- Jurisdiction of divorce cases in Ukraine
- Where to file for divorce in Ukraine: jurisdiction
- Jurisdiction of divorce in Ukraine: legislation
- Determining the jurisdiction of divorce in Ukraine
- Jurisdiction of divorce in Ukraine
- Termination of marriage in Ukraine
- Distribution of property in Ukraine
- Questions from our readers and lawyer’s answers
- Conclusion
- Services of a family law lawyer in Ukraine
Jurisdiction of divorce cases in Ukraine
It is not always possible to dissolve a marriage administratively by submitting an appropriate application to the DRACS authorities. The Family Code of Ukraine defines the grounds on which the divorce procedure takes place exclusively by applying to the judicial authorities. There are several of them:
- the presence in the family of common minor children;
- disagreement of one of the spouses to leave;
- evasion of one of the spouses from the dissolution of marriage in the bodies of the DRACS, when this is permitted by law.
Where to file for divorce in Ukraine: jurisdiction
In order to file for divorce, you first need to determine which court has jurisdiction over the case. The jurisdiction of civil cases, including those related to divorce, is regulated by the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine. Divorce cases are within the jurisdiction of courts of general jurisdiction and are considered in district (city) courts. There is also territorial, contractual and exclusive jurisdiction.
There are certain restrictions on the rights of a spouse to demand a divorce. The legislation defines specific cases when a husband cannot initiate a divorce process: if the wife is pregnant or their common child is not yet a year old.
Example
Citizen S. decided to part with his wife after four years of marriage. Since they had a child in January, and the wife spoke out against the divorce, a month later he filed documents for divorce in the court at the place of their joint residence.
In the course of consideration of the submitted documents, the judge found out that, in addition to the recently born child, the wife of citizen S. was in her second month of pregnancy. Therefore, the plaintiff was denied admission to the proceedings of his statement of claim for two reasons:
- one year has not yet passed since the birth of their common child;
- wife’s pregnancy.
Jurisdiction of divorce in Ukraine: legislation
Legislation allows the combination of several requirements in one statement of claim. Therefore, with the issue of divorce, the issue of collecting alimony from the spouses with whom the child will not live after the divorce can also be considered at the same time.
Together with a properly executed statement of claim, the following documents are submitted to the court:
- a receipt for payment of the court fee, the amount of which for 2025 is UAH 1211.20;
- an identity document of the plaintiff;
- Marriage certificate;
- birth certificate of children;
- notarized consent to divorce from the second man, if there are no objections on his part;
- certificates or other documents confirming the income of the plaintiff and the defendant, if a claim is made for the recovery of alimony for minor children;
- an agreement on the payment of alimony, certified by a notary, if the parties were able to voluntarily agree.
Also, useful information on the site “Divorce Online” of the family lawyer Skryabin Aleksey Nikolaevich for you may be: what is needed for a divorce, where to apply for a divorce, how to file a divorce, file a divorce through the registry office in Ukraine, divorce in court in Ukraine, divorce in district court, divorce in the presence of a dispute about children, divorce with division of property in Ukraine, how to divorce a husband without his consent.
Determining the jurisdiction of divorce in Ukraine
The court has the right to request other documents from the parties. Everything will depend on the specific circumstances of the case at hand.
An application for divorce to be filed is either made by the plaintiff himself or through a qualified lawyer or lawyer. It appears at the place of residence of the defendant. However, the norms laid down in the articles of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine allow the plaintiff, in certain cases, to file a claim at his place of residence. This is possible if:
- minor children live with him and are on his maintenance;
- for health reasons, it is problematic for him to get to the court at the place of residence of the defendant.
The judge, in the course of preparing the divorce case, studying and analyzing all the circumstances and evidence presented by the parties on it or already in the course of the trial, has the right to apply measures aimed at reconciling the spouses. This mainly happens in cases where one of the spouses does not give his consent to a divorce, and the other does not really insist on it. Then they are given a period of less than six months (the period during which they can reconcile and change their decision to divorce).
If this does not happen, regardless of whether they agree to the divorce of the spouses or only one of them, the judge is forced to consider the case on the merits and make an appropriate decision.
The procedural legislation establishes that the court must begin the consideration of the case on the merits no later than sixty days from the date of opening the proceedings on the case. In practice, such deadlines are often not observed due to the postponement of hearings due to the defendant’s failure to appear, the deadline for reconciliation of the spouses, or other circumstances related to the consideration of the case.
Jurisdiction of divorce in Ukraine
Often, during a divorce, spouses have a dispute over their minor children. This may concern the question of which parent they will live with in the future, as well as the nuances associated with their upbringing, the procedure for paying and the amount of alimony for their maintenance. In such cases, the divorce case takes on a different dimension.
The filing of a statement of claim is carried out in the manner prescribed by the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine. The list of required documents is attached to the claim, which is formed depending on the subject of the dispute. If unresolved issues concern children, documents are needed to support the arguments about who the children should live with after the parents divorce, what is the point of paying the second parent for them, and so on.
Additionally, it can be noted that after accepting the application, the court must open proceedings on the case within five days from the date of receipt of the statement of claim.
- The legislation of Ukraine provides for a two-month period from the date of acceptance of the claim by the district court, during which a trial must be scheduled and held. After clarification of the actual circumstances of the case, after hearing both sides of the process, having familiarized with all the submitted documents, the court can make a decision immediately if the spouses insist on the dissolution of the marriage, and they have reached an agreement on the maintenance of their minor children.
- If one of the parties does not give its consent to the divorce, and the judge provides for the possibility of reconciliation of the spouses, then the judge has the right to postpone the process and set a time limit for reconciliation. At the same time, the issue of the participation of the defendant in the maintenance of children while the case is pending in court is necessarily clarified.
In case of reconciliation of the spouses, the judicial proceedings are terminated, otherwise, an appropriate decision is made on each claim.
The marriage will be considered dissolved from the day when the court decision enters into legal force, after which it is issued to the spouses for registration of a divorce in the DRACS bodies where their marriage was registered. We remind you that from 27.07.2010 a certificate of divorce (on the basis of a court decision) is not issued.
The decision of the court can be appealed by any party in the appeal procedure, but before the entry into force of legal force (within 30 days from the date of its issuance).
Termination of marriage in Ukraine
The termination of a marriage must be due to certain circumstances, legally confirmed. There are grounds as a result of which a marriage between spouses can be terminated. There are several of them:
- death of one of the spouses;
- announcement by the judicial authority of one of the spouses as deceased;
- divorce.
In the first case, the marriage ends on the day of the death of one of the spouses. The supporting document is the relevant certificate issued by the registry office.
In the second case, in order to obtain a death certificate for a man, you need to have a court decision that has entered into force, after which the marriage will be considered terminated.
There are several nuances related to the date of death of a citizen. If he is missing and there is no information about him for three years, he is declared dead by a court decision. If a person disappeared under circumstances that provide for his death, and nothing is known about him for six months, then the court recognizes him as dead.
However, in both cases, as mentioned above, the marriage is terminated only from the date of entry into force of the court decision.
In the third case, the marriage will be terminated only after its dissolution, either administratively – in the bodies of the DRACS, or judicially – by a court decision. The actual residence of the spouses apart from each other, even for a long time, does not legally terminate the marriage.
Distribution of property in Ukraine
In a divorce, the property interests of the parties are almost always the subject of a dispute. It is clear that a man and a woman, living as one family, acquire immovable and movable things that are their common property and, according to the legislation of Ukraine, are considered jointly acquired property in marriage.
According to the norms of the current legislation of Ukraine, the common property of the spouses, acquired by them during the period of residence in a legal marriage, in the event of a divorce, is divided into two equal parts. This takes place if there is no marriage contract or a court decision that establishes otherwise.
If the spouses have a question about the division of property, and they could not agree on their own (make a deal), then this process takes place in court. You can file an appropriate statement of claim before or after a divorce, or you can file your claims on this issue simultaneously with a claim for divorce.
A claim for the division of property is filed with the court, regardless of whether the spouses have a dispute about children or there is no such dispute. At the same time, a description of all jointly acquired property to be divided, as well as documents establishing or certifying their value and the fact that they were acquired during marriage, must be attached to the package of documents.
Most often, the subject of dispute between spouses during a divorce is housing: an apartment or a house. Therefore, if the claim contains, in addition to an application for divorce, also an application for the division of real estate, then it must be submitted to the judicial authority at the location of this property, regardless of where the defendant lives.
The parties to the process need to be prepared for the fact that they will have to defend their right to a particular share in the property. This is especially true for spouses who have minor children. Since the court, as a rule, divides the common property in half, however, it can take into account the interests of the children and allocate a larger share of the parents with whom they remain to live after the divorce.
There are cases when it is difficult to make a decision on divorce, recovery of alimony and division of property at the same time within the framework of one action proceedings. Then the court separates the consideration of these claims into separate proceedings.
It should be noted that when submitting claims to the judicial authority for one of the listed requirements or for all at once, the court fee is paid separately for the dissolution of the marriage (we talked about the amount of this fee above), and separately for the division of property (the amount of the fee is determined by the price of the claim).
Determining the jurisdiction of a divorce case is essentially a determination in which particular court of first instance it will be considered.
Questions from our readers and lawyer’s answers
My husband and I lived together for ten years, of which we were legally married. We have two minor children – five and seven years old. We live in a three-room apartment acquired during the marriage. In our common property is a car and a summer cottage. A man works in a private company, because his salary depends on its financial capabilities. He also has earnings on the side. I’m going to file simultaneously for divorce and withholding alimony, as well as for the division of property. Since the man is against my decision, and I insist on a divorce, tell me the procedure for my actions.
Given the two circumstances that:
- firstly, your spouse is against divorce and, accordingly, will not file an application for divorce with you,
- secondly, you have two minor children, then on the basis of the provisions of the dissolution of marriage in your case will be made in court.
Based on the information you describe, the value of the jointly acquired property to be divided significantly exceeds the amount set for the consideration of this issue by the judge. Because of your husband’s unstable income and the fact that he has two sources of income.
Therefore, you need to apply to the court at the location of the main property – an apartment that is part of the divided movable and immovable property – for claims for divorce, recovery of alimony and division of common property, combined into one statement of claim. In your situation, it coincides with the place of residence of the man who will be the defendant in the case and yours with minor children.
I want to part with my wife, with whom we have not lived together for half a year, despite the fact that we have a common son who is 6 months old. Tell me, please, in order to get a divorce, do I need to apply to the registry office or to the court?
According to the Family Code of Ukraine, a man does not have the right to file for divorce from his wife if they have a common child who has not reached the age of one.
Conclusion
A civil divorce case, respectively, cases arising from it, for example, the recovery of alimony for minor children and the division of the common property of the spouses, belong to the competence of the courts. Where exactly this case will be considered depends on several factors:
- the spouses have a dispute about children;
- the method of establishing alimony – as a share of the taxpayer’s earnings (income) or in a fixed amount of money;
- the value of the property to be distributed.
In addition, when filing a statement of claim, it is important to correctly determine the territorial jurisdiction of the case under consideration.
Services of a family law lawyer in Ukraine
- A family lawyer will provide you with legal advice and help you draw up all the necessary documents to determine the jurisdiction of the divorce case.
- We are responsible for the quality of legal services and guarantee a positive result.
- With the help of a family lawyer or lawyer, your divorce case will be resolved more professionally and quickly.
- By contacting us, you are guaranteed to receive professional legal assistance in determining the jurisdiction of the divorce case.
Take the first step towards your victory in a legal case to determine the jurisdiction of a divorce case, call or write to a lawyer and you will receive answers to all your questions.
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