- Dissolution of marriage in Ukraine at the request of one of the spouses
- Family lawyer in Ukraine
- Checking the grounds for divorce in Ukraine
- Absence of children as grounds for divorce in Ukraine
- Divorce if one of the spouses is in prison in Ukraine
- Termination of marriage if one of the spouses is recognized as missing in Ukraine
- Fictitious divorce in Ukraine
- Appeal against the decision of the registry office in Ukraine
- Family lawyer in Ukraine in resolving cases of divorce through the registry office at the request of one of the spouses
- Frequently asked questions to a lawyer in Ukraine
Dissolution of marriage in Ukraine at the request of one of the spouses
The marriage is terminated by the state civil registration authority upon the application of one of the spouses, if the other of the spouses:
- recognized as missing;
- declared incompetent;
- convicted of a crime and sentenced to imprisonment for at least three years.
The marriage is dissolved regardless of the existence of a property dispute between the spouses.
But before moving on to commenting on this rule, we consider it appropriate to pay attention to the fact that, as in Art. 106 FC, and Article 107 FC refers to the dissolution of marriage by the registry office, and not just about the state registration of the dissolution of marriage.
For a correct understanding of this position, let us compare the registration of birth and registration of divorce.
The very fact of birth takes place outside the registry office, and only its registration is carried out in this body.
With regard to the registration of divorce, then, in our opinion, such a marriage should be dissolved, and only then this legal fact should be registered.
Family lawyer in Ukraine
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Checking the grounds for divorce in Ukraine
Dissolution of a marriage by a registry office is not a formality, since at the dissolution of a marriage, circumstances must be established – the grounds for dissolution of a marriage in order to precisely terminate the marriage and further family life.
Although the law does not provide for a separate norm for the grounds for dissolution of marriage, their verification is mandatory, for example, a man’s inability to conceive a child (part 2 of article 49 FC), since if it is established that a woman and a man continued to live in one family and did not had intentions to terminate the marriage relationship, divorced the marriage for some other purpose, such dissolution of marriage at the request of the person concerned may be recognized by the court as fictitious and, on the basis of a court decision, the registry office annuls the entry and certificate of divorce (Article 108 FC).
Therefore, in support of such a concept and the grounds for divorce – actual circumstances – indisputable evidence should be submitted to the registry office, for example, a certificate from a medical institution and the like.
According to Art. 107 FC, the circumstances referred to in this norm and which are the basis for divorce should also be checked by the registry office, and not taken “at their word”.
Therefore, these grounds for divorce by the applicant must be confirmed by indisputable evidence, which the registry office, in accordance with its competence, is entitled to investigate (unlike the registry office, the court can examine any evidence, for example, interrogate witnesses).
So, in confirmation of the circumstance that one of the spouses is recognized as missing, a court decision must be submitted on recognizing the person as missing (Articles 246-250 of the Code of Civil Procedure), entered into legal force, incompetent – a court decision that has entered into legal force on recognizing one of the spouses as incompetent (Articles 236-241 of the Code of Civil Procedure), imprisonment of one of the spouses for a period of at least three years is a court verdict that has entered into legal force, where the place of serving the sentence is the place of deprivation of liberty.
Absence of children as grounds for divorce in Ukraine
In addition, since Art. 107 FC there is no provision on the possibility of divorce, provided that the spouses have no children, in our opinion, in this case, the general grounds for divorce in the registry office, provided for by Art. 106 FC, that is, such a marriage can be dissolved, provided that the spouses have no children.
The registry office must inform the second of the spouses, who is in prison, about the receipt of the application, it is also advisable to send a copy of it, but regarding the receipt of an answer from him about the presence or absence of a dispute about children or property, this provision is unnecessary, since according to . 2 tbsp. 107 FC, a marriage is dissolved, regardless of whether there is a property dispute between the spouses.
In addition, if the spouses have minor children and there is a dispute about them, then under this condition, the registry office cannot dissolve the marriage, because this issue falls within the competence of the court (Article 110 FC), which dissolves the marriage on the basis of a claim for divorce of one of the spouses.
Divorce if one of the spouses is in prison in Ukraine
In this case, the court sends a copy of the statement of claim to the defendant – that of the spouses who is in prison, and invites him to submit his objections to the claim within the time period established by the court, in particular, the determination of the child’s place of residence, as well as in relation to property, if the plaintiff a claim was filed for the division of jointly acquired property.
An answer is simply sent to the registry office whether the spouse who is in prison agrees to divorce on the grounds specified in the application.
Taking into account all the circumstances, the registry office dissolves the marriage and registers this fact.
Regarding the application of one of the spouses for divorce from the spouse who is declared incompetent, a copy of this application must be sent to the guardian, expressing consent to the dissolution of the marriage.
Termination of marriage if one of the spouses is recognized as missing in Ukraine
About sending a statement of one of the spouses in the event of divorce with the second of the spouses, who is recognized as missing, then, in general, if the missing person had property and custody was established over him and a custodian of the property was appointed, then consent to the dissolution of the marriage is not required, since he deals only with property, and the marriage can be dissolved regardless of the existence of a property dispute between the spouses.
In paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Art. 107 FC refers to divorce in the registry office, if one of the spouses is recognized as missing.
At the same time, an emphasis should be placed on the fact that, when applying to the registry office, the applicant must have a court decision on recognizing the person as missing, which has entered into legal force.
Unknown absence means that for 1 year in the place of permanent residence of the person there was no information about the place of his stay. However, this does not provide grounds for divorce in the order of paragraph 1 of part 1 of Art. 107 FC. If the person (the second of the spouses) has not applied to the court to recognize the spouse as missing, then the court has no right to refuse to accept the application for divorce.
In relation to a person declared deceased, the marriage is terminated not by dissolution, but on the basis of Part 1 of Art. 104 FC.
If a person appears, the marriage can be restored under certain conditions provided for in Art. 118 FC.
We also disagree with this statement: if one of the spouses who is in prison starts a dispute over children and property, the dissolution of the marriage is carried out in court, since this provision previously took place in Art. 182 Marriage and Family Code, but this article is not currently in force.
Fictitious divorce in Ukraine
It is doubtful that the dissolution of marriage in the above cases is carried out regardless of whether there is a dispute between the spouses on the division of property and children under the age of 18; under the age of 18 and regardless of the existence of a property dispute.
Noteworthy is the opinion that Art. 107 FC connects the dissolution of marriage by the registry office with the presence of any dispute.
But in practice, the following questions arise: if the registry office, when considering the joint application of the spouses on the dissolution of marriage, establishes that it is being dissolved not for the purpose of terminating the marriage relationship, but, for example, to obtain living space from the state, it must refuse to dissolve the marriage or such a marriage is in any case subject to termination?
The law does not give an answer to this question.
In our opinion, the registry office may refuse the spouses or one of them to dissolve the marriage if there is information about the circumstances indicating the fictitiousness of such dissolution, in order not to further eliminate the gaps in its activities by recognizing the dissolution of the marriage as fictitious, since the registry office when considering the case must investigate the grounds for such dissolution.
Appeal against the decision of the registry office in Ukraine
A person, if he does not agree with the decision of the registry office, can appeal against such a decision by filing an administrative claim with an administrative court.
So, representatives of the registry office, in order to protect their rights from a possible appeal of actions, it is advisable to refuse to dissolve a marriage on the basis of its fictitiousness only if authorized persons (for example, a prosecutor) declare this or there is indisputable evidence to establish this fact.
Family lawyer in Ukraine in resolving cases of divorce through the registry office at the request of one of the spouses
In resolving a divorce case through the registry office at the request of one of the spouses, the most optimal is to contact a family lawyer who will help you quickly and efficiently resolve the case in your favor.
Our lawyers specialize in solving family law cases, so they know the subtleties and nuances that will help speed up the process.
The advantages of going to family law lawyers are:
- the efficiency of resolving issues of divorce through the registry office at the request of one of the spouses;
- quick preparation of documents for their submission to the court;
- saving material and time resources in solving the case;
- the ability to resolve issues online.
To resolve the case, you need to call or write to our family lawyers and we will provide you with all the necessary information as soon as possible!
Frequently asked questions to a lawyer in Ukraine
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