EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legal Counsel, Legislation

Divorce at a sworn notary

In comparison to a divorce through court proceedings, a divorce at a sworn notary is much easier and faster procedure, but it is possible only in case, when there are no disagreements of divorcing issues between spouses. If one of the spouses won’t revoke the submission regarding divorce in written form within 30 days, counting from the day of commencement of the divorce matter, marriage will be divorced.

Going to a sworn notary in possible, if one of the spouses continuously resides in Latvia on a legal basis within 1 year before a submission regarding divorce is received, or both spouses are Latvian Republic nationals. It is necessary to take into account, that you may need documents that confirms you residence in the country. If both spouses don’t have continuous residence in Latvia (except cases, when both are Latvian nationals), divorce at a sworn notary in Latvia is not possible.   

Divorce at a court

If disagreements between spouses don’t allow making a joint submission, divorce procedure will happen through court proceedings. An action may be brought before a court based on the declared place of residence of the plaintiff, but if none, the actual place of residence of the plaintiff if there are minor children with the plaintiff, defendant is serving a sentence in a penal institution, or defendant does not have a declared place of residence, place of residence is unknown or is located abroad. If one of the spouses doesn’t agree to divorce, a court dissolves a marriage, if marriage is actually ended, the spouses have lived separately for three years, and one of the spouses explicitly does not want to renew it. In some cases provided by the law it is possible to dissolve a marriage, if the spouses have lived separately for less than three years. Court requirements for residence of foreigners are similar to identical requirements at a sworn notary.

Court procedure is long and expensive in some cases; the examination of the case may take more than half of a year. In addition to a State fee, it is necessary to pay for all expenses incurred for the purposes of conducting a case.       

Required documents

One of the most important aspects is a place of marriage registration. If marriage is registered abroad, it’s essential to add marriage to a Latvian Population register. If it’s not done, managing divorce procedure in Latvia is not possible.

In case, when one of the spouses doesn’t have an opportunity to visit Latvia, proper power of attorney of another person (except the other spouse) is needed to take all necessary actions to complete the process. A power of attorney must be notarized at the absent person’s place of residence. If an authorization is issued by non-EU country, it’s also necessary to provide apostille (legalization) of the document.   

Support in divorce process with a foreigner in Latvia

INLAT PLUS international provide full legal support during the divorce procedure involving foreign citizens. We provide:

·         Assistance in forming all necessary documents;

·         Providing the procedure of document legalization and apostille;

·         Document translation to Latvian, providing the procedure of notarization;

·         Representing the interests of one of the spouses at a sworn notary, and during court proceedings.

Contact information

In order to get a free consultation and additional information you can contact us by phone, email or coming to our INLAT PLUS international office:

Office phone number: (+371) 672 997 76

Mobile phone number: (+371) 296 216 15

E-mail: [email protected]

Address: Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 38-612, Riga, Latvia