Divorce through court: how to apply, how to divorce a foreigner or if you have children

Divorce in court: when you have to go to court

Divorce in court is not advisable in all cases. You only need to submit an application in the following cases:

• The spouses have children who are under 18 years of age;
• There is no mutual consent to divorce.

If the circumstances in question do not exist, in order to obtain a divorce, you must go to the registry office. There the procedure will be completed faster and without unnecessary paperwork.

Possible difficulties

Divorcing your husband and having children under the age of 18 can present a number of difficulties that need to be considered before filing. Let's highlight the main ones:

1. Failure to properly file a claim may result in refusal to initiate proceedings.
2. The trial period can last up to six months.
3. The trial is difficult to bear on a psychological level, especially for children.
4. The refusal of the second spouse and the filing of an appeal significantly delays the process.
5. Difficulties often arise in collecting documents and preparing certificates.
6. The parties incur financial costs associated with paying fees and legal services.
7. It is more difficult to win a case if the defendant has an experienced lawyer, etc.

The success of the plaintiff’s actions depends on the correctness of the statement of claim, the availability of evidence and the legality of the position.

File a lawsuit for divorce: how to do it?

To dissolve a marriage through the court, you need to go through a certain procedure. First of all, collect documents:

• Identification papers (passports);
• Correctly draw up a claim;
• Marriage certificate;
• If there are children (necessarily minors) - their birth certificate;
• A receipt indicating that the state fee has been paid;
• If you use the services of a representative, a notarized power of attorney in his name;
• Consent to divorce from a pregnant woman (or if the child is under one year old).

When there is common property, its division can be filed both together with the divorce and after it is finalized.

Documents should be submitted at the defendant’s place of residence (if it is a spouse who refuses to divorce), but if the plaintiff is raising a young child, you can file an application to a court nearby. Although usually such problems do not arise, since it is assumed that the spouses still live in the same city or even live together.

The absence of disputes about children or property means that you can go to the magistrates' court. The maximum amount of the claim that he can consider is 50 thousand rubles. If there is still a dispute, then the documents in question must be submitted to the district court. If all the rules are followed and the documents are correctly selected, you will receive a notification within approximately two weeks about when the date for consideration of the case will be set.

Alimony

Chapter 17 of the RF IC establishes the procedure for assigning and paying alimony. These are payments that are awarded in two ways: peacefully or by court decision. This money is addressed to a person who is dependent on the citizen. Their actual recipient is the parent living with the minor. But the money is transferred to the child, to his care, maintenance, and development.

The obligation to support offspring is established for parents in Art. 80 IC RF. But mom and dad pay child support until they are 18. In exceptional cases - until 23.

Alimony is transferred in two ways:

• voluntarily;
• forcibly.

The first option is to conclude a settlement agreement. In it, the parent who pays the money undertakes to transfer it on time, in the agreed amount. Since the parties, when concluding an agreement, are based on its freedom, they independently choose the form and amount of payments, without relying on the requirements of legal acts. This option is the most progressive and does not create interference in its implementation.

IMPORTANT: the agreement must be certified by a notary. In the contract clause when determining the amount of payments, it is worth paying attention to one thing. The amount of alimony cannot be lower than the amount that would be established by force, that is, through the court. By this, the legislator gives priority to this norm over freedom of contract, due to the fact that it protects the interests of a child or several children.

The second option is the most common. It is due to the fact that the parent avoids payments, concludes a settlement agreement, and does not want to support his child. And then the question of assigning this benefit is decided by the court.

Alimony is paid in two ways.

The claim must contain the following information:

• name of the court;
• information about the parties;
• circumstances of the divorce,
• requirements that are clearly stated.

How to apply for alimony

How to apply for alimony if there is no mutual agreement? The procedure has features that you need to know about:

1. No state duty. If the case for the collection of alimony is considered in a separate proceeding, outside the framework of the divorce, then the state fee is not charged to the plaintiff. In the operative part of the decision, if the court orders alimony, the fee is collected from the defendant.
2. Jurisdiction in cases of alimony is of an alternative nature. This means that the interested party has a choice of where to go - to the court at the place of residence of the plaintiff or the defendant.

In court proceedings, each of the parties to the dispute (parents of the minor) is obliged to prove the circumstances to which it refers in substantiating the requirements specified in the application, as well as objections.

The plaintiff is required to provide a rationale for the arguments in writing.
The defendant, in a situation where he does not recognize the claim, objects to the amount of established alimony, is obliged to prove his point of view. Order a free legal consultation

Divorce in court: how to divorce a foreigner

It is possible to dissolve a marriage with a foreigner or a person without official citizenship not only in Russia, but also abroad. The only exceptions are those cases when a foreign spouse lives permanently in Russia. In this case, only Russian courts can issue a divorce.

As for the features of the divorce procedure, it does not have any fundamental differences between a divorce from a Russian. The only caveat is the need to obtain a translation of all documents in a foreign language. Also, these papers require legalization and certification by a notary in Russia.

A divorce in another country will also be official, but if it is formalized on the territory of another state, the procedure will follow different laws. Only a divorce is recognized as valid, the nuances of which do not contradict the laws of the Russian Federation. A divorce certificate issued in another country must be legalized. After this it can be considered official.

Rules and conditions for divorce with small children

When parents divorce, the main thing the judge thinks about is the interests of the child. Therefore, the dissolution of a marriage with young children has its own peculiarities.

Up to a year

The law establishes a ban on divorce if a man’s wife is in an “interesting” position, as well as during the 1st year of the baby’s life. Provided that the woman does not want to break up. It is believed that this norm will protect mother and child, and will also give a chance to restore the family hearth.

Up to three years

If the baby has reached the age of 1 year, then divorce is possible, but it is quite difficult. The court will also hear the opinion of the other party. If a husband leaves his wife and she does not interfere, he will be forced to pay alimony to her, as well as to the child.

If a couple has a child with a disability, or he acquired this status during his life due to injury or illness, the spouse is obliged to pay alimony for maintenance and care.

The procedure for divorce through the court, its features

Divorce in court differs from other procedures, as it has a special procedure. Let's take a closer look at these nuances:

• The court is able to protect the interests of persons who cannot do this on their own. For example, minor children, spouses who are not given freedom, etc.
• Court proceedings are not the fastest procedure. If you submit documents to the registry office, he will divorce within a month, but if you go to court, you will have to wait three months, which are given for the spouses to reconcile. When this does not happen, the trial procedure begins. Moreover, it can be quite long if the spouses also share valuable property. But even if the court has already made a decision, it will take about a month before it comes into force. In total, in the best case scenario, it will take at least 4 months just to get a divorce.
• If, after a divorce, former spouses want to enter into new marriages or obtain updated documents on family composition, they must go to the registry office with the existing court decision.
• During a divorce (dissolution of marriage), it is not necessary to demand child support. This can be done after the breakup or before filing an application to court. Children have the right to be supported by both parents, regardless of whether the mother and father are separated or divorced.
• The division of property also does not have to be tied to the divorce. You can divide everything you have acquired before the divorce in court, during it and three years after the end of the relationship.

If a quick divorce is necessary, it is best to simply terminate the official relationship. But then property and children will have to be divided at other meetings, which is costly in terms of money. It is much more profitable to accommodate all claims in one lawsuit. Although if the situation with the division of property is complex and controversial, it is much better if it is considered separately. This way the court will be able to understand in more detail the features of a particular procedure, and the parties will be able to collect all the necessary documents.

How to file a divorce by mutual consent with children: step-by-step instructions

The procedure is regulated by Art. 34 Federal Law 15.11.1997 N 143-FZ, and consists of several stages:

1. Obtaining a copy of a court decision or sentence. To do this, you need to contact the court office. The document will be issued within 5 days.
2. Submitting an application to the registry office. This can be done in person, or through the registry office website, if such an opportunity is provided in the region. After this, the registry office employees notify the convicted spouse within three days, or send a notice to the guardian. It states the date from which the marriage will be terminated. If the other party is serving a sentence, the notice additionally states the date by which information about the last name remaining after the divorce must be provided.
3. Receipt of a certificate with a note of termination. It is issued on a specified date, and the marriage is dissolved in the presence of the applicant.

Sample application

An application for divorce through the registry office with children is submitted using Form No. 11, approved by Order of the Ministry of Justice dated October 1, 2018 No. 201. What information does it contain:

• name and address of the government agency;
• Full name, passport details, education;
• order of marriage;
• number of common children;
• location;
• details of the marriage certificate;
• details of the court decision on the basis of which the marriage is dissolved unilaterally;
• the surname that will remain after the divorce;
• the name and address of the correctional institution where the absent spouse is located;
• information about the guardian of the incapacitated person;
• FULL NAME. and the address of the property manager of the missing spouse.

At the end there is a signature. At the very beginning of the application, upon acceptance, the registry office employee makes a corresponding note, and the appointed date of termination is also indicated.

State duty

According to Art. 333.26 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of the state fee for divorce through the registry office by mutual consent with children under 18 years of age is 350 rubles. You need to pay it before submitting documents in any convenient way: through an ATM, online, at a bank branch.

Important! According to the law, employees of state and municipal institutions do not have the right to demand receipts for payment of state duties, and all information about the receipt of money must be verified through the internal system. In practice, confirmation of payment may be needed in the event of a program failure and in other situations, so it is better to save receipts.

Documentation

When submitting an application, a passport and a court decision are sufficient.

Which court should I apply for divorce through the court?

The child is not to blame

At the age of four to seven years, a child perceives himself at the center of the world and may begin to blame himself. Especially if he had previously seen parents quarrel over education: for example, one wanted to punish the child for a broken cup, and the second said that he just needed to buy a new one. If the divorce followed a series of such quarrels, the child may think that he and his behavior are to blame. That is why children over three years old can and should be explained that this is not so.

The child needs to be repeated many times and in different contexts that no one is to blame for the divorce: neither himself, nor relatives, nor family friends. It just happens in life: adults drift apart.

Divorce through the court: how to divide assets received during marriage

Divorce in court is often associated with the division of valuable assets, so it is advisable to consider what exactly the court divides:

• Real estate of various types and movable property;
• Bank deposits;
• Shares;
• Money earned from intellectual property (patents, etc.), business;
• Stocks and bonds;
• Financial assistance, state benefits, salaries, pensions;
• Luxury items and jewelry;
• Shares in commercial organizations.

Personal property such as clothing and hygiene products will not be shared. Also, property received before marriage or gifts will not be divided. The right of authorship and earnings from it received after the breakup will not be taken away.

Judicial divorce: procedure terms

Divorce in court is not the fastest procedure, but the exact timing may be influenced by various factors. Usually, the most powerful influence on the timing of the consideration of the case is the child issue - with whom the minor children will live. Therefore, if the marriage was without children, the divorce will be finalized in a month. But if you have children, you will have to wait 2 months. The thing is that the first case is considered by a magistrate judge, and when proceedings are carried out with children, a federal judge takes over the case.

But practice shows a completely different picture. If you divorce without children or property, after just one or two meetings the spouses will be free people. This will take a couple of weeks (sometimes you can do it in one). But if you have to divide children and property, such procedures can drag on for months.

This is only if the spouses have not reached a common denominator. If the couple has decided who will live with the children, what child support to pay, etc. more than one or two meetings will not be required. That is why, if you want to say goodbye quickly, you should not argue over every little thing.

Divorce in court: what difficulties may arise

Sometimes difficulties may arise during the trial. For example, the defendant ignores the meeting. But if he was notified about it and did not appear, this will not be an obstacle to the divorce. Also in such a situation, you can send a representative of the spouse or request that the meeting be temporarily postponed. But for the petition to be granted, it is necessary to find significant evidence justifying the absence of one of the parties.

If the spouse has disappeared and cannot be notified of the proceedings. But if you send a notice to his known address, the person will be considered to have been notified. If it is not clear where a person is in principle, you can use the judicial practice of declaring him missing. In this case, divorce in court will not be required - you can complete the proceedings in the registry office.

Sometimes a spouse may be pregnant by someone else. But you cannot divorce her without her consent until the child is one year old. You need to get permission, and only then begin the procedure. If you have lost your marriage certificate, before going to court, you need to restore it by requesting another document from the registry office.

The court may not accept the application. This usually happens if you haven’t paid the state fee, indicated impossible requirements, or filed a claim in the wrong court. If the case is not reviewed and returned, its deficiencies will be indicated. They need to be eliminated, and then the case must be returned for consideration.

Don't hide the fact that your parents are divorced

The worst thing that can happen after a divorce is the loss of contact between the child and one of the parents, when he simply disappears from the life of the former family. It also happens that one parent declares war on the other, and the children become soldiers in this war. These are tough scenarios and a topic for a separate article. We will talk about families where the father and mother love the child and are interested in ensuring that the divorce does not traumatize him too much.

It will not be possible to completely protect children from problems. In any case, they are going through a divorce together with adults.

And here it is important to remember three things:

• divorce is traumatic. Depending on the age of the child and the circumstances, this trauma is experienced differently, but it never goes away without a trace;
• the child is able to survive the divorce of his parents and adapt to new circumstances;
• Parents' actions can aggravate or mitigate the consequences of divorce for the child.

You should not hide the fact of divorce from your child. It is also impossible to lie about the fact that dad or mom went on a business trip: the truth will still be revealed, and this will only alienate the child. He will stop trusting adults and withdraw into himself. To prevent the child from thinking that the situation can be corrected, it is worth saying that divorce is final and the parents will no longer live together.

Telling a child that nothing will change in his life is also a lie. But it is important to maintain the rhythm of life that is as familiar to him as possible: for example, if the father took the child to classes or picked him up from school, then it will be better if everything continues this way. Then it will be easier for the child to accept the fact that one of the parents no longer lives with him.

At the same time, it is necessary to show the child that his parents care about his feelings and he should not hide them. He may be angry, cry, indignant, upset. Life changes for everyone, and a child is no exception.

It is important to allow the child to ask questions, and for parents to learn to answer them honestly and without insults.

Divorce: how much does the state fee and lawyer services cost?

Divorce is not a free procedure, as it requires the parties to pay a state fee. Its size depends on what demands are made in the claim:

• 600 rubles if you simply divorce;
• 300 rubles for non-monetary requirements (for example, determining the order in which communication with children will take place);
• 4% of the price of property when dividing it in court;
• 150 rubles when collecting alimony.

Also, many cases involve the participation of lawyers. The cost of their services is determined by the specialists themselves.

Divorce or invalidation of a marriage: how a relationship is invalidated

A court decision on divorce is not the same thing as declaring the relationship invalid. For example, property may not be divided. You won't even get the status of ex-spouses. But the procedure in question is possible in the following cases:

• The marriage relationship turned out to be fictitious or one of the spouses already has an undissolved marriage;
• The spouses (one of them) were forced to register their relationship;
• The spouse was a minor at the time of registration and did not have a marriage license or is legally incompetent;
• Spouses - immediate relatives, adoptive parent with adopted child;
• One of the spouses has HIV or sexually transmitted diseases, which he hid from his partner.

To use any of these reasons, they must be proven.

Is it worth saving a marriage for the sake of a child?

This question is asked by spouses in whose relationship there is no longer mutual understanding and love, quarrels have become more frequent, and often each of them is visited by thoughts of divorce.

Some make a choice in favor of the child, do not want to traumatize his psyche and remain to live together, but as strangers. Others decide to divorce and feel guilty that they could not preserve a happy childhood for their child, when mom and dad love and care for their baby together.

But remember, dear parents: saving a marriage makes sense only when the parents behave respectfully towards each other and can resolve their differences. Otherwise, constant scandals, life in an atmosphere of hatred and irritation of parents towards each other will leave a deep mark on the mental development of the child.

As a rule, children deeply experience everything that happens between their parents. And they feel that mom and dad no longer love each other and don’t want to be together.

Therefore, before answering this question, think about whether you and your spouse can maintain an atmosphere of acceptance and respect in the family, or whether it would be better for you to separate and live separately from each other.

Divorce through the court: features of the procedure and duration of consideration of the issue

Divorce in court follows a proven algorithm. First, the judge announces what case he is hearing and checks that everyone is present, after which he tells them their rights and responsibilities. Witnesses should leave the room after hearing this (if there are witnesses).

Next comes the hearing of the petition and the judge must indicate whether it is possible to continue the consideration of the divorce case in court if one of the defendants is absent. If the answer is negative, the meeting will be postponed, and if the answer is positive, it will continue.

The judge is obliged to check with the parties whether they want to resolve the conflict peacefully. If the answer is negative, the meeting will continue, and the parties must justify their demands. If there are witnesses, the court must interview them and study written evidence. These include documents, contracts, agreements, etc. Video and audio recordings are also considered. Afterwards, the floor is given to the experts invited to the case. For example, representatives of guardianship authorities, etc.

The next stage is debate. When they are finished, everyone must leave the judge's office. After some time, the court must announce its decision. It needs to be documented, so you will pick up the document after a while. If you are not satisfied with the decision, you can always appeal. But if you need a simple divorce certificate, you can pick it up after the trial.