Divorce in Poland

Last updated

Divorce in Poland occurs at a rate slightly below that of the average for Europe. [1] In the Polish legal system, divorce proceedings fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the civil court; there is no legal basis for resolving a marriage through the agreement of the spouses or through administrative procedures. [2] Divorce requests are assessed by the court, in accordance with the positive and negative prerequisites set in the relevant law. [3]

Contents

Law

In order for a divorce to be granted there is a need of the satisfaction of the positive prerequisite (the presence of the ground for divorce) and of the negative prerequisite (the absence of conditions which prohibit the granting of the divorce). [3] [4] Current divorce in Poland is regulated by Polish law divorce is regulated by the statute of February 25, 1964: The Polish Family and Guardianship Code, which came into force on January 1, 1965. [5] The statute is divided into three parts (titles), the first of which concerns matrimonial matters of marriage. [5] The law also updated in 1999 to include legal separation. [5]

Grounds for divorce

There is one single ground of divorce, namely "the irretrievable and complete disintegration of matrimonial life" (Article 56 (1) of the Polish Family and Guardianship Code). [6] [4] The disintegration of matrimonial life belongs to the category of legal concepts for which it must be assumed from the outset that a strict statutory definition is not possible. The task of defining this concept falls to case law and legal literature. All attempts to define this concept start with defining the concept of shared matrimonial life. Shared life, as understood in Article 23 of the Family and Guardianship Code, consists of the spiritual, physical, and economic bond between spouses, which is the purpose of marriage and enables the fulfillment of its basic tasks. [7] Usually, a lack of any spiritual, physical and economic bonds between the spouses is necessary in order to prove the ground of divorce, although the Supreme Court has ruled that part of the economic bond may still remain (for example if the spouses live in the same home, although their matrimonial life is otherwise disintegrated). [4] The existence of the ground for divorce is essential - if it is not proven, then the divorce cannot be granted. [4] The finding that the marital breakdown has reached a state allowing it to be described as permanent and complete is a necessary condition for a divorce judgment (Article 56 (1) of the Family and Guardianship Code). The durability and completeness of the breakdown are positive conditions for divorce that are interrelated. [8] Pursuant to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 10 January 1997, II CKN 54/96: "Generally, when assessing the permanence of the breakdown of the spouses' relationship, which is the decisive condition for divorce, the long-lasting nature of the breakdown is taken into account. However, the circumstances of the case may provide other justification for determining that the breakdown of the relationship is permanent and that there is no basis to expect the spouses to reconcile." [9]

The negative prerequisites

If the ground above is proven, the court assesses ex-officio (of its own motion) whether there are any of the conditions which prohibit the granting of the divorce. If any of them are present, the divorce cannot be granted, even if the ground for divorce has been proven. The negative prerequisites are (Articles 56 (2) and 56 (3) of Polish Family and Guardianship Code): [6] [4] [3]

Fault

The divorce law is fault-based. The court rules ex-officio on who is at fault for the divorce, unless the spouses request otherwise.

Determining the causes of the breakdown of marital relations is necessary for determining which spouse is at fault for the breakdown of the marriage. According to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 4 October 2001, I CKN 871/00: "The determination of the spouse's fault in the breakdown of the marriage in the divorce judgment is not a consequence of a specific assessment of evidence, but a legal conclusion drawn from established facts, expressing at the same time a negative assessment of the spouse's conduct that led to the breakdown." [8]

The court may rule that one spouse is guilty, that both spouses are guilty, or that neither spouse is guilty. Being solely at fault has two ramifications: firstly, the sole guilty party cannot be granted a divorce without the consent of the innocent spouse (unless the innocent spouse withholds consent for reasons contrary to social norms); and secondly, the guilty party can be ordered to pay alimony (Article 57 (1) and 57 (2) of the Polish Family and Guardianship Code). [6] [3]

It is presumed that those exercising their rights do so in accordance with the principles of social coexistence. Refusing consent to divorce by the innocent spouse is their right, and therefore it is presumed that by exercising this right, they do so in accordance with the principles of social coexistence. Only the existence of exceptional circumstances can rebut this presumption. The burden of proof rests on the spouse solely guilty to demonstrate that the other spouse, by refusing consent to divorce, violates the principles of social coexistence, i.e., behaves in a way that, when applying an objective criterion, can be deemed morally reprehensible. According to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 4 October 2001, I CKN 871/00: "The assessment of whether the spouse's refusal to consent to divorce constitutes an abuse of rights should also take into account the living conditions of both spouses resulting from the breakdown of the marital relationship." Pursuant to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 21 November 2002, III CKN 665/00: "Refusal to consent to divorce, which serves only the desire to assert dominance over the spouse seeking divorce and hinder their personal life (Article 56 § 3 of the Family and Guardianship Code), does not deserve approval." [8]

Children in divorce

If spouses have common minor children, during the divorce process in Poland court is obliged to decide about issues related those children. According to art 58 of Polish Family and Guardianship Code in the divorce decree court obligatory decides about parental authority over children, children’s place of residence, maintenance for children and contacts with them. Only on spouses’ joint request the court does not rule on contacts with children. To regulate children matters amicably it is possible to conclude by spouses a private parental agreement and file it at court for judge’s consideration. [10]

Length of Divorce Process

Regional courts in Poland usually can take 6 months to 2 years (depending on the region) to complete the divorce process after a divorce petition is filed. [11] In case of dispute and appeal against the divorce ruling, approximately 1 additional year shall be added for the such process. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spouse</span> Partner in a marriage or similar union

A spouse is a significant other in a marriage or without marriage. In certain contexts, it can also apply to a civil union or common-law marriage. Although a spouse is a form of significant other, the latter term also includes non-marital partners who play a social role similar to that of a spouse, but do not have rights and duties reserved by law to a spouse. A male spouse is called a husband while a female spouse is called a wife.

Divorce is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country or state. It can be said to be a legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body. It is the legal process of ending a marriage.

New York divorce law changed on August 15, 2010, when Governor David Paterson signed no-fault divorce into law in New York state. Until 2010, New York recognized divorces only upon fault-based criteria or upon separation. The State Senate approved the No-Fault Divorce bill on June 30, and the State Assembly passed the bill on July 1.

Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance, spousal support and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial support to their spouse before or after marital separation or divorce. The obligation arises from the divorce law or family law of each country. In most jurisdictions, it is distinct from child support, where, after divorce, one parent is required to contribute to the support of their children by paying money to the child's other parent or guardian.

A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement is a written contract entered into by a couple before marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the legal rights they acquire upon marrying, and what happens when their marriage eventually ends by death or divorce. Couples enter into a written prenuptial agreement to supersede many of the default marital laws that would otherwise apply in the event of divorce, such as the laws that govern the division of property, retirement benefits, savings, and the right to seek alimony with agreed-upon terms that provide certainty and clarify their marital rights. A premarital agreement may also contain waivers of a surviving spouse's right to claim an elective share of the estate of the deceased spouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annulment</span> Legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void

Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place. In legal terminology, an annulment makes a void marriage or a voidable marriage null.

No-fault divorce is the dissolution of a marriage that does not require a showing of wrongdoing by either party. Laws providing for no-fault divorce allow a family court to grant a divorce in response to a petition by either party of the marriage without requiring the petitioner to provide evidence that the defendant has committed a breach of the marital contract.

In modern society, the role of marriage and its termination through divorce have become political issues. As people live increasingly mobile lives, the conflict of laws and its choice of law rules are highly relevant to determine:

Australian family law is principally found in the federal Family Law Act 1975 and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Rules 2021 as well as in other laws and the common law and laws of equity, which affect the family and the relationship between those people, including when those relationships end. Most family law is practised in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the Family Court of Western Australia. Australia recognises marriages entered into overseas as well as divorces obtained overseas if they were effected in accordance with the laws of that country. Australian marriage and "matrimonial causes" are recognised by sections 51(xxi) and (xxii) of the Constitution of Australia and internationally by marriage law and conventions, such as the Hague Convention on Marriages (1978).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family Law Act 1975</span>

The Family Law Act 1975(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia. It has 15 parts and is the primary piece of legislation dealing with divorce, parenting arrangements between separated parents (whether married or not), property separation, and financial maintenance involving children or divorced or separated de facto partners: in Australia. It also covers family violence. It came into effect on 5 January 1976, repealing the Matrimonial Causes Act 1961, which had been largely based on fault. On the first day of its enactment, 200 applications for divorce were filed in the Melbourne registry office of the Family Court of Australia, and 80 were filed in Adelaide, while only 32 were filed in Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grounds for divorce (United States)</span>

Grounds for divorce are regulations specifying the circumstances under which a person will be granted a divorce. Each state in the United States has its own set of grounds. A person must state the reason they want a divorce at a divorce trial and be able to prove that this reason is well-founded. Several states require that the couple must live apart for several months before being granted a divorce. However, living apart is not accepted as grounds for a divorce in many states.

In the Catholic Church, a declaration of nullity, commonly called an annulment and less commonly a decree of nullity, and in some cases, a Catholic divorce, is an ecclesiastical tribunal determination and judgment that a marriage was invalidly contracted or, less frequently, a judgment that ordination was invalidly conferred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Divorce law by country</span> Overview of divorce laws around the world

This article is a general overview of divorce laws around the world. Every nation in the world allows its residents to divorce under some conditions except the Philippines and the Vatican City, an ecclesiastical sovereign city-state, which has no procedure for divorce. In these two countries, laws only allow annulment of marriages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian family law</span>

Family law in Canada concerns the body of Canadian law dealing with domestic partnerships, marriage, and divorce.

The Hindu Marriage Act is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1955 which was passed on 18th of May. Three other important acts were also enacted as part of the Hindu Code Bills during this time: the Hindu Succession Act (1956), the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (1956), the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (1956).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brussels II</span>

Brussels II Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000, which came into force on 1 March 2001, sets out a system for the allocation of jurisdiction and the reciprocal enforcement of judgments between European Union Member States and was modelled on the 1968 Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters. It was intended to regulate domains that were excluded from the Brussels Convention and Brussels I. The Brussels II Regulation deals with conflict of law issues in family law between member states; in particular those related to divorce and child custody. The Regulation seeks to facilitate free movement of divorce and related judgments between Member States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Divorce law in Sweden</span>

Divorce law in Sweden concerns the dissolution of marriage, child support, alimony, custody and the division of property. Divorce restores the status of married people to individuals, leaving them free to remarry. The divorce laws in Sweden are known to be considerably liberal compared to other jurisdictions.

Divorcein South African law refers to the termination of a marital union, the canceling of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and the dissolving of the bonds of matrimony between a married couple. Divorce is unlike ANNULMENT, which declares the marriage null and void. Divorce requires the sanction of a court in a legal process. The legal process of divorce may also involve issues of alimony, child custody, child support, distribution of property and division of debt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Divorce in England and Wales</span>

In England and Wales, divorce is allowed under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 on the ground that the marriage has irretrievably broken down without having to prove fault or separation.

Actions for divorce in Scotland may be brought in either the Sheriff Court or the Court of Session. In practice, it is only actions in which unusually large sums of money are in dispute, or with an international element, that are raised in the Court of Session. If, as is usual, there are no contentious issues, it is not necessary to employ a lawyer.

References

  1. ↑ "Divorce Rate in Europe". 3 May 2021.
  2. ↑ Adwokat Dr Piotr Sobański (2023-09-07). "Prerequisites for Divorce in Poland – General Issues". doi:10.5281/ZENODO.8325151.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Maczynski, Andrzej; Sokolowski, Tomasz (October 2002). "Grounds for divorce and maintenance between former spouses: Poland" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03.
  5. 1 2 3 "Poland Divorce | the Law Office of Jeremy D. Morley".
  6. 1 2 3 "Ustawa z dnia 25 czerwca 2015 r. o zmianie ustawy - Kodeks rodzinny i opiekuńczy oraz ustawy - Kodeks postępowania cywilnego". prawo.sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  7. ↑ Adwokat Dr Piotr Sobański (2023-09-07). "The legal concept of breakdown of marriage in Polish law". doi:10.5281/ZENODO.8324912.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. 1 2 3 Sobański, Piotr (2023-09-12). "Request for divorce by the exclusively guilty spouse in Poland". doi:10.5281/ZENODO.8339046.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ↑ Sobański, Piotr (2023-09-15). "Conditions for Divorce in Poland". 1. doi:10.17632/b6jkn54p79.1.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ↑ "Family and Guardianship Code of Poland" (PDF). 25 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "Divorce in Poland Guide". 25 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Bulletin of the Commissioner for human rights in Poland". 25 October 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.