Dissolution or annulment of marriage in Belarus

Termination of family relations in the Republic of Belarus can be carried out through divorce proceedings or by declaring the marriage invalid.

If you found out about certain circumstances after the marriage was concluded, for example, that your spouse was declared legally incompetent or was already in a registered marriage at the time of your marriage, then a divorce lawyer will help you invalidate such a marriage and annul all its consequences.

A divorce consultation will give you information about all the nuances of divorce, including the possibility of invalidating the marriage.

DIVORCE LAWYER IN BELARUS

A divorce lawyer will explain in detail the grounds for declaring the marriage invalid:

– consent to marriage was not given voluntarily;

– non-marital age at the time of marriage (as a general rule, marital age is eighteen years, but can be reduced in the case of pregnancy, birth of a child, emancipation);

– one of the spouses is already married, and that marriage has not been dissolved;

– spouses are close relatives or adoptive parents and children to each other (in this case, close relatives include parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings who have one or both parents in common);

– one of the spouses is recognized as legally incompetent at the time of marriage;

– the marriage is fictitious (concluded for the purpose of material or other gain, and not for starting a family). A marriage cannot be recognized as fictitious if the persons who entered into that marriage had started a family before the court heard the case.

A marriage can only be declared invalid in a court of law. For that one needs to apply to the court with a legal claim, which a divorce lawyer can help you with.

A consultation on divorce proceedings will give you an understanding of the possibility of filing a claim in court. A claim for marriage annulment may be filed by:

– one of the spouses;

– a person whose rights are violated by the conclusion of that marriage;

– guardianship authorities in cases stipulated by law;

– a prosecutor in cases stipulated by law;

– internal affairs bodies, in cases where marriage was concluded solely for the purpose of obtaining a temporary or permanent residence permit for a foreign citizen in the Republic of Belarus.

If the claim is filed by a person who is not entitled to do so, it will be rejected. Therefore, in order to take legal action quickly and productively, one needs a divorce lawyer.

A marriage declared invalid is considered to be such from the date of its conclusion. Persons who were married in an invalid marriage do not have any rights and obligations of spouses.

In an invalid marriage, if one of the spouses has concealed from the other that they are already married, the court is entitled to recover the funds from that spouse for the maintenance of the other spouse who has been in the fictitious marriage with them. The court is also entitled to apply the rules of division of property to the property acquired by those persons together from the moment of marriage registration to its annulment.

A marriage being annulled does not affect the rights of children born in that marriage.

A spouse who was not aware of the existence of obstacles to the conclusion of marriage has the right to keep the last name chosen by them upon the registration of marriage.

A divorce lawyer will tell you that in accordance with the law of the Republic of Belarus the dissolution of marriage can be carried out in administrative and judicial proceedings and describe what the divorce process will look like in your particular case.

A divorce consultation can help one understand that one’s marriage cannot be dissolved. A divorce lawyer will describe in detail the conditions when divorce proceedings are not allowed under the legislation of the Republic of Belarus:

– during the wife’s pregnancy;

– before the child reaches the age of three, if there is no written consent of the other spouse to divorce, provided that this spouse resides with the child and exercises parental care (with the exception of cases when paternity is established to another person or if the record of the husband as the father of the child is excluded from the record in the child’s birth certificate by court order).

A marriage is terminated under administrative procedure if the following conditions are met cumulatively:

– both spouses agree to the divorce;

– they do not have common minor children;

– there is no dispute about the property.

In this case, one does not need to go to court. Instead just contact the body that registers acts of civil status (civil registry office) – a divorce lawyer will help you with that. The dissolution of marriage takes place no earlier than one month and no later than two months from the date of filing a joint application for divorce.

Divorce proceedings are held in court in the following cases:

– existence of common children under the age of 18 years;

– if one of the spouses refuses to give their consent;

– when one of the spouses is recognized as missing, legally incompetent, or convicted of committing a crime and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of more than three years.

Divorce proceedings in court are initiated by filing a legal claim and that is when it is crucial to have a divorce lawyer.

The court grants the spouses a three-month period for reconciliation, unless one of the spouses is recognized as missing, legally incompetent or convicted, in which case the court has the right to postpone the proceedings, assigning the spouses an additional period for reconciliation up to six months.

Divorce proceedings end with the dissolution of marriage if the court finds that further life together of the spouses and the preservation of the family have become impossible. When considering the claim, the court must thoroughly study the relationship between the spouses, the reasons for which the divorce proceedings were initiated, and the real reasons for the discord between the spouses.

Divorce proceedings include resolution of the following issues by the court:

– which parent the children will live with,

– children visitation arrangements and participation in their upbringing of the non-custodial parent,

– amount of alimony (if there is a dispute about the upbringing and maintenance of children);

– amount of maintenance to be collected from one of the spouses in favour of the other (at the request of the spouse who has the right to maintenance);

– division of property that is the joint property of the spouses (if the rights of third parties are not affected);

– changing the last name assumed in marriage to the premarital last name (the spouse who changed their last name after marriage to a different one has the right to keep it even after divorce).

A marriage is considered terminated from the date of registration of divorce in the case of its termination by a civil registry office, or from the date of the court decision on the dissolution of marriage coming into force.

Having a divorce lawyer is crucial if the divorce process involves difficulties, for example, if one of the parties does not give their consent or if the process involves common children.

The divorce lawyer of our law office specializes in divorce proceedings. Our divorce lawyer has more than a decade of experience in representing clients in divorce cases, as well as in cases of marriage annulment.

LEGAL ASSISTANCE ON DIVORCE IN BELARUS

The divorce lawyer of our law office provides the following legal assistance:

– advising on the dissolution of marriage (both with the citizens of Belarus and foreign nationals) or the annulment of marriage;

– handling cases of property division in a divorce, separation of the spousal share from the common property;

– preparation of claims (applications for divorce) and representation of clients in court proceedings;

– determining the place of residence of minor children, negotiating visitation arrangements and recovery of alimony for their maintenance.

A separate category of cases in the field of divorce is divorce proceedings with a foreign citizen. This category of cases has many peculiarities, especially when it comes to the division of joint property and the negotiation of children visitation arrangements. A legal consultation on the divorce proceedings in such cases is the first thing that our citizens resort to.

Needless to say, divorce cases are difficult and complex and tend to affect property relations and the interests of children, and therefore, divorce counsel in these cases greatly simplifies the divorce process. Divorce proceedings require the knowledge of all the specifics of the Belarusian legislation in this field. A divorce lawyer will help you resolve a situation of any complexity if you need advice on divorce proceedings. If you contact our law office, our divorce lawyer will save you from all possible problems and give you a professional view of the situation. Ourlawyer can help you properly initiate the divorce process and will professionally represent your interests in court, including on the side of the defendant. Please contact us for more information.