According to statistics, the divorce rate among married couples is growing inexorably. Spouses get divorced for various reasons - they cannot live together and run a common household, they are overcome by financial and material difficulties, bad habits, everyday problems, annoying relatives. Couples can get divorced through the registry office, through the court and using the State Services portal. For a number of cases, Russian legislation allows a simplified divorce upon the application of only one of the spouses. Therefore, it is worth finding out how to carry out a divorce through the MFC unilaterally.
Features of divorce through the MFC
In the current legal field of the Russian Federation, the Multifunctional Center is an intermediate link between citizens and the Civil Registry Office, which only accepts the necessary documents for those wishing to get a divorce.
An application for unilateral divorce through the MFC can only be submitted by those married couples who have the right to divorce through the registration authorities. Such couples include a husband and wife who have decided to divorce by mutual consent, who do not have young children, and who have resolved property disputes voluntarily. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 19 of the Family Code (RF IC), a unilateral divorce through the MFC is also possible under the following conditions:
- One of the spouses has been declared missing based on official materials and evidence.
- The husband (wife) is in prison for committing a criminal offense and is serving a sentence of at least three years.
- The spouse has been declared incompetent for medical reasons and cannot be held accountable for his or her actions.
In such situations, the applicant can apply for divorce independently, without the consent of the other party, and even if there are minor children.
To save time, before submitting documents through the multifunctional center, you should find out whether there are such government structures at the place of residence of the applicants, or where the couple was married and whether the husband and wife can use the MFC according to the law.
When will an application be rejected?
MFC employees will not accept documents if those getting divorced have minor children. Even if they have drawn up an alimony agreement with a notary.
There is no reason to refuse a husband to file for divorce if his wife is pregnant. When a woman receives notification of the commencement of a divorce procedure, she must file a counterclaim for alimony for herself and the child.
When the spouses have agreed on a “bloodless” division of property, or have decided to leave the division of joint property for later, they can file an application for divorce at the MFC.
Firstly, employees simply cannot know about existing claims unless the spouses personally indicate this. Secondly, the statute of limitations for settling financial issues is 3 years, counting from the date of divorce. Although this is risky, during this time the ex-spouse can dispose of the property at his own discretion, or bring it into poor condition.
They will not accept documents if, after handing them over to an MFC employee, one of the spouses suddenly changes their mind about getting a divorce. If the registration process has been almost completed, they can keep the papers, but give them time to think and come when both spouses are firmly confident in their decision.
A refusal will occur if there are purely technical errors in filling out (typos, corrections) or fictitious data is provided, or violations are identified during the marriage.
Step-by-step instructions for divorce
Unilateral divorce through the MFC is carried out according to the following scheme:
- A married couple should contact the center at the place where the marriage was registered, or where one of the spouses lives. To avoid queues and find out the list of required papers for submitting an application, you should sign up in advance by calling the hotline or leaving information on the website.
- Pay the official state fee for services provided by registration authorities. In 2021, the amount of state duty if the divorce process is carried out unilaterally using a simplified procedure in accordance with clause 2 of Art. 19 of the RF IC is 350 rubles. If a couple dissolves the relationship by mutual consent, then each spouse will have to pay 650 rubles.
- Fill out an application in Form No. 11 - an approved official form for filing documents for divorce without the consent of the other party.
- Reconcile the submitted necessary documents with MFC employees for completeness and accuracy and receive a receipt from them for acceptance.
- After a certain time, the spouses receive a notification by mail about the need to appear at the registration authorities to obtain a divorce certificate.
- You must appear at the registry office and pick up the document confirming the divorce in person. If the applicant who filed for divorce unilaterally fails to appear at the registry office at the appointed time, the divorce will be invalid.
Grounds for refusal
The functioning of the MFC and the possibility provided by law to submit documents for divorce are not yet a guarantee that they will be unconditionally accepted.
Employees of the multifunctional center are authorized to refuse to accept documents from a citizen if there are grounds for refusal.
Such reasons may be:
- incorrect completion of the divorce application form: incorrect or fictitious data, errors, corrections, blank fields, lack of signature (or notarized signature if the signature must be certified);
- lack of documents that must be attached to the divorce application.
- violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation on civil registration (for example, during a marriage);
- ban on administrative divorce;
In cases where the violation can be corrected (collect the missing documents or fill out the application form correctly), the married couple can contact the MFC again.
Otherwise, the couple should go to court.
Thus, if there is a minor child or the husband or wife does not agree to divorce), the married couple must apply for a divorce to the magistrate or district/city court. An MFC employee will refuse to accept an application, even if it is prepared in an exemplary manner.
A woman's pregnancy is not a limitation in accepting documents if the spouses jointly decided to divorce and they have no other children. The disagreement of the pregnant wife makes divorce impossible, the disagreement of the husband allows for divorce, but only through the court.
The presence of disputes between spouses regarding the division of joint property is not an obstacle to submitting an application to the MFC and subsequent divorce to the registry office. It is possible to resolve a dispute and divide jointly acquired property after a divorce (the statute of limitations is 3 years after the violation of the rights to joint ownership, use, and disposal of property) - in a separate lawsuit.
Expert opinion
Semyon Frolov
Lawyer. 7 years of experience. Specialization: family, inheritance, housing law.
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Author of the article
Irina Garmash
Family law consultant.
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List of documents
MFC is a category of government organizations in Russia that provide government services to the population. Citizens who contact such centers significantly save their time on standing in queues and collecting the necessary documents. To carry out a unilateral divorce at the MFC without children, you must provide the following documents:
- A completed application in Form No. 11 from the spouse who is solely filing for divorce.
- Information about the applicant – passport details, date and place of birth, residential address, citizenship.
- Birth certificates of children.
- Confirmation of payment of the established state duty in the form of a receipt.
- In case of a unilateral divorce, it is necessary to provide supporting documents confirming the absence of the other party - medical documents declaring the husband (wife) incompetent, a police certificate of imprisonment, a court verdict declaring the person missing.
If there are no documents
Is it possible to get a divorce through the MFC if there is no marriage certificate? In this case, the answer will be negative. But when contacting the civil registry office that previously issued the specified document, in case of its loss, there is no need to make a duplicate in advance. Employees of the government agency will restore it themselves.
It’s also okay if the certificate is lost and the person needs to file an application in court. Having written the appropriate petition, you can ask the judge to request a duplicate.
As for the lack of other documents, in particular a passport, everything is much more complicated. Regardless of whether a person applies to the MFC, the court or the registry office, he will need a passport, which means that he should first take care of its restoration if it is lost or has become unusable.
Terms of divorce in the MFC and its cost
According to the current legislation, after filing documents for divorce through the multifunctional center, the married couple is given one month for reconciliation; if it does not happen, after 30 days they can come to the registry office and receive a certificate of divorce.
If the husband and wife reconcile, they do not come to the registration authority on the appointed day, the submitted application becomes invalid and the marriage remains preserved. The service itself of submitting an application to government agencies is free, you only need to pay the state fee, the cost of which for a unilateral divorce through the MFC is 350 rubles, which must be paid before submitting the package of materials.
MFC employees may refuse to submit an application for the following reasons:
- Not all necessary documents for the divorce process have been submitted.
- Errors and inaccuracies were found in the submitted papers.
- The state duty was not paid or was paid using incorrect details or in the wrong amount.
- A married couple has unresolved issues that can only be resolved in court.
After providing the missing documents and correcting errors, the procedure for submitting an application to the MFC can be repeated.
Can a multifunctional center refuse a divorce?
An MFC employee has the right to refuse to accept a divorce application if there are the following legal grounds (clause 42 of Order No. 307):
- state registration of marriage annulment contradicts the provisions of Federal Law No. 143;
- the documents submitted to the government agency by the married couple do not comply with the legal requirements established by Federal Law No. 143 and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation;
- the husband (wife) does not have the right to receive documents confirming the fact of annulment of the marriage union (for example, the spouse is declared incompetent by the court);
- the presence of disagreements between divorcing citizens when making corrections or changes to the certificate of termination of the marriage;
- the couple does not have a marriage certificate.
Attention
If the MFC denies the divorce procedure due to lack of competence in this matter (that is, for example, if the husband (wife) does not give consent or the couple has children together), then divorcing citizens need to go to court in accordance with Article 21 RF IC.
