The possibility of getting divorced in a foreign country may be determined by the laws of this country. In certain spaces, such as the European Union, regulations have been established that regulate the possibility of carrying out the dissolution of a marriage, both for people belonging to the countries that comprise it and for non-EU people.
However, within the EU the legislation that regulates a divorce does not have to be that of the country in which it is filed. Seventeen countries within the Union recognize cross-border divorces based on certain assumptions that allow the resolution to be managed from a different country, as long as certain residence and nationality criteria of both spouses are met.
In addition, any divorce carried out in a country of the European Union will be recognized in the rest of the countries without having to start any other process with the exception of Denmark, a country in which the same rules as in the rest of the territory.
Spanish legislation regulates the jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judicial decisions in matrimonial matters and parental responsibility by means of the European Union Regulation CE/2201/2003 and qualifies some assumptions in the Organic Law of the Judiciary. The way to establish its criteria is based on habitual residence and allows its application to foreign residents in the EU, even if they are not EU residents.
According to the Court of Justice of the European Union, these criteria are alternative and preferences should not be given between them.
Due to these criteria, a case such as the divorce of a married couple who spend long periods of time living in Spain after their retirement, could be celebrated without any problem in the country, with the possibility of presenting it in any court in the national territory.
In order to carry out the divorce in this case, a special Power of Attorney for the divorce trial must be processed before the embassy of the country in which the person who lives outside of Spain resides.
One of the particularities of this power of attorney is that it must be processed and written in a very particular way that can be used by the Spanish Courts, demonstrating that you agree to start the divorce and empowering your Attorney in Spain so that he can carry out the paperwork on your behalf.
In order to file a divorce claim in Spain as a foreigner, beyond having to meet the previously described requirements, the people involved must present certain documentation that allows them to carry out the divorce proceedings.
This documentation includes the personal data of both spouses, among which are identification documents and data about the marriage, children and family home. In addition, of course, it will be necessary to present the marriage certificate and the birth certificates of the children in case you have them.
It is possible that a Spaniard must file his divorce from abroad to start it up in Spain. For this assumption to be valid, the divorce must be by mutual agreement. In this case, the intervention of at least one Attorney will be required, it can be the same for both parties, who represents the spouses during the process.
Once the data to start the divorce is presented, the feasibility of being able to carry it out in Spain will be studied.
If one of the parties does not live in Spain and the other does, it would also be possible to initiate the dissolution of the marriage, presenting a special Power of Attorney, such as the one already mentioned, at the embassy of the country where you reside.
