How to obtain a divorce certificate: deadlines for obtaining the certificate and the amount of state duty

Once the divorce process is completed, each spouse must be issued appropriate certificates confirming their updated status. The presence of this document gives former spouses the opportunity to re-register marital relations with new partners. Certificates confirming divorce have a unified form and include data on the date of divorce and the documents on the basis of which the marriage was completed. We will tell you more about how to obtain a divorce certificate.

How to obtain a divorce certificate

When may a certificate be required?

A divorce certificate is not a document of primary importance, but its lack can cause severe inconvenience in certain situations. Especially in the absence of a stamp in the passport, which would be an official confirmation of the divorce.

Among the cases in which a certificate can significantly make life easier for its owner are the following:

• entering into a new marriage;
• writing an application to the Federal Migration Service in order to obtain a new passport;
• carrying out various manipulations with real estate;
• taking out a loan from a bank;
• any judicial issues relating to aspects of maintaining joint children (including the collection of funds for alimony).

A divorce certificate will be required when re-entering a marriage.

A passport with a stamp confirming the divorce is only formal evidence in all of the above situations. To avoid problems, you should present the certificate immediately so that officials do not have additional questions.

Where can I get a certificate?

At the same time, it is important to understand that even if a citizen does not have the appropriate certificate in his hands, and the marriage was officially dissolved, then in any case he is not a married person (if we are talking about a married woman). And if in some circumstances a citizen needs this paper, he can obtain it in two main ways:

• by requesting a duplicate document from the registry office;
• using an extract from the civil status act relating to divorces.

The Civil Registry Office is responsible for issuing divorce certificates.

Thus, the issuance of marriage or divorce certificates is carried out exclusively by registry office employees. In order for this certificate to gain legal force, both spouses must leave their signature on it. At the same time, it is absolutely not necessary for spouses to sign the paper at the same time (as happens when entering into a marriage).

How long to wait for a document

In order to prepare a document confirming a divorce, the registry office takes about thirty days. After making a positive decision, the registry office sends notifications to the former spouses and issues each of them a certificate. It should be noted that the registry office does not indicate a clear procedure for divorce, therefore the process of drawing up the document may vary in its details.

It takes about a month to issue a divorce certificate from the registry office.

From time to time it happens that civil registry office employees first carry out a divorce, but issue certificates much later. In this regard, the nuances of obtaining a certificate depend on the workload of specific departments and organizational details of each registry office.

Information in the divorce certificate

The certificate is issued on a special form of the established form, the appearance of which does not depend on the method of divorce. The reason for the divorce is not indicated in the document. Basic information contained in the document:

• FULL NAME. spouses at the time of termination of the marriage relationship.
• An indication of the grounds for divorce – a court decision or a statement from the parties.
• Registration number of the civil status act and indication of the authority where the divorce took place.
• Surnames of former spouses after divorce.
• Date of issue of the certificate, its series and number.
• Information about the person who issued the document.

If the court was involved in the divorce

In some cases, divorce occurs with the involvement of the court - as a rule, this happens when the spouses fail to agree on a number of important issues regarding property and common children. If the court was involved in the divorce of the spouses, then obtaining a certificate has its own characteristics, but it is also obtained through the registry office.

Among the features that should be taken into account during a divorce through the involvement of the court, we will name the main ones:

• in order for the registry office employees to have the right to issue a certificate to spouses, they will be required to provide not only an application and copies of passports, but also a court decision confirming the end of the family relationship;
  Read also:  Step-by-step instructions for divorce through the registry office. Sample application

  The petition for divorce is sent by the plaintiff

• In order for a court decision to gain legal force, it is necessary to wait thirty days from the moment of its immediate announcement. On the document itself there must be a date from which this document can be used, as well as a round seal;
• The process may become more complicated if one of the spouses decides to appeal the court's decision before a month has passed. Then an appeal to the registry office will be impossible - first you will need to wait for a new decision, which will be made by the court of second instance, which deals with appeals. At the same time, the decision made by this court comes into force on the same day. If, as a result of an appeal, the decision has changed, then in addition to the main document, it is also necessary to provide the judicial act of the court of appeal with the amendments made.

  In some cases, the judge decides to give the spouses three months to truce

The procedure for obtaining a duplicate through the registry office

The procedure for restoring a certificate through the registry office is similar to obtaining the certificate itself. Therefore, the application must contain similar information. It must contain the information necessary to restore the document:

• the name of the civil registry office where the citizen applied;
• information about the applicant: full name, registration address, passport details, contact phone number;
• information about the ex-spouse: full name, registration address, method of contacting him;
• information reflected in the original certificate: the date of its issue, details and name of the civil registry office that registered the divorce, the basis for receiving the document. It can be either an application for divorce or a court decision;
• the applicant's surname received after the divorce and included in the certificate. It should be noted that it was changed during the divorce;
• the applicant’s request for the restoration of the certificate and the issuance of a duplicate;
• At the end of the application, put your signature and the date of its preparation.

Application for the issuance of a repeated certificate of divorce (sample) Application form for the issuance of a repeated certificate of divorce (form No. 19)

In the second option, if it is not possible to contact the registry office that issued the original document, and the application was submitted to the nearest registry office branch, the employees of this department will send a request to the registry office that issued the original document.

Expert commentary

Kireev Maxim

Lawyer

The document will be issued after payment of the required fee. To confirm payment, you must present a receipt for the payment made. If the basis for obtaining a certificate was a court decision, then a copy of this document must be attached to the application.

The duplicate certificate is identical in form and information to the original, but it is stamped with a stamp indicating that it is a duplicate.

How much does a certificate cost?

The divorce certificate itself is issued completely free of charge. However, like most actions in which government agencies are involved, this process involves the payment of a state fee. The standard state duty is 650 rubles, which is paid by both spouses separately. Other payment options are presented in the table.

Table 1. State fees for a divorce certificate

Payment of state fees can be made both through most bank branches and through terminals that are installed in most registry offices. However, these terminals have one inconvenient feature - they do not give out change, so it is recommended to pay the fee in small bills.

How to apply for registration

According to the thirty-fifth article of the Federal Law, an application to register a divorce can be made in several ways:

• in oral form. An application from the spouses will not be required if the divorce will take place in the same registry office in which the marriage was once formalized. The only thing employees will need is a court decision confirming the divorce;

  To issue a certificate, the registry office will need proof that the court approved the divorce.

• in writing. Writing an application will be a prerequisite in two cases: if spouses apply to the department at their place of registration or when applying through third parties (representatives). The spouses will need both the application itself and the attached extract from the decision of the judicial authorities;
• in electronic form. In order to submit an application via the Internet, you will need to register on the State Services portal and gain access to your personal account. For the application to gain legal force, it must have an electronic signature. This application option is often used in cases where a divorce is filed remotely;

  Registration of divorce through State Services

• through an authorized person. Sometimes one of the spouses (or both) is not able to come to the registry office on their own. In such circumstances, the involvement of third parties is permitted, for whom a power of attorney is issued.

Reference. In addition to the registry office, applications are currently also accepted by Multifunctional Centers (MFCs). However, not all branches have this function (for now it is available mainly in large regions).

Where to contact?

As a rule, even before the dissolution of family relationships, many couples stop living together, which does not mean the possibility of submitting an application to any registry office.

So, within the framework of Article 32 of Federal Law No. 143, it is possible to issue a divorce certificate:

• in the civil registry office at the place of permanent or temporary registration of the former spouses;
• in the registry office, where the marriage was originally formalized.

That is, any civil registry office, despite its fairly broad powers, will not be suitable and a spouse interested in obtaining a document must contact only the institutions, taking into account the rules specified in Article 32 of Federal Law No. 143.

This is due to the fact that archival records of the former registration are stored only at the place of marriage or can only be requested from there.

What documents are needed for divorce

In order to file a divorce, you do not need to collect a large number of papers. However, the set of documentation depends on the circumstances under which the divorce occurs - whether it involves mutual consent or is carried out unilaterally.

Everything that is required from the spouses by mutual consent fits into one small list:

• passports;
• a statement confirmed by the signatures of the spouses;
• marriage certificate;
• receipt confirming payment of the fee.

Sample marriage certificate

If we are talking about divorce through the court, then the applicant will also be required to submit a statement of claim. Additional documents that may also be needed include:

• birth certificates (for children under 18 years of age);
• a document confirming the consent of the spouses regarding who the child(ren) will stay with;
• a document establishing the amount and procedure for payment of alimony;
• document on the division of joint property;
• marriage contract.

Marriage agreement form

In some cases, one party seeks a divorce. This can happen when the spouse is missing, serving a sentence (more than three years) or has been officially declared incompetent. Then the spouse will need to prepare the following package of documents:

• passport;
• statement;
• certificate;
• confirmation from the judicial authorities proving that the spouse cannot take part in the divorce (for one of the three reasons indicated above);
• receipt confirming payment of the fee.

Arbitrage practice

The case was considered by the Borzinsky City Court of the Trans-Baikal Territory in June 2021.

The statement of claim, written on behalf of the husband, formulated the following claims:

1. End the marriage relationship with your wife.
2. Divide debts and jointly acquired assets (apartment), since the spouses did not draw up a property agreement.
3. Divide residential property in half.
4. Distribute the remaining debt on the loan obligation equally.
5. Since the defendant did not participate in repaying the debt, then collect from him a compensation payment in favor of the husband equal to 50% of the debt already paid.

During the first court hearing, the parties came to a compromise regarding the debt to the bank. The defendant did not object to the husband’s demands and agreed to a settlement agreement. The court recognized the legality of this document. With regard to other claims, the plaintiff's position has not changed. Additionally, he pointed out that it is impossible to reconcile with his wife, since there is no mutual understanding between them. He concluded an alimony agreement with his wife regarding the maintenance of their common young child, because he did not consider it right to abandon the child and wanted to take part in his life. In turn, the wife had nothing against separating from her husband, since the family, in her opinion, had already broken up. She motivated her refusal to continue the relationship by her husband’s neglect of providing for the family, since he worked irregularly. Therefore, the money he earned was not enough to live on. However, with regard to the apartment, she asked to reject her husband’s demands and take into account legal norms requiring that the interests of young children be taken into account. The defendant believed that fulfilling the conditions put forward by the plaintiff in the application would violate the rights of their common child.

Additionally, the wife noted that refusal to satisfy her demands would not allow the child to develop properly, because next to the disputed apartment there is a kindergarten that their baby attends.

Having studied the materials of the divorce case together, the judge decided:

1. No legal grounds for continuing the marriage were found, so divorce is recognized as the only correct option.
2. The wife's arguments, with which she substantiated her claims to a share of housing exceeding 50%, were found unfounded. Therefore, the court divides the apartment equally.

How long does the divorce process take?

Many spouses have questions about how long the divorce process lasts. The answer to this depends on the conditions in which the divorce was carried out:

• if only the registry office was involved in the process, then the spouses will have to wait thirty days for the official divorce;
• if the divorce was carried out with the involvement of a court, then the spouses have the right to receive a certificate on the day the court makes the relevant decision.

The duration of the divorce process depends on how the parties are set up

However, all these terms apply to divorces that occur by mutual consent of the partners. If one of the spouses, for some reason, does not support the other in the desire to dissolve the marriage, then the process may be delayed. In situations where one of the parties insists on refusing a divorce, the court sometimes decides to give the spouses an additional three months for reconciliation.

What to choose: registry office or court

As mentioned above, divorces are in the field of activity of both registry offices and judicial authorities. And often spouses have a natural question about which particular authority to choose for divorce. The answer to this question is quite simple, since both the registry office and the court have their own specialization, so the choice is based on the life circumstances of a particular married couple.

The registry office and the court have their own competence, which covers different situations

MARRIAGE REGISTRY

An appeal to the registry office takes place in the following cases:

• the spouses do not have children who are currently under eighteen years of age;
• the spouses have no controversial issues regarding the division of property;
• one of the spouses is incapacitated/in prison/missing.

Marital bars contact the registry office if there are no controversial issues regarding children or property

In all situations except the last one, the registry office employees are provided with two applications - one for each spouse. Please note that you can contact two branches of the Civil Registry Office - the one located at your place of residence and the one where the marriage was registered (sometimes these addresses coincide).

Court

Courts are required in cases where spouses require mediators to help resolve legally controversial issues. Such issues may include determining the future fate of minor children (if any), distribution of property, division of a common business, and so on.

There are two courts that deal with divorces: the district court and the world court. Most couples give their preference to the magistrates' court, since the procedure is more simplified there. Cases decided in district courts, on the contrary, tend to drag on and require considerable financial investments.

A divorce filed through the Magistrates' Court requires less time and money.

Regardless of which authority the spouses ultimately choose, divorce involves going through several main stages:

1. preparation of a statement of claim and its subsequent filing;
2. verification by judicial officers of the application and the documentation attached to it;
3. setting a court date (if the documents were drawn up correctly);
4. consideration of the case and decision-making;
5. entry into force of the decision and its subsequent forwarding to the registry office.

Video: Divorce in court

How to file a claim

When going to court, you should clearly understand that one of the most important documents that will determine the success of the process is the claim. The claim must briefly and clearly outline the life circumstances and demands of the plaintiff (applicant) against the defendant. People filing a claim for the first time are advised to contact a lawyer for advice.

Sample statement of claim for divorce

In general terms, the content of the claim must necessarily include the following points:

• the name of the court chosen by the plaintiff;
• information about the parties participating in the process;
• information about the marriage (common children, property, etc.);
• list of requirements.

As already mentioned, at its discretion, the court may postpone the consideration of the case for several months and give the spouses time to discuss controversial issues at home.

You can read about other features of drawing up statements of claim below.

What should be in the statement of claim

How to pay the fee?

Payment is made by bank transfer. It can be done directly at the registry office or MFC, taking the details from the employees. As a rule, such institutions install payment terminals. If they are not there, you will have to use the services of the nearest Sberbank branch. However, you will need to pay a commission. Or you can make a payment in advance via the Internet using electronic means.

If the request is submitted through the public services service, then after the application is generated, a message with a link will be sent to your email. By clicking on it, you can pay in one of the following ways: by credit card or using an electronic wallet.

If payment is made on the government services portal, a 30% discount is given. Then the state duty will be only 245 rubles.

Common Mistakes

In conclusion, I would like to pay special attention to the mistakes that spouses often make during the divorce process.

Absolute trust

Despite the impending divorce, spouses sometimes do not lose trust and warm feelings for their partner, which can sometimes turn out to be not the best outcome for them. Unfortunately, some people go to the so-called. an inconspicuous divorce, when, for example, a spouse files an application, hiding this information from her husband. According to the law, if the defendant (which is the husband in this situation) does not appear in court, then the divorce is filed in absentia on those grounds that will be most convenient for the wife.

In some cases, one spouse may hide filing for divorce from their partner

As a result, the husband may accumulate debts, which leads to predictable problems with the law. To get out of such a difficult situation you will need to go through a long and difficult path:

• hire a competent lawyer;
• provide evidence that the defendant knew nothing about the divorce;
• annul the divorce.

As a rule, such “scams” ​​are carried out if the spouse moves to another city. In this regard, when moving, it is recommended to hire a lawyer who would take responsibility for all notifications received in the mailbox.

In order for alimony debts to be invalidated, the divorce will need to be annulled.

Ignoring notarization

Often, spouses prefer to refuse the services of specialists because they believe that they can cope with drawing up an agreement on their own. However, as practice shows, such arrogance can lead to big problems in the future. The presence of a neutral party in the form of a lawyer will allow you to take into account the interests of both parties and draw up a correct document in which all requirements will be clearly outlined.

Notarization will help avoid possible conflicts

Illiterate division of property

The division of property is one of the most problematic issues in the divorce process. The division includes only the property that the spouses acquired directly during the period of marriage and belongs to the category of jointly acquired property. As a rule, each party is interested in owning a larger share.

Common arguments include the following:

• living together with a common child;
• greater financial contribution to the acquisition of property and so on.

The division of property during a divorce requires legal savvy of each party.

But in court proceedings, this evidence turns out to be largely ineffective. That is why an experienced lawyer, when defending his client, will prove that he invested finances in the property that were available before marriage.

Unreasonable self-confidence

Some spouses are absolutely sure that certain pieces of real estate will remain theirs under any circumstances. For example, a client may own property that belonged to him before marriage. It is considered personal and indivisible, which reduces the chances that the husband will sue her to almost zero.

When dividing property, it is advisable to enlist the support of a lawyer.

And indeed, according to the law, only its owner can claim this house or apartment. However, according to the same law, if major repairs were carried out at a given facility with the money of both spouses, then from now on it becomes common. Among the so-called integral improvements include:

• wiring;
• gasification;
• covering the walls with plaster.

Therefore, if desired and due legal support, the spouse can claim his rights to something that, as it seemed to the client, has nothing to do with him. Thus, according to the logic of divorce proceedings, victory remains with the one who is most savvy in legal matters.