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Tuesday, 19.03.2024, 07:05
Divorce from a foreigner in Latvia – it has become easier
Most our clients have a very similar story: at one point a girl worked
in Ireland (England, Germany,
etc.), there she entered into a marriage with a resident of that country
(in most cases - a
citizen of Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Egypt, etc.), and then she moved back to Latvia while
her husband has remained abroad,
and now they both want a divorce. For the woman it is much more convenient to do it here
in Latvia. And indeed it can be done in Latvia!
According to the Notariate Law and
Council Regulation of 27 November
2003 (EC) No. 2201/2003 on
jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of
judgments in the cases of marriage
and for the
responsibility of parents and the abolition of Regulation (EC) No. 1347/2000, divorce
cases are subject to the courts of the member States on
whose territory the domicile of
one of the spouses is. I.e.
if the wife is declared in the territory of Latvia and her
husband lives abroad, marriage can be
dissolved in Latvia by a notary.
In this case there is no need for one or even both spouses to
be present in Latvia – our lawyer can represent both of them on the basis of the
powers of attorney.
Until February 1, 2011 the divorce
procedure was much more complicated. It was possible to dissolve a
marriage only through the court. One of the spouses filed a claim to the court and waited for the court to set the first
hearing. They could wait two month, or three, or
more ... It depended, since our courts
are extremely overbooked. Nobody could tell even
approximately when the first court hearing would take place. Finally
a long-awaited day of the court
hearing came but it did not mean
that the marriage would immediately be
dissolved. According to the Civil
Procedure Law, if one of the parties lives abroad, or for some other reason cannot attend the court, the court may deem
sufficient to consider the case based on the written explanations of the
party or its authorized representative.
It meant that if the judge for any subjective reasons wanted both parties
to be present the court hearing
could be postponed for another several months. All this could drag on for a very, very long
time. Fortunately now there is an
alternative.
So, what should be done in order to
dissolve a marriage with a foreigner, and do it quickly and
easily? First of all, we need the original marriage
certificate. Then, if the spouses
have no intention to fly to Riga they should send us a power of attorney each, certified by
their local public notary. NB: it
should be a a public notary
because Latvian notaries
may refuse to accept a power of attorney issued by, say, an attorney which in many countries combines the functions of a notary and a
lawyer.
Then our lawyer goes to the notary with these two powers of attorney. If the spouses have no
minor children and common property
the notary can start the divorce procedure
at once.
If the couple has
children we prepare an agreement on the child custody which specifies the following:
- Which of the parents will live with
the child?
- Who will perform daily care of the child?
- How the child will communicate with the other parent?
- How the alimony will be paid and what its amount is going to be?
This kind of agreement must be signed
in advance and should be submitted to
the notary.
As soon as the divorce application is signed the spouses
are given one month for reconciliation during which they can withdraw the divorce
application. In exactly one month the notary shall issue
a divorce certificate.
Based on our experience regarding the
divorce cases, we can draw the following
conclusion: thanks to the new divorce procedure those women who
married a foreigner, whether it was a marriage of
convenience or pure stupidity, now have
the opportunity to quickly and painlessly dissolve their
marriage.