital union against their will. This rule is regulated by the Family Code of the Russian Federation.
Procedural methods
A very good method by which the process can drag on for a long time is the use of purely procedural methods. Let's say the wife filed a petition for divorce before the magistrate. In this situation, the husband, if there is a child, can instantly declare that he does not agree that the son (or daughter) will, as usually happens, live with the mother - but wants to leave him with him. Even when a man is not really particularly eager to live with the child, this will immediately lead to the fact that the claim will no longer be subject to jurisdiction by the magistrate, but by the district court. The transfer of materials will take some time - and this is a very good option for prolonging the divorce.
When the case ends up in the district court, you can file a counterclaim. Here it is no longer important what will be the subject of the statement of claim. You can demand the division of property, dispute the place of residence of children, dispute the very fact of paternity - the main thing is that the claim is accepted for consideration. In any case, this will significantly delay the matter.
It is also a good idea to demand that witnesses be called to the court on any of the issues. The main thing here is to convince the judge that without their testimony, a final resolution of the case is impossible. Witnesses may not receive a subpoena and may not appear - and then there will be a reason to apply for a postponement of the hearing. But, having decided to act in this way, the main thing is not to overdo it. The challenge must be motivated. In addition, if the witnesses do not appear, the judge will consider the case without them: forced bringing is not provided for in civil proceedings.
The main thing to remember is that deliberately delaying the process is always a “game on the verge of a foul.” Here it is quite easy to be punished for contempt of court. Therefore, if such a need arises, find a good lawyer and consult with him what to do and how to delay the divorce.
Summons to appear in court: what to do?
There is an opinion among the people that if you avoid receiving a summons, and even do not sign to confirm its delivery, then the court will not consider the claim for divorce. In reality, everything is not like that. Based on the provisions of the law, a trial may take place upon the appearance of one plaintiff, provided that the other party has received notice that a trial will take place, indicating the date and location. However, the fact of avoiding communication with bailiffs for the purpose of not receiving notification may be assessed by the judge as notification. Therefore, without accepting the notice and not appearing in court, the defendant will be able to delay the divorce process for no more than 3 weeks. This point will depend on the workload of the judges and the density of their work schedule. Failure to appear in court will result in the court still deciding on divorce at the second or third hearing. This method of delaying the divorce process will be beneficial only in cases where there is an urgent need to obtain a delay of several days.
