Is it possible and how to file for divorce without a marriage certificate?

Divorce is usually called a break in the marital relationship that exists between spouses, for registration of which they apply to the Civil Registry Office or the court. How quickly and how difficult this procedure will be carried out is directly dependent on certain circumstances. These include questions regarding the division of property, the presence of joint consent of the spouses and common children who have not yet turned 18 years old.

It is very important when filing a claim to have all the required documents on hand:

A statement containing a desire to dissolve the marriage.
Valid passports of both spouses.
A financial document confirming payment of a state-imposed fee.
A document certifying the fact of registration of the formation of a new family.

There are some peculiarities regarding the last document in the list. If it is enough for the court to present a copy of it, then the registry office will definitely require the original. True, the judge may express a desire to familiarize himself with the original.

How to get a duplicate marriage certificate?

Despite the fact that divorce is possible without a certificate, it is impossible to foresee all life circumstances in which a duplicate of a lost or damaged document may be required. For example, to confirm the wife’s premarital surname, for inheritance after the death of a wife or husband, to obtain a loan, etc. Therefore, the article would be incomplete if we did not also consider the procedure for re-obtaining a certificate.

To obtain a duplicate of a marriage certificate, you need to follow these steps:

Registration and submission to the civil registry office of an application for re-issuance of the document;
Payment of state duty;
Receiving a document.

Statement

To obtain a duplicate, you need to submit a corresponding application to any civil registry office or MFC.

The application is drawn up on a prepared form (form No. 26) and contains the following information:

Name of the institution to which the application is being submitted;
Applicant details: full name, place of residence, identification document details;
Request for re-issuance of a marriage certificate indicating full name. spouses whose marriage is confirmed by this document, the name of the civil registry office and the place of registration of the marriage;
The reasons why there was a need to obtain the document again;
date
Applicant's signature.

The document form must be filled out by hand, in neat, legible handwriting, without corrections or erasures.

Documentation

The following documents must be attached to the application for a second marriage certificate:

The applicant’s passport (another identification document - international passport or military ID);
Check (payment of state duty in the amount of 350 rubles).

In some cases you also need to present:

Death certificate of the spouse;
Divorce certificate;
A document (court decision) confirming the incapacity of the person entering into marriage (if the application is submitted by children or a guardian of the incapacitated person);
A court verdict and a certificate from the Federal Penitentiary Service confirming that the spouse is serving a sentence of imprisonment;
Power of attorney (notarized), if receiving a duplicate is entrusted to an authorized person.

Procedure and terms of receipt

To apply for a duplicate marriage certificate, you can...

Visit the civil registry office in person and submit an application.

Expert opinion

Dmitry Nosikov

Lawyer. Specialization: family and housing law.

If the application is submitted to the registry office where the marriage was registered, the issuance of a duplicate document will take 1 business day . If the application is submitted to any other registry office, you will have to wait until the employees search for the civil status record in the unified archive or send a request to the registry office that registered the marriage. Bureaucratic delays and postal transmission of documents can take 20-30 days , and if you have to obtain a duplicate of a marriage certificate concluded abroad and contact a consular office, the procedure can take 2-3 months.

Submit an application for a duplicate through the MFC;
Submit an electronic application for the issuance of a duplicate through the State Services Portal;
Use the service of a law firm that provides mediation services by issuing a power of attorney to obtain a certificate.

There are many options - spouses need to choose the most convenient one and use it.

The procedure for divorce, if one of the spouses is against divorce - through the court

Termination of family relations in court is carried out in the absence of the consent of one of the spouses or in the presence of common children. Most often, the disagreeing party refuses to provide the evidence, but in this case the initiator has the right to file a petition to obtain the document from the defendant. Failure to comply with court requirements is not permitted.

The procedure for divorce in court without a certificate:

The claim is filed at the place of registration of the defendant. If alimony is being collected or there are valid reasons, it is allowed to send the application to the residence address of the initiator. The claim states the reason for the failure to provide the certificate - the refusal of the other party to issue the document.
The court accepts the materials for proceedings within 5 days, issues a ruling and schedules a preliminary hearing.
At the preliminary hearing, the judge finds out the reasons for the breakup of the family and requests additional documentation from the parties, including a certificate.
Trials are scheduled. Their duration depends on several factors: claims, failure of parties to appear, etc. The standard period for consideration of cases in magistrates’ courts is 1 month, in district courts – 2 months.
A decision is made that comes into force in a month. An extract from it is sent to the registry office within 3 days from the moment it becomes valid.

If the court finds that the plaintiff had the opportunity to obtain a marriage registration certificate on his own at the registry office, the petition will be rejected and the request will not be sent to the government agency. This is due to the short production time of the document – 1 day. In addition, to obtain a duplicate, an extensive list of certificates is not required, which greatly simplifies the procedure.

In most cases, a repeated certificate will have to be ordered: if the marriage is dissolved at the registry office, but there is no vital record, or before filing an application in court, when the other party does not agree to separate and does not give the document.

The procedure for requesting a certificate through court

If it is not possible to order a duplicate from the registry office on your own, the plaintiff has the right to file a petition to request the document from the defendant or government agency at the stage of preparing the case for trial (preliminary hearing).

The issue of granting or refusing the petition is resolved after hearing the opinion of the second spouse (Article 166 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). Without the court receiving this document, further scheduling of proceedings is impossible.

Petition for a certificate

The petition is submitted separately or stated in the statement of claim. It is recommended to resort to the second option. What data will be needed in the first case:

name of the court;
production number;
Full name, addresses of the parties;
a request to send a request to the registry office or request documentation from the defendant;
the basis for sending the application is the impossibility of obtaining a duplicate on your own;
date and signature.

Sample application:

To the Magistrate's Court of Precinct No. 3 of Astrakhan
Plaintiff: Evdoshenko N.I.
Address: Astrakhan, st. Yuzhnaya, 21
Defendant: Evdoshenko S. A.
Address: Astrakhan, st. Novoslobodskaya, 18, apt. 185
Petition to request documents
Judge V.V. Bogachev is processing case No. 58304 based on the claim of N.I. Evdoshenko. By law, the plaintiff is required to submit a marriage registration certificate along with the statement of claim. I did not have such an opportunity, because the certificate is kept by the defendant, and she categorically refused to give it away, opposing the divorce.
Guided by Art. 35 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, please:
Send a request to the Central Civil Registry Office of Astrakhan to request a certificate.
The requested evidence must be added to the case materials.
DateName (signature)

Required documents and amount of state duty

When submitting an application, the initiator must confirm the impossibility of obtaining the certificate independently. Certificates of illness and other evidence of valid reasons may be used as confirmation.

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for fees for filing applications. Money is paid only upon submission of claims. For a divorce through the court, 650 rubles are transferred, then the same amount before visiting the registry office to obtain a completed certificate.

Time limits for consideration of the application

The petition is considered at a court hearing after hearing the opinions of all parties. The terms are determined by the court. On average, information is delivered within 3-5 days.

Divorce methods

There are two ways to divorce: through the registry office or in court. Their choice depends on circumstances and reasons. Such circumstances include:

absence or presence of mutual consent between husband and wife;
whether the family has a small child;
Is it necessary to divide property during the divorce process?

Since getting a divorce at the registry office is much easier and faster, many people prefer to choose this method. But it is not available to everyone. The registry office should be contacted in the following cases:

if both spouses do not want to be married anymore, and their children are already adults (mutual consent);
if one and the spouses are in prison (without the consent of the prisoner);
if the spouse is officially declared missing or incompetent by a court decision (without the presence and consent of the second spouse).

Since filing for divorce through the registry office is not always possible, many have to go to court. This method is suitable for the following cases:

only one of the spouses wants to divorce;
there is no possibility of peacefully dividing jointly acquired property;
the family has small children;
parents cannot come to a common decision about with whom and where their children will live.

If the spouses have resolved all the issues together, then the trial will not last long, even if there are children.

What to prepare

Article 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation sets out a package of documents, the presence of which is necessary during the divorce process:

Two copies of the statement of claim, one of which must remain with the applicant. This paper contains information regarding the two spouses, including full names and residential addresses. It is also indicated what was the reason for the divorce, and it is mentioned whether they have financial claims against each other.
Evidence that serves as confirmation of the facts described in the statement of claim (for example, if there was infidelity or assault).
A receipt indicating that the state duty has been paid.
A power of attorney to confirm that the person representing the interests of the plaintiff has the necessary powers if his services are used.

As additional documents, a certificate confirming marriage, a birth certificate of joint children, an extract from the house register necessary to confirm registration can be used. If you do not want to give in to each other on the issue of dividing property, you will also need to collect papers confirming the existence of ownership rights to it, price, etc.

Divorce from an absent spouse without a marriage certificate

The law allows unilateral divorce in the following cases:

by a court decision the spouse was declared to have lost legal capacity;
the spouse has been declared missing by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the relevant document can be obtained from the local police officer);
the spouse is serving a sentence in a colony for more than 3 years.

In each of these situations, the initiator of the divorce can provide a notarized copy of it instead of the lost marriage certificate. Therefore, after marriage, it is better to make several copies of the document. This will help avoid possible difficulties in the future.

It is much more difficult to obtain a divorce if the marriage was registered in another state: when one of the spouses left the country where the marriage took place, and the second lives in it permanently and does not intend to leave. It is impossible to obtain a divorce without a marriage certificate in such a situation.

You do not need to leave the country to get a divorce. You should contact the Consulate of the state where the family was registered. Employees of the institution should declare their desire to file for divorce and the absence of a marriage certificate. If there are no minor children, then applying to the Consulate is enough to obtain a divorce. If you have children, you cannot do without filing a claim in court.

Expenses

The main expenses during a divorce procedure are related to the payment of government fees. Before filing an application, you must pay 650 rubles - the divorce fee. The transfer of the specified amount must be made by each spouse. Restoring a duplicate marriage certificate requires payment of an additional duty fee of 350 rubles. The accrual of this amount is not a penalty for failure to submit the original.

Consideration of a divorce case through the court also requires the payment of a separate amount for the trial. Its value is 600 rubles.

Divorce in the registry office in the absence of a certificate

When family circumstances meet the conditions listed earlier, and there are no children in the family for whom the parents are responsible, and both spouses consciously decided to divorce, then they have a direct path to the registry office.

Registration of divorce in the registry office that registered the creation of a family

If the couple has retained data on the record of the completed act of registration of their marriage, including its date and registration number, then they can be restored in this registry office and get a divorce immediately. The possibility of such a procedure is provided by paragraph 4 of Article 33 of Federal Law No. 143. Preliminary restoration of the certificate in this option will not be necessary. In this case, spouses must:

come to the registry office that registered the union;
present your passports there. It is important that the passport contains a note about marriage;
write a mutual statement of intention to divorce on a standard form;
pay the state duty established by law. Its size is 650 rubles for each partner. Obtain bank details and account number from the registry office;
in a month, receive the long-awaited document in the form of a divorce certificate.

Divorce in any registry office or through the MFC

If it is impossible to apply for a divorce to the registry office that registered the marriage, and there is no data on the act of its registration, the spouses must:

first obtain a duplicate of the document;
After receiving it, you need to submit it, along with a joint application and a receipt for payment of the state fee, to the registry office, and wait for the divorce to be formalized. It will be done within a month after submitting the documents.

Situations preventing obtaining a Certificate

There are a number of cases in which the process is delayed or requires going to court.

These include:

Order a duplicate from another city. Bureaucratic issues and postal delivery will take about 20-30 days, because a notarized application will be required. As a last resort, you will need to contact the registry office archive. Any application sent from another city is best certified by a notary.
People who receive a second certificate in another country have to wait the longest. As a rule, we are talking about the neighboring countries, when marriages took place under the USSR. The procedure is carried out through the consulate, taking 2-6 months.

Today, along with the registry office and the court, you can get a duplicate through the public services portal or using the services of law firms. The second method involves a notarized power of attorney and payment in the amount of 5-10 thousand rubles for the services of a representative