“What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate”

The process of marriage begins with a General Register Office of choice (any Registry has authority to perform the marriage process), by stating:

• The type of marriage: civil, catholic or religious marriage with civil effect;

• The location where the couple intend to marry;

• Their address after getting married;

• The existence of children of both or of either spouse;

• The matrimonial property scheme (with the accrual system, community of property or with exclusion of the accrual system) (the matrimonial property scheme cannot be changed after marriage).

Required documents:

• Identity document (Citizen’s card, residence permit or visa, passport or an equivalent document, in case the spouse is a foreigner);

• If the spouse is a foreigner, submitting his or her fully detailed birth certificate is required and, in some cases, also the certificate of matrimonial capacity);

• If a pre-nuptial agreement has been signed. (If the spouses do not enter into a prenuptial agreement, the marriage will be subordinated to the accrual system);

• If any of the spouses is located abroad or unable to be present, he or she may be represented by proxy with a Power of Attorney.

“Divorce is not the end, but the beginning of a new life cycle”

Divorce by mutual consent:

A divorce by mutual consent is filed in any:

General Register Office, by the spouses, either in person or represented by a lawyer, when both spouses request the dissolution of their marriage and are in agreement in what concerns the following items, and with the following documents:

• Descriptive list of common property, mentioning the value of each item, or if the spouses choose to proceed with the division of the said property an agreement on that division, or a request for making such an agreement;

• Agreement as to what to do with the house where the family lived until the division of common assets;

• Agreement on the exercise of parental responsibilities of minor children, if that is not already regulated by law, in that case the respective certified judicial decision must be added thereto;

• Agreement regarding the maintenance allowance for the spouse who needs it;

• Agreement on the fate of pets, if any;

• Certificate of the pre-nuptial agreement (if there was any).

After the application has been filed with the respective agreements, the Registrar summons the spouses to a meeting in which the Registrar asks the spouses if they still wish to divorce, verifies if the legal requirements are met and the compliance of the agreements added to the application, and then decrees the divorce and proceeds to its registration.

Divorce by mutual consent is filed:

In Court, when the spouses agree to divorce, but when they do not reach an agreement on any of the issues such as the regulation of parental responsibilities of minor children, on who keeps the family home until the division of common assets, on setting a maintenance allowance for the spouse who needs it or on the descriptive list of common assets.

Divorce without the spouse’s consent:

Divorce without the consent of one of the spouses being required by the party seeking the divorce against the other spouse in the Family Court, based on the following grounds:

• In fact separation for one consecutive year (when the spouses don’t have a relationship as a couple living together on a genuine domestic basis, and either both or one of them does not intend to re-establish the said relationship);

• Change on the mental faculties of the other spouse, when it lasts for longer than one year and, due to its severity, compromises the possibility of a life together;

• The absence of one spouse, without any news from him or her for a minimum period of one year;

• Any other facts that, regardless of the spouses’ guilt, demonstrate the definitive breakdown of the couple’s relationship.

The proceeding starts with its filing in the Family Court of the geographical area of the Plaintiff’s home address and then an attempt to conciliate the spouses will be made.

If the conciliation attempt does not work, the judge will seek an agreement from the spouses to reach a divorce by mutual consent; once that agreement has been reached or if the spouses have, at any time during the proceedings, opted for that type of divorce, the legal terms for divorce proceedings by mutual consent shall be followed, with the necessary adjustments.

If the mutual consent divorce agreement is not reached, the defendant will be summoned to object the application initiating proceedings, followed by the later terms of the proceedings, which may be enacted by judgement if the spouses never come to an agreement, which they can do at any stage of the proceedings.

“The child’s best interest should be a priority consideration in all actions and decisions that concern him or her”

When there are minor children and in case of divorce, judicial legal separation, de facto separation, declaration of invalidity or annulment of marriage, it is necessary to regulate the Exercise of Parental Responsibilities, where, in the best interest of the child, the following matters must be regulated:

• Which parent the child should live with;

• Visitation and vacation scheme;

• Maintenance allowance, school, medical and medication expenses.

With the changes to the Civil Code, parental responsibilities on issues of particular importance to the child’s life, such as: (the school the child should attend, decisions concerning surgical interventions, the religion that the minor should practise, etc.) are currently jointly exercised by both parents in compliance with the terms that were in force through marriage:

• It is only in cases of evident emergency that one of the parents may act alone, but must inform the other about it as soon as possible;

• The Court, by means of a reasoned decision, must determine that parental responsibilities are exercised only by one of the parents, in the cases where the joint exercise of parental responsibilities on matters of particular importance to the child’s life is deemed to be contrary to the minor’s interests;

• The exercise of parental responsibility for the child’s everyday tasks (what to eat, what to wear, what places the child should and can attend, etc., is up to the parent with whom the child normally lives, or to the parent the child temporarily is with;

• The parent who is responsible for the exercise of parental responsibilities regarding the child’s everyday tasks may exercise them by herself/himself or delegate her/his exercise;

• The residence of the minor child, as well as visiting rights shall be determined by the Court in the child’s interest (in view of the parental agreement and the willingness expressed by each parent to promote the relation between the child and the other parent);

• A parent who does not carry out all or part of her/his parental responsibilities has the right to be informed about the way in which he or she should exercise them (child’s education and living conditions).