Looking for help in divorce in Slovakia?
We are slovak based law firm and we specialize only in family law. Read more about us here: Who we are?
Our lawyer will be happy to help answer your questions regarding divorce and child matters in Slovakia.
Let´s start to talk about basic informations about divorce:
The legal definitions of child support and spousal support (alimony) can be found in Act No. 35/2005 Coll. on Families.
A divorce proceeding starts with a petition for divorce.
Spouses may jointly agree to submit such petition for divorce with one spouse named as the petitioner and the second as respondent.
A petition for divorce can also be submitted without agreement between the spouses and against the will of one of the spouses.
If both spouses agree with divorce, you can save months and months waiting for divorce.
The court always reviews the individual causes of the break in the marriage regardless of if the petition was submitted with or without the consent of the other spouse.
The court may decide to dissolve the marriage via divorce upon petition from one of the spouses if one of the basic conditions is breached: specifically if the marriage is deeply and permanently broken and it is impossible to expect that any return to marital cohabitation.
The court will review the fulfilment of this condition in the divorce proceeding and take into account all causes that led to the break of the marriage.
Divorce is only permissible in justified cases, meaning that the court will not dissolve a marriage without sufficient grounds to do so.
We can help you to give court good reasons which the court has to admit
A marriage can be divorced when the spouses have minor children.
Such divorce in Slovakia involves the obligatory definition of custody of such minor children.
But if children does not live in Slovakia, you can be divorced without deciding about children. So court will decide only about divorce in Slovakia.
During the actual divorce you must think about how to settle your property with your spouse after the divorce as the divorce ruling may be decisive during the settlement of common property.
A petition for divorce (in particular with regards to the relief requested in the petition) must be formulated in a clear and precise manner.
Common errors committed by spouses who don't consult with a lawyer include incorrectly formulating the petition for divorce, omitting required documents and other formal errors.
An incorrectly formulated petition for divorce may mean that your divorce will actually take several months longer than you expected.
Our law firm specializes in family law and we can help you with:
- legal representation until a divorce decision becomes valid,
- consultation regarding divorce and spousal support (alimony),
- questions related to the settlement of common property,
It depends most of the time on petitioner and defendant how long would divorce take. We can help you to make is faster.
If both spouses want to divorce, and there is no dispute as to who will receive custody and the amount of child support and spousal support (alimony) to be provided by the other spouse and the petition for divorce was formulated correctly, then the marriage may be dissolved relatively quickly (within 2 to 3 months).
In this case it is simply a matter of the court setting a date for the hearing.
If there are disputes between the spouses regarding any of the matters defined above, court proceedings are often extended and may last anywhere from 3 to 12 months, and sometimes even longer.
The most frequent reason for divorce proceedings that take an extended period of time is an ambiguous or incomplete petition for divorce, in particular an incorrect formulation of the relief requested in the petition.
A petition for divorce must be formulated in a precise and clear manner so that the court can issue a decision.
A petition for divorce must contain verifiable details including:
- definition of the court with jurisdiction to hear the divorce,
- precise definition of both spouses (first and last name, date of birth, residence and citizenship)
- definition of when and where the marriage was entered into and where the marriage is registered,
- identification of if the marriage produced minor children or not,
- most recent place of marital cohabitation,
- cause for the break in the marriage, evidence must be presented,
- relief requested in the petition for divorce,
- the incomes of both spouses (if the divorce also involves children)
- date and signature.
Attachments to a petition for divorce in Slovakia
These basic materials must be attached to a petition for divorce:
- Marriage certificate
- birth certificate(s) for a child (children)
- documentary evidence of the income of both spouses
- documentary evidence on expenses for minor children and the household
- and other documents, which court can ask for.
Only courts have the authority to issue rulings in matters involving divorce.
The court with jurisdiction to rule on divorce and define custody of minor children is defined pursuant to the provisions of Section 88 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
If the divorce involves foreigners, the legal regulations of the European Union or the Act on International Private and Procedure Law are applied.
A divorce may actually take longer as the court may stipulate custody of minor children for the period until the divorce is finalized, i.e. until the divorce ruling is valid.
Such a temporary ruling is only valid until the court issues its decision regarding divorce.
We help spouses to solve their legal problems in Slovakia to have easier life.
We take care of our clients and we are happy to take all their problems on our shoulders.
One of our clients write us his experience (you can find it in google reviews on internet):
"Surprisingly a pleasant divorce experience.
I have to say that I was considering number of law firms to represent me on my complicated divorce with foreigner. Went for the one with the best references and hand on hearth can fully recommend.
The service provided was simply great. The procedure itself took rather long, but that was outside of Ficek&Partners team’s control. And even about the lengthy process I was well informed ahead so knew at each point what to expect.
From day one all the way to the post processing paperwork I was dealt with in professional manner and god forbid may I ever find myself in a similar situation, I would reach out to Ficek&Partners without any hesitations."
