Where to file for divorce - divorce with or without division of property

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Divorce is a procedure that directly affects the rights and interests of both spouses. However, only the initiator of the termination of the marriage has the question of how and where to submit an application with documents for divorce and in what order the dissolution of the marriage will take place.

If there are disputes or disagreement with the divorce, the other party, as a rule, either opposes the termination of the marriage in every possible way, or takes an indifferent position. Only in a small number of cases do spouses mutually decide to end their family life and settle various legal formalities.

Where and where to file for divorce

Any expression of the will of one of the spouses to dissolve the marriage must be expressed in the form of a written statement. According to current legislation, marriage relations can be dissolved through two bodies - through the registry office or through the court. In this case, both the magistrate and the district (city) court can make a decision on divorce. In each case, you must meet a number of conditions necessary to apply to one or another authority, which are set out in the summary table below.

In addition to determining the body authorized to resolve the application for divorce, it is also necessary to determine its location. Violation of the jurisdiction rule will result in a refusal of the divorce by the registry office and the return of the claim by the court.

When contacting the registry office:

• at the place of marriage registration;
• at the place of residence of one or both spouses.

When going to court:

• at the defendant’s place of residence;
• at the place of residence of the plaintiff, if a minor child lives with him.

Required documents

When registering a divorce by mutual agreement, the spouses must bring the following documents to the registry office:

• Application written according to form number 8. To fill out the document correctly, you should familiarize yourself with the sample, which can be downloaded here. It is written either jointly by both participants in the marriage, or by each spouse separately. Keep in mind that the registry office will not accept a document with marks, so it is unacceptable to correct errors in words or numbers in the application.
• Marriage certificate.
• Passports for identity verification. Each spouse brings the original document to the registry office.
• A receipt or other official document confirming the transfer of funds to the state treasury as a duty.

What is needed for divorces by the sole decision of one of the spouses can be found in the following list:

1. 
   Application for the registry office, written according to form number 9. In order to complete this document without errors, you should first study the sample, which can be downloaded from this link from the Internet.

2. Certificate of concluding a family union.
3. Applicant's passport.
4. A receipt or other official document confirming the transfer of funds to the state treasury as a duty.
5. A decision or sentence from a court that certifies the presence of such legal facts as: Criminal punishment in the form of placing a prisoner in prison for a period of time exceeding 3 years.
6. Recognition of the other spouse as missing.
7. Recognition of the other spouse as an incompetent person.

If the parties to the marital relationship were divorced by the court, then after receiving an extract from the decision they submit the following list of documents to the state registry office:

• An application written in form number 10. You can see what it looks like by clicking on this link. It is written either jointly by both participants in the marriage, or by each spouse separately.
• Extract from the judicial act on the dissolution of the family union.
• Document on registration of marriage relations.
• Passport from the applicant or both spouses, if the application was drawn up by them jointly.
• A paper certifying the fact of payment of the duty to the state.

How to file for divorce through the registry office

As a general rule, an application to the civil registry office is submitted by spouses jointly. Only in exceptional cases specified in Art. 19 of the RF IC, only one of the spouses can submit an application.

One month must pass from the moment of filing the application until the corresponding entry is made in the civil status acts, and on the appointed date the registry office registers the termination of the marriage relationship and issues a divorce certificate to the now former spouses.

Depending on the grounds for divorce, the forms of applications submitted to the registry office will differ.

If there is mutual agreement

To register a divorce by mutual consent, the spouses must arrive at the territorial registry office at the place where the marriage was registered or at the place of residence of either spouse.

Registration is carried out after 1 month from the date of application. To complete the registration, the mandatory presence of one of the spouses when making an entry in the civil status acts is required.

Read more in the material “Divorce through the registry office in 2021.”

Statement

Upon arrival at the institution, the registry office specialist will take the documents of the spouses, enter the necessary data into the database and print out an application form in form No. 9 with the personal data already indicated. Spouses will only need to read the document, check it and sign.

If it is impossible to appear at the registry office, one of the spouses can send an application form No. 10, having it certified by a notary.

Content

The application contains all information about the spouses and the marriage.

You do not need to fill out the document yourself, unless the civil registry office has the ability to fill out all the necessary information using an automated program.

Sample

You can download a sample form No. 9 for divorce at the registry office for review using the link below. Please note that when filling it out yourself, you should pay special attention to the correctness and completeness of all entered information.

Documentation

• application of the established form No. 9;
• passport;
• Marriage certificate;
• receipt of payment of duty in the amount of 650 rubles (paid by each spouse).

If both spouses agree, but one of them cannot participate in the process

If it is impossible to appear at the registry office to file a divorce, one of the spouses can send their application to the institution, having it notarized.

The initiator of the divorce, after receiving confirmation from the second spouse that the application has been sent to the registry office, must apply there with an application for termination of the marriage.

The rest of the procedure for terminating a marriage in the absence of one of the spouses is no different from the general procedure described above.

Statement

If the second spouse agrees with the divorce, but cannot appear at the registry office at the place where the divorce was registered, he has the right to send a notarized application form No. 9 for divorce.

Applications sent through the State Services service, as well as those certified by the heads of correctional institutions and detention centers where one of the spouses is kept, are also considered notarized.

Content

The application form No. 9 must contain all the same details and data as in the joint document, with the only difference being that only one column of the application is filled in, relating to the husband or wife.

Important! When filling out, no blots, corrections or typos should be allowed. Otherwise, the notary will not certify the document, and if factual errors or typos are discovered at the registry office, registration of the divorce will be refused.

Sample

To apply for divorce from another city without the presence of a spouse, you need to fill out form No. 10.

A sample for review or filling out the application yourself is posted below, you can also download it for editing.

Documentation

When submitting an application without subsequent presence at the registry office, you must attach the following documents:

1. Statement.
2. Copy of the passport.
3. Marriage certificate.
4. Receipt for payment of duty in the amount of 650 rubles.

A copy of the passport must be notarized, the marriage certificate must be attached in the original. The receipt for payment of the fee must also be attached in the original copy.

If one of the spouses is imprisoned, incapacitated, or missing

Article 19 of the RF IC provides the opportunity for one of the spouses, in a number of exceptional cases, to file a divorce through the registry office without taking into account the consent and opinion of the second spouse, as well as in his absence.

We are talking about the following cases:

• sentencing a husband or wife to imprisonment for a period of 3 years or more (see for more details “How to get a divorce if your husband is in prison”;
• recognition in court as incompetent or missing.

In these cases, the consent and opinion of the second spouse does not matter, just as the presence of children during a divorce in the registry office does not matter in such cases.

Thus, the person in prison is only informed about the received application and, then, about the divorce. He cannot prevent the divorce in this way in any way.

Statement

In case of divorce in the registry office without the consent of the second spouse, application form No. 11 is used.

To submit it, the applicant must contact the civil registry office at the place of marriage registration or place of residence.

There is no need to fill out the document yourself, since all data will be entered through a special program by civil registry office specialists. The applicant will only need to sign the document.

A spouse interested in officially ending the relationship needs to contact the registry office, fill out form No. 11 (or the institution’s employees will help you fill it out) and wait 1 month from the date of filing the documents to complete the divorce procedure.

Content

The document contains all the necessary information about the applicant, marriage, date of birth, as well as similar information about the second spouse.

As mentioned above, you do not need to fill out the form yourself, since the entry of milestone data is carried out on the spot.

The application form is standard and cannot be changed unilaterally by the registry office at its discretion

.

Sample

For your reference, below is a sample form No. 11 for divorce through the registry office. If you need to enter all the data into it yourself for some reason, you can download the document below.

Documentation

When applying to the registry office with a unilateral divorce, the applicant must generate and provide the following package of documents:

1. Application form No. 11.
2. Marriage certificate.
3. Passport (returned immediately).
4. Receipt for payment of state duty in the amount of 350 rubles.
5. A decision, sentence or an extract from them confirming the circumstances set out in Art. 19 RF IC.

If the marriage certificate is lost or missing, then it is necessary to obtain a duplicate of it at the place of marriage. If the initiator of the divorce submits an application to the same registry office that registered the marriage, then there is no need to obtain a duplicate marriage certificate.

Read more about the procedure in the separate publication “How to file a divorce through the registry office.”

Basic principles of property division

The procedure for distributing joint material assets of participants in a marital relationship can be prescribed:

1. In the marriage contract.
2. In an asset division agreement.
3. In a court decision in a divorce case.

In a prenuptial agreement, the wife and husband can independently determine the types of assets that will pass to each ex-spouse upon termination of the marital relationship.

As for the agreement on the division of assets and the decision of the judicial authority dealing with property disputes between spouses, these documents must be based on the norms of family law. The law establishes that only jointly acquired material assets can be divided upon dissolution of family ties, and includes among them the following assets acquired after marriage:

1. Real estate of both residential and commercial nature.
2. Capital deposited in banking organizations or commercial organizations.
3. Social benefits, including pensions.
4. Financial payments transferred to the recipient without a special purpose.
5. Earnings from hired work, business or investments, as well as from the use of intellectual results.
6. Movable items, such as furniture or cars.
7. Shares and other securities.
8. Financial assistance from the state or private individuals.

It should be noted that if one of the spouses did not have earnings during the marriage due to valid reasons, then he does not lose rights to joint assets. These reasons include:

• Caring for infants.
• Serious illness.
• Incapacity due to disability.
• Running a family household at home.

The law includes the following as personal belongings of each spouse:

1. Property intended for individual use, such as hygiene items, shoes or clothing. This property does not include precious items, including luxury items.
2. Assets received under gratuitous agreements, for example, by deed of gift, exchange agreement or inheritance.
3. Things that were owned by each member of a married couple before the official marriage.
4. Exclusive rights to intellectual results.

There is one exception to the personal property rule. The law says that the investment of personal labor or finances of one spouse in the personal property of the other spouse, increasing its market value, can lead to the court recognizing this thing as common.

Joint loans and mortgages taken out by the wife and husband after the official marriage are distributed between them in accordance with the shares of property assets awarded by the court.

Filing a claim in court

The claim can be submitted to the court either in person, by submitting it to the reception office of the institution, or sent by registered mail. Also, if you have a completed power of attorney. A representative can also submit an application to the court.

When issuing a power of attorney, it is important to pay attention to the authority to sign the claim. If there is no such authority, then the representative does not have the right to submit the claim to the court with his signature and will only be able to participate in the court hearing in the future. The authority to waive the claim and sign a settlement agreement must also be reflected in a separate line in the power of attorney.

Court employees do not have the right to refuse to accept documents if the applicant insists on submitting them. The claim can be returned only on the basis of a judge's ruling.

For more information on how to submit an application and documents for divorce in court and what the judicial procedure for divorce is, read the separate publication “Procedure for divorce through the court.”

Is it possible to get a peaceful divorce?

Yes, a divorce process in court can proceed peacefully if the spouses determine in advance with whom the child will live, who will get what property and how much alimony will be paid. To do this, you need to draw up and notarize three different agreements:

• About the division of property. It describes in detail each valuable item. If we are talking about real estate, you will need technical specifications and information from an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate.
• On determining the child’s place of residence. Information about the minor and with whom he stays is indicated.
• About payment of alimony. The parties independently decide when and in what amount the payer will transfer money, but the amounts should not be less than those specified in Art. 81 IC RF. More is possible, less is not.

Both spouses put their signatures on each agreement. Subsequently, they are submitted to the court along with the statement of claim. The secretary makes copies of them and attaches them to the office materials.

Here's a visual example of how it all works:

The Daryalov couple decided to divorce; they have two small children together. In order to avoid problematic situations, an alimony agreement was drawn up between them, according to which the spouse is obliged to transfer half of his earnings monthly for the maintenance of minors, despite the fact that according to the law it is enough for him to pay 33% of the income. Subsequently, the agreement, along with a statement and other documents, was submitted to the court to begin the divorce process. After considering all the circumstances, a positive decision was made on the claim.

How to file for divorce through the Magistrates' Court

To submit an application to the court for the termination of a marriage, it is necessary to correctly determine the jurisdiction and jurisdiction of the divorce case. As already written above, consideration of cases of divorce is primarily within the competence of the magistrate’s court, but under a number of conditions it can also be carried out by the district court.

The Magistrate's Court will consider the following cases of divorce:

1. The second spouse’s disagreement with the divorce, as well as his avoidance of appearing in court.
2. The presence of joint children under the age of 18, but the absence of disagreements about their place of residence and further upbringing.
3. The presence of disputes regarding the division of property with a claim value of no more than 50 thousand rubles in the plaintiff’s share.

After determining the situation and the magistrate court competent to make a decision on divorce, in order to go to court, the initiator of the divorce first needs to correctly draw up a statement of claim.

In all cases, you can study the list of documents for divorce through the magistrate’s court in detail in the article “Documents for divorce through the magistrate’s court.”

If one of the spouses does not agree with the divorce

In the absence of the consent of the second spouse to divorce, as well as in his evasion of appearing at the registry office, the marriage can only be dissolved in court.

In this case, you need to contact the magistrate court at the place of residence of the defendant spouse.

Important! If during the court hearing the spouse agreed to the divorce, this does not mean that the consideration of the claim will be terminated, and the spouses will go to the registry office for a divorce, no. The magistrate will in any case be obliged to complete the case and make a decision to end the marriage.

Read more about divorce without the consent of your spouse in this article.

Statement of claim

The claim is filed by either spouse in printed (preferably) form. The content of the claim and the requirements for its execution are subject to the requirements of Art. 131-132 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, mandatory.

The application itself can be submitted either by mail or by personal appearance in court.

Content

The petition for divorce must include the following information:

1. Name and address of the court to which the document is filed.
2. Full names of the parties, their registration and residence addresses. Additionally, it is advisable to indicate other contact information: telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc.
3. Introductory part indicating the date and place of marriage, period of cohabitation, etc.
4. Information about the reasons for divorce and the impossibility of further cohabitation.
5. An indication of the position of the defendant (whether he agrees or not), as well as the agreements reached between the spouses.
6. Ask the court for a divorce.
7. Date, signature, list of attachments.

Sample

The sample claim for divorce through the Magistrates' Court presented below is a typical one and may differ significantly in your case. Consult with a lawyer before drafting the document yourself.

Documentation

The following documents must be attached to the statement of claim:

1. The claim and its copy for the defendant.
2. Copy of the passport.
3. A copy of the marriage certificate.
4. Power of attorney (if the claim is filed by a representative).
5. Receipt for payment of state duty in the amount of 600 rubles.

If the claim is complicated by other related disputes, other documents will be required. Read more about the composition of divorce documents here.

There are children, but there are no disputes about them

If there are joint children under 18 years of age, spouses can terminate their relationship only through the court.

If there is no dispute about the children, they need to go to the magistrate’s court at the defendant’s place of residence.

To initiate legal proceedings for divorce, spouses must reach an agreement on the following issues:

• with which of them the child will remain;
• who and how will communicate with him after the divorce;
• whether the spouse leaving the family will have any restrictions in communicating with the child.

If there are no conflicts on these issues, the claim is filed in the magistrate's court and is considered only in the magistrate's court.

Statement of claim

A claim for divorce with children is not much different from a claim for divorce without children. The key difference is that this claim contains a separate line requiring the child to be left with one of the parents.

As in all other cases, the claim can be submitted either in person or sent by registered mail via postal service.

For more information about the specifics of filing and drafting this document, read the article “Claim for divorce with children (sample).”

Also, simultaneously with the divorce, the issue of collecting alimony can be resolved. See “Claim for divorce and alimony” for more details.

Content

According to the provisions of Art. 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, a claim for divorce in the presence of children must contain:

1. Name of the court and its address.
2. Full names of the parties, addresses of their official registration and actual place of residence.
3. Description of the essence of the case: date of marriage, period of cohabitation, information about children (names, dates of birth).
4. Reasons for divorce in the lawsuit.
5. Link to the agreement reached regarding children, as well as on other issues - alimony, property, etc.
6. A request to the court for divorce and leaving the child (or transferring it) with one of the spouses.
7. Date, list of documents and personal signature.

Sample

Below is a sample claim for divorce from children through the Magistrates' Court.

Documentation

1. The claim and its copy.
2. Copy of passport and marriage certificate.
3. Information about the place of residence of the parties and children (certificate from the migration department, extract from the home book, etc.);
4. Certificate of income of the plaintiff and defendant (when collecting alimony);
5. Receipt for payment of state duty in the amount of 600 rubles.

All documents are submitted in copies, except for the receipt of payment of the fee.

For more information about the composition of the documents, read the material “What documents are needed for divorce if there are minor children.”

We do not indicate the documents to be submitted when resolving disputes related to children, since their composition is not strictly defined and will individually depend on a particular situation. Read more in the material “Who will the child stay with after a divorce” or below.

If there are disputes about the division of property

Disputes about the division of property can be considered together with a claim for divorce in the magistrate's court, provided that the value of the property claimed by the plaintiff does not exceed 50 thousand rubles.

Important! We are talking specifically about property that one of the spouses wants to sue for himself. The total value of joint property does not matter.

If during the consideration of a claim for divorce and division of property in the magistrate's court, the price of the claim increases (for example, due to the assessment), then the case will be transferred to the district court.

Statement of claim

A claim for divorce and division of property for the magistrate's court must be prepared according to the general rules of Art. 131-132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and is submitted in person or by letter by mail.

Particular attention should be paid to the assessment of the spouses’ property, since the final jurisdiction of the dispute depends on the final amount.

Note: In practice, claims for the division of property of spouses are extremely rarely considered by the magistrate court due to the fact that the price of the claim significantly exceeds the limit of 50 thousand rubles.

There is even more information in the article “Claim for divorce and division of property.”

Content

The claim must contain all the mandatory information listed in Art. 131 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

In particular, you need to indicate:

• The name and address of the court, as well as the full names and addresses of the parties.
• Addresses of actual residence and contact information of spouses.
• Cost of claim.
• The circumstances of the case, indicating the date of marriage registration, the date of termination of actual family relations, information about children (if any).
• Reasons for divorce and agreements reached by spouses regarding children, alimony, etc.
• Information about the property subject to division - date of purchase, means of acquisition, etc., cost.
• Request to the court for divorce and division of property.
• Date, signature and list of attached papers.

Sample

Below is a sample claim for divorce in the magistrates' court, combined with division of property.

You can download the document for editing and self-preparation using the link below.

Documentation

The following documents must be attached to the claim:

• a copy of the claim for the defendant;
• a copy of the plaintiff's passport;
• copies of the marriage certificate, birth certificates of children (if any);
• certificate of actual place of residence;
• documents confirming the availability of property: checks, receipts;
• a receipt for payment of state duty in the amount of 600 rubles for divorce and in an amount proportional to the value of the property.

For more information about the necessary documents for the division of property, read the article “What documents are needed when dividing property.”

Rubric “Question-answer”

How are divorce cases handled?

If everything is in order with the documents, a date will be set and both parties will be notified.

How will the case be handled?

This question largely depends on whether the parties have a mutual desire to end the marriage, as well as on their presence at the meeting. Let's consider situations that often occur in judicial practice:

• The defendant husband did not appear. If the absence of this participant does not have valid reasons, the judge may separate the couple without his presence.
• The respondent spouse does not want to get a divorce. Ideally, the fastest way to dissolve a marriage is if both parties agree to it. When the defendant does not want to get a divorce, the judge can allocate time for reconciliation of the parties (up to 3 months).
• The applicant or the defendant did not appear at the trial.

A possible, although not very common, option. In this situation, the judge regards this act as reconciliation, unless the parties had other reasons that were notified to the court in advance.

How to file for divorce through the district court

The district court hears divorce cases complicated by disputes about children or demands for division of property.

The requirements for the form and content of the statement of claim in all these cases are prescribed in Art. 131-132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and are subject to strict compliance, since otherwise the document will either be left without further progress, with a period provided for correcting deficiencies, or will be returned without consideration.

A typical mistake made by many plaintiffs is to independently fill out a claim form found on the Internet without taking into account the specifics of their situation. For example, drawing up an application without a dispute about children, when in fact such a dispute takes place or may arise during the consideration of the application.

If you have any doubts or questions about the correctness of drawing up a claim, please contact the lawyers of our portal for a free online consultation.

If there are disputes regarding children

Disputes about children during divorce will be considered:

• lack of agreement on the child’s place of residence after divorce;
• the desire of one of the parents with whom the child remains to limit the other parent’s right to communicate with the child;
• lack of agreement on the procedure for communicating with the child (children).

All these issues are subject to clarification in a court hearing and are resolved by a court decision based on the results of the consideration of the case.

You can find out more about who a child stays with after a divorce in this article.

Statement of claim

In addition to the standard set of parties (spouse), if there are disagreements about children, it may be necessary to involve the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

If you think that their opinion can influence the court’s adoption of the correct decision, indicate the guardianship and trusteeship authority as an interested party in the case.

For more information on the specifics of preparing a claim for divorce with children, see this material.

Content

The claim must indicate:

• name of the vessel and its coordinates;
• Full names of the parties;
• addresses of registration and actual place of residence, telephone numbers of the parties;
• description of the circumstances of the dispute: date of marriage registration, period of cohabitation, date of birth and full names of children;
• the merits of the dispute about children;
• reasons for spouses' divorce;
• justification for resolving a dispute about children;
• a demand addressed to the court for a divorce and leaving the child with the plaintiff or transferring him to the defendant;
• signature, date and list of documents.

If there are disputes about the order of raising a child, it is necessary to justify why the second parent can communicate with the child only within the limits proposed by the plaintiff. If necessary, the guardianship authority must be involved in resolving the dispute.

Sample

You can download the claim for divorce if there are disagreements about children using the link below.

The document is presented for review, since when drafting it, it is extremely important to first consult with a lawyer.

Documentation

The set of documents for a divorce in the presence of children will be similar to the documents presented for a divorce without such a dispute in the magistrate's court.

However, you may additionally need to provide:

• evidence of the non-participation of the second spouse in raising the child;
• evidence of immoral behavior and antisocial lifestyle of the spouse (prosecution, right from a narcologist, etc.);
• information about the children’s place of residence;
• information on the costs of raising and maintaining children incurred by the parent with whom the children live;

To accurately determine the package of documents, it is recommended to consult with a lawyer.

If there are disputes about the division of property

If there are disputes about the division of property, they can be resolved simultaneously with the divorce case by applying to the district court.

The value of the property (the price of the claim) does not matter at all, since the competence of the district court includes property disputes from 50 thousand rubles to infinity.

Important! Also, other persons may participate in a dispute over the division of property, for example, co-owners of common shared property, if such property has been declared for division, as well as banks and credit organizations when dividing debts. These persons can be either independently indicated in the claim, or this prerogative can be left to the discretion of the court.

Statement of claim

In addition to general information about the reasons for the divorce and the agreements reached, in the claim for divorce and division of property in the district court, it is necessary to substantiate the reasons why the property will be considered jointly acquired and motivate the proposed division mechanism.

The claim is filed by sending it by mail or at a personal reception in court.

Read more about the specifics of drawing up and submitting an application in the article “Statement of Claim for Divorce and Division of Property,” which is relevant specifically for the district court.

Content

A claim for divorce combined with division of property must contain the following information:

1. Name of the district court and its address.
2. Last name, first name and patronymic of the parties to the case, their addresses (both registration and residence).
3. Cost of claim.
4. Circumstances of the dispute and information about the marriage: date of conclusion, period of marriage, grounds for the conflict.
5. Reasons for divorce of spouses.
6. List of property acquired during marriage.
7. Evidence of recognition of property as joint property.
8. Justification of the proposed version of the section.
9. A request for divorce and division of property indicating the value of the property awarded to each spouse.
10. Date of compilation, personal signature.
11. Attached documents.

Sample

The content of the statement of claim will be individual depending on the composition of the divisible property and the circumstances of its acquisition.

A typical sample claim for divorce and partition is posted below, and you can also download it for editing yourself.

Documentation

The following documents must be attached to the claim:

1. A copy of the claim to the defendant and other persons involved in the case.
2. Copies of the plaintiff's passport, marriage certificate and child's birth certificate (if there is a child).
3. Documents for property: copies of certificates of registration of rights; purchase and sale agreements; checks, etc.
4. Certificates of value or appraiser's conclusions.
5. Certificate of residence of the spouses.
6. Associated evidence, the composition of which is determined individually.
7. Receipt for payment of state duty.

Calculation of the state duty is carried out in accordance with the norms of Art. 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation on the rules for assessing and determining the amount of state duty payable.

State duty

The amount of money that spouses need to transfer for government services for the dissolution of family relationships is indicated in the table.

Detailed instructions on how to calculate the amount of money required by the plaintiff to initiate litigation to divide the common property are described in the table below.

What to do if spouses are registered in different cities

When living separately in different regions or cities, spouses have the opportunity to divorce without traveling to the place of residence of the second spouse:

1. To obtain a divorce through the registry office, one of the spouses must send a notarized application for divorce to the place of residence of the second spouse or the place of marriage, and the second must come to the civil registry office in person both to submit documents and for further divorce.
2. To obtain a divorce through the court, you must file a claim at the defendant’s place of residence, indicating in it a request to the court to consider the claim in your absence. If the defendant cannot come to court, then he has the right to file a similar petition, but with the obligatory reflection of his position in relation to the claim.

Read more about all the nuances in the article “How to get a divorce in another city”

Claims that may be combined with a claim for divorce

In addition to directly dissolving the marriage, the applicant has the right, simultaneously with the divorce, to request:

1. On the collection of child support.
2. On the division of joint property.
3. On determining the place of residence of the child (children).
4. On establishing the procedure for communication with the child of the second parent.

In some cases, it is simpler and more convenient to actually state the specified demands right away, but if there are conflicts or multiple disputes, lawyers do not recommend combining several complex demands into one claim unless absolutely necessary.

It is easier and more convenient to initiate the divorce procedure through the magistrates' court, but the issue of establishing a procedure for communication with the child will be decided in the district court. The procedure for ending a marriage with a magistrate will take from 2 to 5 months, but in a district court, together with other requirements, it will take up to six months, and this is if no examinations are ordered in the case.

Each of these requirements may be additionally subject to state duty. Property claims, such as division of property, are subject to assessment and calculation of state duty according to the rules of Art. 333.19 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

When combining several claims in a divorce suit, it is better to first enlist the help of an experienced lawyer. You can consult with our specialists right now completely free of charge.

How to file for divorce online

If it is impossible to appear in person at the civil registry office or court, it is possible to send an application using the Internet.

The procedure for preparing or submitting documents will differ depending on the authority to which the relevant application must be sent.

At the registry office

Submitting documents to the civil registry office for divorce via the Internet is carried out using the Gosuslugi.ru portal. To do this, you need to fill out a special form and other data required to submit an application.

You also need to pay a state fee, which can be done through the same website. Once the application is submitted, the applicant will be given a date to appear for the divorce.

To court

Filing of documents for divorce through the court is carried out through the ESIA system and the State Services website. You can only submit documents to the court via the Internet in district courts. Justices of the peace are not yet connected to this system.

To submit documents you need to choose from:

1. Go to the website of the court to which documents are being submitted, and from there – to the section for filing electronic documents.
2. Select the desired court on the Gosuslugi.ru website.

Important! To file for divorce via the Internet in court, you must have an electronic digital signature and sign all submitted documents with it. Otherwise, the court will issue a technical refusal to accept.

List of documentation

The documents provided in order to file for divorce in court largely depend on the specific situation and disputes between the parties. Thus, we can distinguish a package of mandatory documents that must be attached to the claim under any conditions, and additional ones that are provided depending on the case.

Contents of the required package

Once you have determined which court to file your application in, you should collect the necessary documentation.

The applicant must provide the following documents:

• confirming the identity of the plaintiff spouse;
• indicating the birth of a child;
• confirming the fact of marriage.

Additions to the list may include agreements between the parties on issues of children and property, certificates from the MLS and many others.

In addition to providing a complete package of papers, it is very important to pay the state fee. Please note that if the spouses mutually decide to file for divorce, the fee is paid jointly, and if one, then both parties pay it (except in cases where the defendant is incapacitated, missing or is in the MLS).

Cost of divorce

When filing for divorce using any of the above methods, the spouses will have to incur a number of expenses, the obligatory one of which is payment of the state fee.

List of expenses in the form of state duty.

The following additional costs may apply:

1. Payment for legal services if a party hires a lawyer or representative.
2. Payment for expert examinations when combining claims for the division of property or determining the place of residence of children.
3. Expenses for copying documents, obtaining property statements, etc.

Read more about all possible expenses in the material “How much does it cost to get divorced in 2021.”

Arbitrage practice

In practice, there are no cases in which the court would refuse a divorce, even if the defendant does not agree. But alimony requirements are not always satisfied in full.

Let's look at a few examples of real cases:

1. The woman divorced her husband, determined the place of residence of the children, and exacted alimony for them in the amount of 0.77 monthly wages. The case of division of property was separated into separate proceedings (Decision No. 2-4245/2017 of December 11, 2021 in case No. 2-4245/2017).
2. The plaintiff wanted to collect alimony, get a divorce and divide the property. The last requirement has been separated into separate proceedings. By decision No. 2-3398/2017 2-3398/2017~M-887/2017 M-887/2017 dated February 7, 2021 in case No. 2-3398/2017 the marriage was dissolved, the defendant was ordered to pay ¼ of all types of earnings for maintenance child.
3. By decision No. 2-2116/2015 2-2116/2015 ~ M-1799/2015 M-1799/2015 dated October 15, 2015 in case No. 2-2116/2015, the marriage was dissolved, 82% of the PM was recovered for the child (8,000 rubles .).

Terms of divorce

The fastest way to dissolve a marriage is divorce through the registry office. It won’t take the spouses more than 1 month to do everything, but in the case of legal disputes the situation is not so clear.

You can clearly compare the duration of a divorce in the registry office and in court by studying the table below.

Through the registry office

The total duration of a divorce through the registry office cannot exceed 1 month, calculated from the date of acceptance of the application (or applications from both spouses) for divorce.

Exactly one month later, a corresponding entry on the divorce is made in the civil status acts.

Through the court

The general procedural period for divorce in court is strictly established by the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and is:

• 1 month – for consideration of cases in the magistrate’s court;
• 2 months – for consideration of cases in the district court.

In all cases, 1 month is added to this period for the decision to enter into force, after which the parties can receive a judicial act and apply with it to the registry office to register the divorce.

If the district court, in parallel with the divorce, is hearing disputes about children or about the division of property, then for these categories of cases it may be necessary to conduct a number of examinations: construction and technical; forensic psychological, etc. The duration of these may vary from 1 month to six months, while the procedural period from the list above is suspended.

Read more about all the nuances of calculating the term of divorce through the court in a separate article.