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Contact information
Address: Pechatnikov Pereulok 22, Moscow 103045 Russia
Moscow Bar of Arbitration Lawyers
Tel. +7 495 782 3313
Fax. +7 495 6287839
info@divorceinrussia.com
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| Divorce in Russia | |
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| International marriages have become more and more frequent in recent years, including marriages between foreigners and Russian citizens. Unfortunately, divorces are also a phenomenon that happens quite often. This article will tell the reader about the procedure of divorce in Russia. | 
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So let us consider a divorce complicated with a 'foreign' component: spouses are citizens of two different states, spouses are living on the territory of a foreign state, or spouse have no citizenship at all. Where shall they register their divorce? Is it possible to divorce in Russia and how does it correspond the requirements of the International Private Law? What are the advantages of getting divorced in Russia?
On the whole in accordance with the laws of the majority of countries the dissolution of a marriage between the citizens of the state and foreign citizens or stateless persons, effected outside of the territory of the state, while observing the legislation of the concerned foreign state on the authority of the bodies, which have taken decisions on the dissolution of a marriage, shall be recognized as valid. Thus, a decision taken by a Russian court with the observance of rules of jurisdiction and procedure will be recognized in a foreign state. However, before starting the divorce procedures in Russia, I would still recommend you to consult a lawyer of the country of your citizenship for making sure that such a divorce will be recognized in your country, because certain peculiarities of national laws may play an important role in this field.
In some cases divorce is possible only on the territory of Russia. An example. In my practice I had a case when a family of the state of Virginia (USA) was obliged to go to the court of the city of Moscow with a divorce suit. According to the law of this state, the divorce had to be carried out in accordance with the law of the Russian Federation due to the fact that the spouses on the moment of divorce have been constantly living in Russia for several years.
According to the Family Code of the Russian Federation, dissolution of marriage in Russia is possible, irrespective of citizenship of the spouses, if both the spouse (or one of them) are living or have lived in the Russian Federation permanently, and if at least one of them (it is not important whether it is the initiator of the divorce or the defendant) is staying in the Russian Federation at the moment of initiation of the matrimonial action, and also in all cases if one of the spouses is a citizen of the Russian Federation.
1. On the territory of Russia divorce takes place in accordance with Russian laws irrespective of the spouses' citizenship. The procedure itself depends largely on the mutual wife?s and husband's consent to divorce, as well as on the presence of under age children in the family.
The simplest form is stipulated in case of reaching a mutual consent on divorce As a rule, in such a situation divorce registration is made by Consular bodies of the country of spouses' citizenship or by civilian registry offices on the territory of Russian Federation. A joint statement made by spouses serves in this case as the basis for divorce.
In case under age children are present, the legal procedure is inevitable in accordance with Article 21 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation. A similar procedure is stipulated if one of the spouses is either against the divorce or if he/she is not against but at the same time is avoiding the state divorce registration.
2. The documents proving the divorce issued on the territory of Russia (a court decision, a divorce certificate) do not require legalization in accordance with the Hague Convention of 5 October, 1961. The only formality that might be requested in order to confirm the document authenticity is the presence of the Apostille made by a competent body.
The apostille of a judgement in Russia shall be affixed by the Justice Directorate of the appropriate subject of the Russian Federation (city of Moscow, St. Petersburg, a region, a territory etc.). The apostille of a document issued by a body of the civilian registry office, shall be affixed by the appropriate Registry Office Directorate (in Moscow - by the United Archive of the Civilian Registry Office of Moscow).
3. In addition to everything else, divorcement in Russia has doubtless advantages. First of all, these advantages consist in a low level of formalization of the procedures. Thus, when accepting the submitted documents, a Russian judge appoints a court hearing within the time limits of 1-1.5 months.
In case of mutual consent of both the spouses to a divorce, the marriage will be dissolved in the very first judicial session. If one of the spouses objects to a divorce, the court has the right to postpone the final decision on the issue, and to appoint a second session within the limits of 3 months. If in the second judicial session one of the spouses nevertheless insists on a divorce, the court pronounces the final judgement, and the marriage is terminated.
The Russian law practically does not imply an opportunity for a court to reject a claim of the spouses for a divorce, irrespective of a spouse's consent or disagreement in respect of a divorce.
At the same time, the legislation of some European countries and other states requires that several years should pass between the initiation of a marriage and the final decision on the divorce. Frequently the legal proceedings themselves are much more formalized, they take up more time and require considerable legal expenses. For example, in the United Kingdom, before a court makes a decision on the final divorce, some court must previously pass a judgement that the spouses reside separately on an official basis, and only after the separation period it ends in a real divorce.
The legal expenses in Russia are practically reduced to naught, as the State Tax for consideration of a divorce claim is equal to 200 Roubles (about 8 USD).
From the above-mentioned points of view, getting a divorce in Russia may help to solve many problems. |
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Child custody in Russia
When parents take a decision to separate the question arises on who their child(ren) should remain with. Specificities of the Russian legal system.
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Alimony and child support
Russian divorce law is rather straightforward in relation to spousal and child support. In this section we look at the major issues related to child and spousal support in a divorce in Russia. Child support rates, alimony agreements.
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Spousal property division
In a Russian divorce, the basic issue governing property division is that assets purchased during the marriage become the joint property of the husband and wife and in the event of a divorce are divided equally between the two parties. It makes no difference whether one spouse did not work at all during the marriage or both spouses worked equally for the money.
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