AKMV Where to file a petition for divorce and how to draft it?
QUESTION
I want to file a petition for divorce, where should I file it? Which court will have jurisdiction and what are the fees?
ANSWER:
Since the dissolution of marriage is, under Slovak family law, the only permissible form of terminating a marriage during the lifetime of the spouses, a constitutive court decision is strictly required for a divorce. The first step towards obtaining a divorce is an initiative by one of the spouses, consisting of drafting a petition for the dissolution of marriage.
In terms of content, the petition to initiate proceedings (i.e., the petition for divorce) must satisfy the general formal requirements for a submission pursuant to Section 127 of Act No. 160/2015 Coll., the Civil Dispute Procedure Code, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “CDPC”), as well as the specific requirements of the proceedings typical for a motion on the merits of the case, i.e., specification of the court to which it is addressed, identification of the person making the submission, designation of the matter to which it relates, specification of the relief sought, and it must be signed. Pursuant to Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure for Non-Dispute Matters (CMP), the petitioner (i.e., one of the spouses) must also state in the petition to initiate proceedings the identification of the parties, their legal representatives if any, truthfully and completely describe the decisive facts, and specify the evidence to substantiate them, whereby it must be apparent what relief the petitioner is seeking.
It is essential to describe the facts on the basis of which the petitioner believes that the marriage is so seriously impaired and permanently disrupted that it can no longer fulfill its purpose, and the spouses cannot be expected to resume their marital cohabitation. These grounds may include, for instance, long-term separation, finding another partner, estrangement, lack of shared interests, not spending leisure time together, or alternatively, alcoholism or gambling addiction of the other spouse.
In the event that evidence of the breakdown of the marriage exists, the petitioner may submit or specify it.
The petition for divorce shall be delivered to the competent court in duplicate. Pursuant to Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure for Non-Dispute Matters (CMP), the petition must be submitted to the locally competent court, which is defined as:
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The court within whose territorial jurisdiction the spouses had their last common residence, provided that at least one of them resides within the jurisdiction of this court. According to legal literature (Pavelková, B.: Family Act Commentary. C.H.Beck 2013, p. 91): “The place where the spouses are registered for permanent residence is not considered the residence of the spouses. The decisive factor is the place where they actually reside with the intention of living there permanently.”
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If the condition under point 1 is not met, the petition must be submitted to the court of general jurisdiction of the spouse who did not file the petition (the general court of the respondent). Such a court is the court within whose territorial jurisdiction the respondent (the other spouse) has their residence.
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If it is not possible to determine the competent court under point 1 or point 2, the petitioner shall submit the petition to the court competent according to their own residence (the general court of the petitioner).
The petitioner may not choose among the aforementioned options regarding which court to submit the petition for divorce to, but must proceed strictly from point 1 to point 3. This applies solely to Slovak citizens. In the case of foreign nationals and the dissolution of their marriage, the legal framework differs.
A court fee of EUR 100 is payable upon filing the petition. The petitioner may pay this fee either upon the court’s notice or concurrently with the petition by attaching revenue stamps in the relevant amount. If the petitioner elects to await the court’s notice, the divorce proceedings may be prolonged, as it typically takes several weeks for the court to serve the notice upon the petitioner. For an electronically filed petition, the fee is reduced to EUR 50.
It is recommended to submit the petition for divorce to the court together with its attachments in duplicate—one copy for the court and the second copy to be served by the court upon the other spouse.
If both spouses have filed a petition for divorce, the court shall stay the proceedings initiated by the petition that was delivered later in time.
JUDr. Veronika Michalíková, MBA