We provide these family law related legal services:
Questions on divorce
A marriage may be dissolved by the mutual consent of the spouses, on the application of one of the spouses or through the fault of a spouse (spouses).
A marriage may be dissolved by the mutual consent of the spouses provided all the following conditions have been satisfied:
- over a year has elapsed from the commencement of the marriage;
- the spouses have made a contract in respect of the consequences of their divorce (property adjustment, maintenance payments for the children, etc.);
- both the spouses have full active legal capacity.
A mutual application of the spouses for divorce shall be presented to the court of the district where one of the spouses resides. The application must be accompanied by the contract as to the consequences of the divorce. The application must contain reasons why, in the opinion of the spouses, their marriage has broken down.
A marriage may be dissolved on the application of one of the spouses filed with the court of the district where the applicant resides, if at least one of the following conditions are satisfied:
- the spouses have been separated for over a year;
- after the formation of the marriage one of the spouses has been declared legally incapacitated by the court;
- one of the spouses has been declared missing by the court;
- one of the spouses has been serving a term of imprisonment for over a year for the commission of a non-premeditated crime.
On behalf of the spouse lacking legal capacity the application for divorce may be filed by his or her guardian, a public prosecutor or a guardianship and care institution.
Separation questions
One of the spouses may apply to the court for the approval of the separation if due to certain circumstances, which may not depend on the other spouse, their life together has become intolerable (impossible) or can seriously prejudice the interests of their minor children or the spouses are no longer interested in living together. Both spouses may jointly apply to the court for the approval of their separation if they have made a contract concerning the consequences of their separation providing for the residence, maintenance and education of their minor children as well as for the adjustment of their property and mutual maintenance.
Marriage contracts
A marriage contract shall mean an agreement of the spouses defining their property rights and duties during the marriage as well as on divorce or separation.
Spouses shall have a right to stipulate in the marriage contract that:
- property acquired both before and during the marriage shall be theproperty of each spouse;
- individual property acquired by a spouse before the marriage shalljoint community property after the registration of the marriage;
- property acquired during the marriage shall be joint community property.
Parental identification
Where the child is born out of wedlock, and in the absence of paternal acknowledgement, paternity affiliation may be determined by the court. Where a child is born to a married woman or the child’s paternity has been ascertained on the basis of an application acknowledging the child’s paternity, paternity affiliation is possible only after a successful contesting of the data concerning the child’s father contained in the record of the child’s birth. The paternity of a dead person may be ascertained only if the person had offspring. Where a child is born out of wedlock or the data on the father contained in the record of the child’s birth have been successfully contested , an action for the paternity affiliation may be filed by the man considering himself the father of the child. The child and the child’s mother shall act as defendants in such an action. If a child’s father refuses to acknowledge his paternity by an application for the approval of his acknowledgement of the child’s paternity or if a child’s father is dead, the action for paternity affiliation may be filed by the child’s mother or the child after having attained full active capacity or the child’s guardian or curator or the state institution for the protection of the child’s rights or the descendants of a child who is dead.
Having determined a child’s paternity, the court shall send its res judicata judgement to the Registrar’s Office that has registered the child’s birth within three business days. If the defendant refuses expert examination, the court having regard to the circumstances of the case may treat such a refusal as proof of the defendant’s paternity of the child.
Paternity (Maternity) challenging questions
Data on the mother or father of a child contained in the record of the child’s birth may be contested only in court. Data on the mother or father of a child entered in the record of the child’s birth on the basis of a res judicata judicial decision may not be contested. The paternity of a child born to a married couple or within three hundred days of the dissolution of marriage may be contested only by proving that the person cannot be the father of the child. The maternity or paternity of a child adjudicated on the basis of an application acknowledging parentage may be contested by proving that the child’s mother or father not the biological parent of the child.
Restriction of parental authority questions
Where the parents (the father or the mother) fail in their duties to bring up their children or abuse their parental authority or treat their children cruelly or produce a harmful effect on their children by their immoral behaviour or do not care for their children, the court may make a judgement for a temporary or unlimited restriction of parental power (that of the father or the mother.) The court shall make judgements for temporary or unlimited indefinite restriction of parental authority (that of the father or the mother) by having regard to the circumstances of the case that require a restriction of parental authority. Parental authority may be restricted unlimitedly only where the court makes the conclusion that the parents (the father or the mother) do very great harm to the development of the child or do not care for the child and no change in the situation is forthcoming. Temporary or unlimited restriction of parental authority involves the suspension of the personal and property rights of the parents based on consanguinity and under the law. The parents, however, shall retain the right of visitation, except where that is contrary to the child’s interests. Where parental authority is restricted unlimitedly, the child may be adopted without the consent of the parents. Restriction of parental authority shall extend only to the children and to the parent in respect of whom the court has made the judgement. An application for the separation of a child from the parents (the father or the mother) may be filed by the child’s parents or close relatives or the state institution for the protection of the child’s rights or a public prosecutor. An action for a temporary or unlimited restriction of parental authority may be brought by one of the parents or close relatives or the state institution for the protection of the child’s rights or a public prosecutor or the guardian/curator of the child.
Maintenance order questions
If the parents (or one of the parents) fail in the duty to maintain their underage children, the court may issue a maintenance order in an action brought by one of the parents or the child’s guardian (curator) or the state institution for the protection of the child’s rights. A maintenance order may also be issued if on divorce or on separation the parents did not agree on the maintenance of their underage children in the procedure provided. The court shall issue a maintenance order until the child attains majority except in cases where the child lacks capacity for work due to a disability determined before the age of majority.
The enforcement of the maintenance order shall be terminated when the child:
- is emancipated;
- attains majority;
- is adopted;
- dies.
If the person obliged to pay maintenance dies, the duty of maintenance shall pass to his or her successors within the limits of the inherited property. The parents’ duty to maintain their underage children shall be retained after the separation of the children from their parents or the limitation of parental authority except in cases where the child is adopted.
The court may issue a maintenance order obligating the parents (one of the parents) who fail in their duty to maintain their children to provide maintenance to their children in the following ways:
- periodical monthly payments:
- a certain lump sum;
- award of certain property.
Guardianship and Curatorship matters
Guardianship shall be established with the aim of exercising, protecting and defending the rights and interests of a legally incapable person. Curatorship shall be established with the aim of protecting and defending the rights and interests of a person of limited active capacity.
The guardian and the curator shall represent their wards under law and shall defend the rights and interests of legally incapable persons or persons of limited active capacity without any special authorization. The guardian shall be entitled to enter into all the necessary transactions in the interests and in behalf of the represented legally incapable ward. The curator shall give consent for the ward of limited active capacity to enter into a transaction the ward would not be permitted to enter into independently and shall also help the ward of limited competence to exercise his or her other rights and duties as well as protect his or her interests against third parties. Having declared a person legally incapable or of limited active capacity, the court shall designate the person’s guardian or curator without delay. Only a legally capable natural person may be designated a guardian or a curator provided he or she gives a written consent to that effect. Employees of educational, health care, police and other institutions as well as any person in possession of any knowledge of minors deprived of parental care or of the necessity to protect a minor’s rights and interests (cruel treatment of children by their parents, illness, death, departure or disappearance of the parents, failure of the parents to take back their children from educational or health care institutions, etc.) shall be obliged to notify immediately the State institution for the protection of the child’s rights of the child’s district of residence or their own district. Guardianship shall be established for children under the age of 14. Curatorship shall be established for children older than 14. An adult person declared legally incapable by the court shall be placed under guardianship by a court judgement. An adult person declared by the court to be of limited active capacity shall be placed under curatorship.