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To divorce by mutual consent, the spouses are obliged, through an
authentic separation agreement executed before a notary public, to:
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Make a formal inventory of their property, if any;
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If there are mutual children, agree which one is going to be in
charge of taking care of them, both during the divorce and after
the divorce is granted; and
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In the event of giving to the wife the charge of taking care of
the children, the parties must agree where she and the children
are going to live during the divorce and the amount of alimony
to be paid by the husband.
Once the above three points have been completed, both parties (or
their legal representatives) must appear before a Judge of First
Instance with competent jurisdiction over their place of residence
in the Dominican Republic. The parties must present to this judge
copies of their marriage certificate, the birth certificates of any
children, and their legal separation agreement. The judge will make
sure that all the legal formalities have been met and will accept
the request, setting a date for a hearing and granting the divorce
after eight days from the date of the hearing.
In this divorce procedure the judge has to consent to the
stipulations of the separation agreement agreed to by the parties,
which may be amended only by the mutual consent of the spouses on
the day of the hearing.
One or both of the spouses are obliged to register at the Office of
the Civil State and Custodian of Mortgages the order granting the
divorce. Within eight days after the divorce is granted, it needs to
be pronounced by an Officer of the Civil State of the same
jurisdiction of the court that heard the divorce. The pronouncement
officially ends the marriage, and afterwards the order of divorce
shall be published in a newspaper of national circulation and an
issue of the newspaper must be deposited at the Office of the Court.
This publication is the responsibility of both parties and a divorce
is void if publication does not take place. At this point, the order
granting the divorce is not appeal able.
Divorce by Mutual Consent in the Dominican Republic for U.S. citizens
The special divorce is effective only for foreigners or Dominican
citizens not resident in the Dominican Republic who are divorcing by
mutual consent.
Just as in an ordinary divorce, and due to the fact that the spouses
are getting divorced by mutual consent, the law requires that the
parties reach a formal separation agreement relating to the division
of their common property, the custody of any children born in the
marriage, and any alimony and/or child support payments. This
agreement shall be signed before a notary public of the
non-Dominican jurisdiction where the spouses normally reside and
duly certified by the Dominican Consulate closest to that domicile,
so that it is valid under Dominican law. The separation agreement
must expressly grant jurisdiction to a First Instance Judge.
The spouses shall be able to get a special divorce by mutual consent
if at least one of the spouses personally appears at the hearing
with the other represented by a special power of attorney. The
appearing spouse shall present to the court identification,
such as a passport, identity card, social security card, or
driver's license.
The court shall require a copy of the marriage certificate and
copies of the birth certificates of any children born in the
marriage, duly legalized and translated into Spanish if they were in
any other languages.
Once the divorce has been authorized, the judge shall set a hearing
within three days for the spouses to appear in court. Once the
hearing is over, the court shall order the Office of the Government
Attorney to give its opinion within three days and the judge shall
proclaim the divorce in the following three days. In general, the
procedure takes from eight to ten days, depending on the volume of
work of the court, for the judgment to be ordered and then
registered in the corresponding Office of the Civil State and
Custody of Mortgages.
Once the judgment has been registered, the divorce shall be
proclaimed by any Officer of the Civil State of the Jurisdiction of
the court that heard the case. For such purpose it would be
necessary to present a certified copy of the judgment, previously
registered at the Civil Registrar’s Office, and dispositions of said
judgment shall be published in a newspaper of national circulation.
It is important to note that for said judgment to be valid abroad it
shall be certified in the Office of the Attorney General of the
Dominican Republic as well as the Foreign Relations Ministry and the
Embassy or Consulate of the country where the divorce is to be
valid.
Source: Foreigner's Guide to the Dominican Republic, Law Firm of
Pellerano and Herrera, 1997. |
