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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Tuesday, 19.03.2024, 07:05

Divorce from a foreigner in Latvia – it has become easier

Karina Katz, head of the International Department of the law firm INLAT PLUS, specially for BC, Riga, 25.11.2014.Print version
“Please help me to dissolve a marriage registered in Ireland!”, “I would like to dissolve a marriage with a foreigner here in Latvia, it is urgent!” – quite a number of clients call us regularly with similar requests. Since from February 1st, 2011 it has become possible to dissolve a marriage at the sworn notary we often receive calls and e-mails from women who married a foreigner in another country and now they are willing to dissolve their marriage in Latvia.

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.






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