Divorce in court

Where can I divorce my husband?

In order to initiate divorce proceedings, the participation of regulatory authorities is necessary. The simple termination of cohabitation does not relieve spouses of mutual obligations, and marriage does not have a statute of limitations. If a conflict arises with a spouse, especially property or related to children, the divorce must be completed (if family reunification is impossible). An undissolved marriage will give the second spouse the right to claim half of any property at any time and be one of the primary heirs in the event of the death of the first.

According to current legislation, it is impossible to enter into a new marriage while the old one is valid, so it is better not to leave the situation to resolve itself.

Which court should I go to?

The majority of divorces occur through the judicial authorities, since they deal with conflict-related breaks in marital relationships, of which there are much more than world ones. Conflicts can arise on any basis - the place of residence of children and alimony payments, property disputes, complex calculations of jointly acquired property.

You must go to court in any case if:

• there are minor children (the court is obliged to control how the children will be raised and supported in the future, to determine the role of both parents in this);
• there are any disagreements regarding property;
• one of the spouses refuses to give his consent to the divorce.

The intervention of the court guarantees the most legal solution for both parties, and also gives time for a settlement agreement.

Submission to the registry office

This option is only possible if the couple has no minor children or conflicts, both are completely ready for the divorce procedure and are not going to change their minds. To dissolve a marriage through the registry office, spouses only need to bring an application and a package of documents. If the procedure takes place in the same registry office in which the marriage was registered, no additional papers are needed - information about the spouses is already stored there.

If it is impossible or not desirable to come to the registry office where the marriage was registered, you can contact a similar institution at your place of residence. You will have to bring documents there.

Submit an application at State Services

All areas of government activity are developing, including government services. What previously could only be done after several hours in line, right after a tiring walk to the MFC, can now be easily and quickly completed online thanks to the State Services service. Not long ago, divorce was added to the list of services that can be arranged online.

How to file a divorce online:

1. Registration or authorization on the State Services website.
2. Creating an application for divorce (with a Russian citizen or a foreigner).
3. Collecting electronic copies of documents according to the list of required ones.
4. Payment of state duty.

At the moment, citizens paying state fees through State Services are given a 30% discount on any fee. — this is how the state encourages the gradual transition of the population to the electronic format of payment for services from the state.

In all other cases, through the State Services you can only achieve the actual execution of a court decision - either one of the former spouses or both can do this.

How to file for divorce through the registry office

The conditions for divorce through the registry office are defined in Art. 19 RF IC.

Conditions:

• Mutual expression of will;
• No minor children.

It makes no difference who files for divorce—both spouses must file. If one does not come for a good reason, for example, he does not live at his place of registration in another city, then it is necessary to provide his consent, certified by a notary.

You can get a unilateral divorce at the registry office if the spouse:

• Recognized by the court as missing;
• Recognized by the court as incompetent;
• Sentenced to imprisonment for a term of over three years.

The term for divorce through the registry office is one month; the procedure cannot be accelerated.

Stages of divorce through the registry office

According to Art. 33 143-FZ, to initiate the procedure, an application is submitted in writing to the civil registry office at the place of residence or electronically through State Services.

When visiting the department in person, it is necessary to obtain the notarized consent of the spouse if he will be absent during the application.

The schedule for receiving citizens should be clarified on the website of the regional department or when submitting an electronic application.

Mandatory information about spouses that is reflected in the application:

• Full name, date and place of birth, citizenship, place of residence;
• Details of identification documents;
• Details of the marriage certificate;
• Last names that will remain after the procedure is completed;
• Date and signature.

Sample and blank application form for divorce through the registry office.

When submitting an application through State Services, an enhanced qualified electronic signature of each party is required (identity confirmation on the portal).

Payment of state duty

• The cost of divorce through the registry office is 650 rubles for each spouse.
• The cost of unilateral divorce through the registry office is 350 rubles.

What documents will be needed?

Divorce proceedings are a serious matter; based on its results, the fate of common children will be determined and property will be divided. This takes the time and effort of the parties, requires effort and the collection of a certain package of documents. These are mainly identification documents and evidence that the marriage has taken place.

Documents required for trial:

• the statement itself;
• paid receipt with state duty;
• a copy of the passport of the applicant or applicants;
• a copy of the marriage certificate;
• a copy of the birth certificate of the child/children (if any);
• documents confirming the actual place of residence of the applicant, second spouse and children, if any.
• certificates of earnings, a list of jointly acquired property, certificates of ownership - if there are property disputes.

All these documents, excluding the receipt, must be provided to the court in two copies so that the second spouse is officially notified of your intention to divorce. This is a basic list that can be supplemented depending on what the conflict is in each specific case.

If there is a dispute about property or child custody, the application must be accompanied by all documents that in one way or another can help the applicant prevail. It is important to remember that the second spouse can also file his claim immediately after the first one is considered, with counter-arguments.

If the marriage is dissolved through the registry office, then the list of documents changes slightly:

• You need the original marriage certificate;
• passport or passports;
• a paid receipt for the appropriate state duty;
• an application from the second spouse, if he wants to submit one.

Also, in the registry office, unilateral divorces are carried out, where the opinion of the second party is not taken into account in any way - for this, the absent spouse must be incapacitated for a number of reasons or serve a sentence of at least three years.

After submitting your application

After this, there is a stage of preparation for the court hearing, during which all the circumstances of the case are studied in detail and the participants in the process are summoned to court. At the court hearing, the judge finds out whether there are sufficient grounds for divorce and whether further cohabitation of the spouses is actually impossible.

It will not be particularly difficult to compose a paper according to the provided sample. The question may arise differently: where to apply for divorce through the registry office? There are two options - according to the registration of the husband or wife. The address of one of them is known, since a statement of desire to legitimize their relationship was once sent to this registry office. You will also have to pay a state fee for family breakup.

We suggest you read: Gift deed in case of divorce

If you filed an application with the registry office, then the consideration takes one month, after which you need to come again at the appointed time and receive a divorce document.

If you go to court, then if there are any violations, the court will be able to refuse to accept your application, return it, or leave it without action. The applicant will be notified in writing of any of these decisions.

If the claim for divorce is drawn up and filed correctly, the judge will issue a ruling to accept it for proceedings.

If either spouse disagrees with the court decision, it can be appealed to a higher court.

Once the court decision has entered into force, you need to contact the civil registry office and obtain a document on divorce.

During a divorce, the civil registry office will require each spouse to:

• application of a certain sample;
• passport;
• marriage certificate;
• metrics of children (if they were born from this marriage);
• receipt for payment of state duty.

If the application is submitted by one spouse in the presence of the above circumstances, then you will need to additionally attach:

• a court decision declaring a spouse incompetent or missing;
• court verdict convicting the husband.

If an application for divorce is filed in court, then the following are additionally required:

• a statement of claim for the division of joint property and determination of the place of residence of joint children;
• power of attorney, if the interests of those divorcing in court are protected by their representatives;
• a receipt for payment of an additional state fee if, in parallel with the divorce, issues about common property and children are being resolved.

To pick up an application from the registry office, both spouses just need to go there and write another one, indicating the reasons for changing the decision. If only by that time the month period had not passed, after which the marriage would be considered terminated.

You can withdraw a divorce application from the court at any stage, but it is advisable to do this before the judge accepts it for proceedings.

We suggest you familiarize yourself with: Services where you can file for divorce

If you still have questions about the procedure for filing for divorce, you can ask them in the comments.

Application for divorce

A sample application can be found in the form of a printable document both here and those providing legal assistance in divorce proceedings. If you contact a lawyer (this is important in a controversial situation where the applicant prefers not to take risks and trusts a professional), he will do this work for you - all you have to do is fill out the information fields.

What should be in the application:

1. Similar personal information of both the applicant and the potential defendant.
2. A direct request to dissolve the marriage.
3. Indication of the nationality of both parties.
4. Indication of the nature of the marriage for both parties (first marriage or remarriage).
5. A clear listing of all property claims or confirmation of the position regarding custody of the child/children.

Since divorce proceedings are very different, statements can also be of a different nature - depending on whether the spouses are in conflict at the time of the divorce.

Cost of the procedure

To initiate divorce proceedings, it is necessary to pay a state fee - a sum of money officially certified by the state, with which the applicant pays for the work of regulatory authorities and verification of documents. The state duty is 650 rubles per person (that is, 1300 rubles) both when filing an application with the registry office and when going to court.

When dividing property or an alimony dispute, the cost of the state duty can range from 400 rubles to several tens of thousands of rubles - the amount depends on many factors.

Without a receipt indicating that the state fee has been paid, it is impossible to begin legal proceedings or file for divorce at the registry office. The plaintiff always pays for it.

How long does the process take?

At the registry office, the procedure conventionally lasts a month (30 calendar days). In fact, the employees of the institution can cope earlier, but a month is also given to the parties with the expectation that they will make peace and will not destroy the family. If this does not happen, the applicant or both can come for their divorce certificate immediately after this deadline.

The trial is expected to be more complicated and last longer. The standard procedure lasts two months, another month is given for the actual implementation of the court decision. However, if the parties do not agree and file counter-claims challenging the decisions made, the divorce can take a very long time. It all depends on how serious the subject of the dispute between the spouses is.

Where to apply: to the registry office or to the court?

An application for divorce is submitted to any of the three indicated authorities.

1. You can write an application for divorce to the city or territorial department of the civil registry office at your place of residence. But provided that you and your husband do not have children under the age of 18 together, and both of you agree to dissolve the marriage.

There are three more conditions under which you can get a divorce at the registry office, and your husband’s application will not be needed for this:

• he is declared incompetent by the court;
• he was declared missing by the court,
• he was sentenced to more than three years and is being held in a correctional facility.

2. To a district or city court. A claim for divorce will need to be filed there if you and your spouse have not yet been able to amicably agree on two issues:

• which parent will the children live with after the divorce?
• how to divide property acquired during marriage if its amount exceeds 50,000 rubles.

3. All other claims regarding the divorce are submitted to the magistrate at the court site related to your place of residence.

When you have decided where to write an application for divorce, you need to figure out in what form it is drawn up.

Form form No. 8
If you are going to file an application for divorce through the registry office, you can find a sample at the end of our article.

We invite you to read: How a woman can survive a divorce from her husband: advice from psychologists

When dissolving a marriage by mutual consent of the spouses in accordance with Article 33 of the Federal Law “On Civil Status Acts,” you need an application form, Form No. 8. It must indicate: personal data of both spouses, information about a previously registered marriage, what surnames the spouses will retain after the divorce. The application is signed by both spouses.

If you file an application for divorce without the participation of your husband in accordance with Article 34 of the Federal Law “On Acts of Civil Status,” then you need a form in Form No. 9. It contains the same information about both spouses, as well as information about the relevant court decision. A copy of the decision must also be attached.

An application of form No. 10 is submitted to the registry office when the decision on divorce has already been made by the court, but in accordance with Article 35 of the above law, it must be registered. After this, you will be able to pick up the divorce document.

If the application for divorce is drawn up correctly, the registry office specialist assigns it a registration number and sets the date and time for registering the divorce. A note about this is made at the top of the form.

Registration with a foreigner

If a divorce is required from a person who is not a citizen of the Russian Federation, it can be terminated without the presence of the other party only if there are no claims between the spouses. Otherwise, a trial will have to be initiated, which cannot take place in the absence of the defendant.

In general, divorce proceedings with a foreigner differ from the standard ones in the size of the state duty and some unique restrictions.

Divorce must be treated no less responsibly than marriage. If you let things go, you may find yourself without most of the wealth acquired during the marriage or deprived of the right to visit children - all these situations must be foreseen, especially if the marriage is dissolved with conflict.