How to divorce your wife without her consent, if you don’t have children or have children, how to quickly divorce without her presence

Last modified: July 2020

Divorce without the presence of a spouse is a very common occurrence. But if in one case this simplifies the entire divorce process, in another it may delay the deadlines. Let's consider whether it is possible to get a divorce in court without the personal presence of the plaintiff or defendant, for what reasons this is possible, whether a conciliation period will be assigned, a step-by-step procedure and an alternative option for divorce through the registry office, when you can apply there even if you have minor children.

Is it possible to dissolve a union without the wife's consent?

According to the current legislation, there are cases in which a divorce in the registry office without the consent of the other half becomes possible. We are talking about circumstances that include the recognition of a spouse as incompetent, missing, or while she is serving a criminal sentence in custody.

Important! If the wife refuses to submit an application, despite the fact that the spouses have no claims against each other, it will not be possible to dissolve the union through the registry office.

When they can refuse

Not in all cases is it possible to obtain permission to end a family relationship with a woman. A number of reasons for refusal are prescribed by the legislation of the country; in the Russian Federation these are two points:

pregnancy;
children under 1 year.

In this case, the man also has 2 options - to persuade his wife to agree to a breakup or to wait until the child is one year old. The following situations are not taken into account:

she is pregnant from another partner;
the child died during pregnancy or childbirth;
the child died before the age of 1 year;
a child under 1 year old from a previous husband.

Expert opinion

Elena Druzhnikova

Sexologist. Family relations expert. Family psychologist.

Despite the impossibility of filing an application, the law cannot force people to live with each other by force. But it will be possible to resolve the issue with documentation only after some time.

What is the procedure for terminating a relationship by going to court?

According to the jurisdiction of cases, the magistrate court deals with divorces of spouses. It considers claims filed by spouses if they do not have children and significant disputes related to the division of joint benefits. However, if there are property disputes exceeding 50 thousand rubles, as well as minor children, the district court exercises powers.

According to the rules established by the legal acts, the claim is filed where the defendant lives. The easiest way to resolve the situation is when partners live together. However, when the wife moves to another city or region, the husband will need to find out what address she lives at and determine the court responsible for considering the cases.

Divorce proceedings without the consent of the spouse in court are carried out in several stages.

The first is the formation and filing of a claim. The document is prepared in two copies. One is filed with the court, the second is sent to the spouse. The paper is reviewed within 60 days from the date of its submission. However, if the case is sent to the magistrate's court, then the designated period is reduced to 30 days.

The main stage in the trial is the hearing. The authority makes an informed decision based on the documents submitted by the parties. If the court determines that the partners will not be able to run a joint household and live together, then the spouses will be divorced. It is worth noting that the meeting may be delayed or postponed. So, in the first case, we are talking about the need to consider new evidence or documents presented by the parties. In the second case, the court sets a period for reconciliation (no more than 3 months), after which a second hearing is scheduled.

Once the process is completed, participants have 30 days to file an appeal. If this does not happen, then the resolution comes into force. The completion of the procedure is carried out by the civil registry office by entering the relevant data into the book.

Important! The spouse has the right to apply at any time. Husbands, in turn, are limited in this opportunity. They will not be able to initiate a divorce if the partners have a child under one year old.

Contents of the claim

An application for divorce is drawn up in free form, following the rules of office work. First, fill out the “header” - indicate the name and address of the authority where the application is being submitted, and detailed information about the parties. It is important to write not only your full name, but also your residential address, as well as a contact phone number. It is on the basis of this information that court staff will send out notifications about the date and time of hearings.

In the descriptive part indicate:

wedding date;
Are there any children in the marriage, their ages. When the claim contains a request for the division of jointly acquired property, it is also listed. If a marriage contract was drawn up, it is also worth mentioning this and listing the agreements regarding divorce, division of property and further residence of children;
the reasons that prompted the plaintiff to ask for a divorce.

Next, a request to the court is formulated. In addition to the divorce, the plaintiff may ask to determine the place of residence of the children (with him or with the mother). The division of property and the amount of alimony (if the father is going to fight for the children to stay with him) can be indicated here. But the plaintiff may, if he wishes, file a separate claim - this remains at his discretion.

For example, to speed up the procedure, he can first obtain a divorce, and only then resolve financial issues. But if the wife puts forward a counterclaim, it will be considered simultaneously in one process.

The following is a list of documents that the plaintiff considers necessary to attach to the claim. Three are required:

a copy of the applicant's passport;
a copy of the marriage certificate;
receipt of payment of state duty.

Other papers and certificates depend on the circumstances of the particular case and the requirements of the plaintiff. It can be:

birth certificates of children and an extract from the house register about the place of their registration;
a copy of the marriage contract (if any);
income certificate;
medical reports (about the disability of the plaintiff or child, about the alcohol or drug addiction of the spouse, etc.);
documents for jointly acquired property - an apartment, car, land, securities, furniture, equipment and other things that the plaintiff intends to divide in court. This includes a list of property, title documents for it (if any), expert opinions on their value, etc.
a positive characteristic for the plaintiff and (or) a negative one for the defendant;
notarized testimony of witnesses (if they cannot be present in court in person);
other documents related to the case and confirming the plaintiff’s words.

At the end they put a date and signature.

In addition to the original application, which remains in court, two copies will be required. The court will send one to the defendant, and the secretariat staff will mark the other as acceptance and return it to the plaintiff. If it is not convenient to file a claim in person (for example, the plaintiff has moved to another city), it can be sent by registered mail with a list of attachments.

What papers are needed to dissolve the union?

To terminate the relationship, the husband will need the following papers:

Application in the form provided by the Civil Registry Office

Original document confirming the registration of the union

A document indicating the possibility of dissolving the union without the participation of the wife (court decisions, a copy of the verdict in a criminal case, a death certificate)

Paper confirming payment of the state duty (350 rubles)

If for any reason the spouse does not want to get a divorce, and there are no circumstances allowing the procedure to be carried out without her participation, then to consider the case in court you will need:

The original document confirming the registration of the union.

Passport.

Excerpts from the registration book at the place of residence, certificate from the Federal Migration Service.

Paper issued upon the birth of the baby.

Documents confirming the plaintiff's position.

Receipts for payment of state duty (600 rubles).

A notarized power of attorney, if the husband cannot be present at the process and his interests will be represented by a third party.

The correctness of filling out the statement of claim is of no small importance. It consists of three parts. The first (formal) contains the personal data of the participants in the case, as well as the children. The descriptive part reflects the date of registration of the union, explanations of the state of affairs in the family, and the reasons for the dissolution of the relationship. In addition, the husband should point out the fact that the wife refuses to divorce. In the final part, the petition itself and references to the legal acts are formulated, according to which it must be granted by the court.

What documents need to be completed

If you are interested in the question of how to divorce your wife without her consent if there are no children, collect documents in the magistrate’s court. If there are controversial issues, send an application with a package of documents to the district, as was said earlier. What needs to be included with the claim:

original marriage document;
passport (if by mail, then a copy);
information about the place of registration of the defendant and children (certificate from the Federal Migration Service, extract from the house register);
any documents and papers as arguments about the need for divorce;
a receipt indicating that the state duty has been paid;
if the case is being conducted by a representative, then a power of attorney certified by a lawyer.

Be sure to discuss in advance with a specialist how to correctly document the reason for divorce, as well as the arguments that will contribute to a quick positive decision. If you apply to the registry office, the package of documents must consist of:

an application requesting a break in family relations (drawn up at the registry office);
original marriage certificate;
any document as a basis for breaking off relations without the wife’s consent (recognition of her incapacity, discharge from prison, recognition as missing, death certificate);
a receipt indicating that the state duty has been paid.

Is this your first divorce?

Not really

What to do if your spouse is pregnant?

There are cases when a man files for divorce from his pregnant wife. It would seem that this state of affairs should lead to a refusal to dissolve the union. However, in practice this is not how things work. Despite a number of nuances, divorce from a pregnant wife is possible.

Restrictions on divorce under circumstances related to a woman’s pregnancy are reflected in the RF IC. As already noted, the court rejects such claims, guided by the need to preserve the family. That is why the spouse will not be able to unilaterally resolve this issue until the baby is 12 months old.

At the same time, the court has a completely different attitude towards cases in which the wife agrees to the divorce and is its initiator. Thus, you can change your status by contacting the registry office.

Timing and cost of divorce

It is difficult to name the exact time frame for consideration of the case in court; each case is individual. After filing a claim, it takes about 5 days to check its correctness. The hearings begin one month after the request is submitted. If there was no consent on the part of the woman, another 3 months are given for reconciliation.

If a woman does not come to the hearing 3 times in a row, her interests will be represented by a state lawyer, and the court will make a decision in absentia. You can appeal it no later than 7 days later. And in another month the decision will come into force, after 3 days the information will be sent to the registry office, from where you can pick up the relevant paper.

Thus, the terms can vary from 2 to 6 months. Until the applicant pays the state fee, he will not be able to obtain an extract from the registry office. If the case is considered in court, 600 rubles will be collected from the applicant. A unilateral divorce in the registry office for good reasons will cost 350 rubles.

What to do if you have a minor child?

If there are minor children in the family, then the husband will have to resolve the issue of dissolving the relationship with his wife in court. At the time the man files the claim, the child must be one year old. It is worth remembering the peculiarities of this type of process.

Until the baby turns 3 years old, the wife has the right to demand alimony from her husband. In this case, payments will be made not only in favor of the minor, but also his mother (guardian). This is explained by the fact that during the period of caring for her child, a woman does not receive the income necessary to meet the minimum needs.

If the child is diagnosed with a disability, the father will also have to make payments to both the child and his mother. In this case, the spouse will take care of the minor, which is the basis for withholding a certain amount of money from the former partner.

Important! The procedure for divorce in the presence of children does not depend on their number. However, the more minors a woman has in her care, the more child support the father will have to pay.

Divorce through court

If there are no grounds for a simplified divorce process through the civil registry office, the algorithm for divorce through the court comes into effect. This applies to the following circumstances:

the presence of common biological or adopted minor children;
wife's reluctance to divorce;
property dispute.

Which court should I go to?

Submitting a statement of claim to the magistrate's court is advisable only in the absence of mutual children or in the absence of disputes about a minor child.

The couple must confirm the absence of conflicts with a settlement agreement signed by a notary.

If, in addition to granting the divorce petition, it is necessary to resolve related disputes about children, then the district court will consider the petition.

According to the general rule, divorce cases are subject to jurisdiction in the jurisdictions located in the defendant’s area of residence. The applicant can prepare a claim and send it to his place of residence in the following cases:

there is no information about the defendant’s place of residence;
the plaintiff, for health reasons, cannot travel to another city to resolve the dispute;
the applicant has minors or disabled persons in his care.

What to include in the statement of claim?

When filing your petition, you must indicate the reason for the divorce. There is no need to describe the circumstances in detail; it is enough to briefly outline the situation.

Required documents

When applying to the court, the applicant must support the claim with a list of accompanying documents. The absence of a list entails refusal to accept the application for consideration.

Table No. 2 “What documents may be needed for a unilateral divorce in court”

Circumstances	List of documents
Mandatory documents	applicant's passport; marriage registration certificate; children's documents; receipt of payment of state duty; defendant's passport
Determining child custody and child's place of residence	explanations of witnesses; conclusion of the guardianship authorities on the study of the residential premises where the children will live; certificates from a narcologist confirming the presence of addictions in the mother (since the divorce was initiated by the husband); characteristics of the mother and father from the place of work, from neighbors, close relatives and friends; copies of personal correspondence; call recordings; photos and videos
Appointment of alimony	certificate of income and employment of the woman; a certificate from the man’s place of work, which includes information about his salary; financial documents confirming expenses for children

State duty

In accordance with the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for filing a non-property claim, the applicant will have to pay:

600 rubles – to satisfy the application for divorce;
150 rubles – additional withholding when considering issues of collecting alimony.

Terms of consideration

The duration of the divorce process will depend on the following circumstances:

the conflict is resolved in the magistrate or district court, in the registry office;
duration of the conciliation period;
existence of grounds for suspension of the period;
filing counter-petitions or conducting additional checks.

Table No. 3 “Time frame for resolving the conflict”

Circumstances for resolving the conflict	Deadlines
At the registry office	period for reconciliation – 30 days; minimum duration – 1 month; maximum duration – 1.5 months (depending on the availability of weekends and holidays)
In the world court	3 days to appoint a competent judge; 1 month is the deadline for the first meeting; 90 days is the maximum duration for consideration of a dispute
In the district court	5 days to appoint a judge; 1 month – setting the date for the first review; 30-90 days – period for reconciliation

Arbitrage practice

If there are no grounds for refusing to accept an application from the husband, but the wife is categorically against the divorce, the court’s actions will be as follows:

providing a maximum period for reconciliation;
satisfaction of the claim.

How does a marriage get divorced if the defendant lives in another city?

This procedure is carried out at the place of residence of the spouse. If she lives in another city, then the application will have to be submitted to the registry office that is located there. If the address of the wife's current location is unknown, the applicant can contact the agency at the wife's last place of residence or in the area where the property owned by the woman is located.

If the wife does not agree to divorce, the husband will have to go to court. By the way, in some cases it is possible to have the case heard at the plaintiff’s place of residence. Mandatory conditions for making such a decision include the husband’s guardianship of minors and the inability to travel to another locality due to a serious illness.

When resolving the issue in court and not knowing where the wife is, the plaintiff has the right to submit documents to the authority located at his place of residence. The appeal is considered within five days, after which the applicant receives a decision to consider the case or refuse it.

Basic information

There are two circumstances in which a man will not be able to file for divorce solely of his own free will:

his wife is carrying a child;
the spouse is caring for a baby whose age does not exceed 1 year (even if the child died before this age or was born dead, the man does not have the right to divorce during this period).

Divorce through the registry office at your own discretion, without the consent of your spouse, is allowed exclusively in three situations:

the woman is declared incompetent;
the spouse has gone missing or died;
the woman is serving a prison sentence of 3 years.

In all other cases, divorce through the registry office is unilateral - the man will need to go to court.

Exceptions to the rules

Divorce without the consent of the husband or wife is not the easiest process. Especially if the woman protests against the breakup. But why?

As we have already said, the female half of society is in a more protected state in Russia. This means they have more options during a divorce.

The point is that the husband does not always have the right to divorce an officially concluded marriage. He cannot implement this feature if:

wife is pregnant;
Less than 1 year has passed since the birth.

It does not matter how the baby was born - alive or dead, whether he is alive at the time of thoughts about divorce or not. Only the fact of childbirth is taken into account.

How to divorce a foreigner without his presence

If the spouse, as a citizen of another state, does not interfere with the divorce, the entire procedure carried out does not differ from the one when the marriage is dissolved by citizens of the Russian Federation.

Difficulties may arise in the following situations:

there is no notarized consent of the spouse;
uncertainty regarding the location of the court hearing;
difficulties with notification of the place and time of the court hearing.

It is worth considering that if the spouses cannot make a decision that would suit both parties, the period of living apart increases to three years. If the foreign spouse does not live in Russia, then the statement of claim is sent to his last known place of residence.

In the application, the plaintiff must indicate that he does not know the defendant’s place of residence. If his residence address is known, then you should point out the difficulty of going to him for a divorce, and also refer to the right to terminate family relations through the court of the Russian Federation.
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Legal assistance

Divorce is a delicate matter.
Few people imagine the difficulties that will be encountered if a spouse refuses to divorce. Often no amount of persuasion helps. Many wives go to obvious delays in the matter: they tear up the marriage certificate, hide it from their husbands, leave for another city, blackmail them with their children, and do not come to court hearings. In order not to waste time, a man should know how to act? Puffs are not beneficial, but only take away nerve cells. Lawyers on our site will answer your questions and tell you what to do in a difficult situation. Of course, you can study the laws yourself, look up judicial practice and interview your friends. But where are the guarantees that the actions are correct? Situations are always different - an individual approach is required. The lawyer takes into account all the details and prepares an effective action plan. If you have any questions, address them to a lawyer. We will definitely help! Attention!

Due to frequent changes in legislation, information sometimes becomes outdated faster than we can update it on the website.
All cases are very individual and depend on many factors. Basic information does not guarantee a solution to your specific problems.

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Author of the article

Irina Garmash

Family law consultant.

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When can you get a divorce through public services?

It is allowed to submit an application for a divorce certificate through the portal if the spouses already have a court order on divorce. The application is sent from the accounts of the husband and wife, signed by an enhanced EPC. The court order for divorce is attached to the electronic application.

If there is no court order for divorce, then sending an application for divorce to the registry office is permissible if both spouses agree to this step, and also if there are no children (or if the children are adults) and property disputes.

Difficulties of divorce without the consent of the spouse

Divorce without the consent of one of the spouses is a lengthy matter and requires some effort. Especially if the husband/wife decided to ignore court hearings. Indeed, under such circumstances, the judge is forced to consider the facts presented by one side, which prevents him from forming an objective picture. There is also always a danger that the plaintiff is trying to dissolve the family relationship and quickly resolve all issues in his favor, while the second spouse knows nothing about this - he is on a long business trip, temporarily lives in another city, and so on.

Although the other party is required to notify the divorce process, the spouse may intentionally give incorrect information about his residential address.

Divorce without the consent of the other party is accompanied by no less difficulties even if both spouses are present in the courtroom. After all, the dissolution of a marriage without the consent of one of them is always accompanied by accusations and justifications, and even even turns into a public scandal. Therefore, the plaintiff needs to carefully prepare for the meeting - think through the introduction, what and how to say, prepare himself for a calm dialogue and not be provoked by the other party. There is no place for emotions in the courtroom - you should not try to pity the judge with tears or stories. It is better to adequately and without unnecessary words explain your decision to separate from your spouse, present convincing arguments and clearly answer the questions posed.

If, during the time given to the spouses for reconciliation, the plaintiff suddenly decides that he does not want to get a divorce, he must inform the court about the termination of the case. You can also announce your decision directly at the court hearing. Judicial practice knows both bitter and funny cases when, in response to such an act, the defendant decides that he is terminating his marriage with his wife. Then he needs to start the process again from the stage of filing a claim in court and the case will be considered in a new proceeding.