Where to file for divorce

At the time of writing this article, there are only two ways to get a divorce: through the Civil Registry Office (RATS/ZAGS) or the court. Information that the divorce process can be carried out through the “Diia” Unified Portal of Public Services is erroneous. Yes, such a project is being developed by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, but the procedure itself has not yet been introduced. Therefore, this “incomplete” option will not be considered in this article.

As an alternative to online divorce, one can use the “Electronic Court” system, the mechanism of which will be described below.

Moreover, it should be noted that the mentioned methods are not interchangeable, because, for example, for divorce through the Civil Registry Office, there are certain conditions, in case of non-compliance with which, one will have to apply only to the court. Therefore, it is possible to divorce in the aforementioned way only if the following two points are not violated:

1. the spouses have no children or they have reached the age of majority (18 years old);
2. there is consent of the second spouse.

To divorce through the Civil Registry Office, the spouses must submit an application. If one of the spouses cannot personally submit such a document for a valid reason, then a notarized application or one equated to it may be submitted on their behalf by the second spouse.

In addition, it should be noted that the marriage is dissolved regardless of the presence of a property dispute between the spouses. The Civil Registry Office dissolves the marriage after the expiration of one month from the date of submission of the application, if it has not been withdrawn.

How to file for divorce online

As mentioned above, divorce through the “Diia” Unified Portal of Public Services currently has nothing to do with reality. At the same time, the “Electronic Court” subsystem has existed in the judicial system for several years, with the help of which documents can be sent and received in electronic form.

You can submit the relevant documents, the list of which we will provide in the following sections, through the system in question yourself or with the help of a qualified specialist.

Let’s analyze how you can do it yourself:

1. first, you need to register in the “Electronic Court” subsystem using a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES). Creating such a signature is not difficult; many instructions are freely available;
2. using the site’s tools, write a statement of claim;
3. attach the necessary documents in PDF format to the attachments;
4. pay the court fee directly on the website (we will consider its amount in the following sections).

After submitting the application, you will be able to track how your case develops at any time: in the “Electronic Court” subsystem cabinet, you will be able to familiarize yourself with all procedural decisions made by the court.

As a result, it should be noted that filing a statement of claim online is a convenient and fast way to start the marriage dissolution process.

How to file for divorce through the court?

Above we considered how to divorce online, now we should figure out how to file documents for divorce through the court in an “offline” way.

The first stage of filing for divorce through the court will be determining which court to apply to. After all, the plaintiff cannot file an application to any court they please. How jurisdiction is determined, and which court to apply to, we will consider in one of the following sections.

Next, you need to draft a lawsuit and attach all the necessary documents, the list of which we will designate in the next section. After that, you should pay the court fee and also attach the receipt to the lawsuit. And as a result of the above, the submission of documents to the chancery of the relevant court follows. Alternatively, you can send the lawsuit with attachments by mail.

In addition, if the divorce does not take place by mutual consent, you are obliged to send a copy of the documents to the defendant as well.

What documents are needed for divorce in Ukraine?

The list of documents for marriage dissolution through the Civil Registry Office and the court differs. In order to divorce through the Civil Registry Office, you need to have the following documents:

1. passports of the spouses or other documents certifying identity;
2. marriage certificate;
3. joint application for marriage dissolution;
4. receipt of payment of state duty (can be paid on the spot or via online banking);
5. a document confirming the fact that one of the spouses is recognized as missing or incapacitated (if necessary).

For divorce through the court, the following documents are required:

1. statement of claim for marriage dissolution;
2. passport and Registration Number of the Account Card of the Taxpayer (RNOKPP/Tax ID) of the plaintiff, as well as the defendant (if known);
3. marriage certificate;
4. birth certificates of children (if any);
5. documents confirming property disputes (if any);
6. evidence of the absence of consent of the second spouse (if necessary);
7. receipt of payment of the court fee;
8. an agreement on who of the former spouses the children will live with, what participation in ensuring their living conditions the parent living separately will take, as well as on the conditions for their exercise of the right to personal upbringing of children.

As a summary, we note that for divorce through the court, it is very important to collect the correct package of documents depending on your situation and reasons for divorce.

Divorce in the presence of minor children: procedure features

We have already determined that it is possible to divorce in the presence of minor children only through the court. In this case, divorce through the Civil Registry Office will not work. Also, there can be two options for marriage dissolution in the presence of minor children: by a joint application of the spouses or by a lawsuit of one of the spouses.

In order to carry out the dissolution of marriage according to the first option, the spouses must submit a joint application. A mandatory condition is that along with this, it is necessary to submit an agreement on who of the former spouses the children will live with, what participation in ensuring their living conditions the parent living separately will take, as well as on the conditions for their exercise of the right to personal upbringing of children. In addition, the spouses can conclude an agreement on the amount of alimony for the child. Such an agreement is subject to mandatory notarization.

If it is established that the application corresponds to the true will of the spouses and that after the dissolution of the marriage their personal and property rights, as well as the rights of their children, will not be violated, the court makes a decision on the dissolution of the marriage.

For the second option, one of the spouses must submit a statement of claim. This method is more suitable in the event that there is no consent to the dissolution of marriage from the second spouse. In addition, the submission of an agreement on who of the former spouses the children will live with, what participation in ensuring their living conditions the parent living separately will take, as well as on the conditions for their exercise of the right to personal upbringing of children, is not required in this case.

How to draft a statement of claim for marriage dissolution?

Firstly, it should be said that the statement of claim must correspond in form and content to the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine. It is necessary to describe the actual circumstances and argue why the dissolution of marriage is necessary. Including, you must indicate whether the couple has minor children or not.

The statement of claim conditionally consists of an introductory, descriptive, motivational, and prayer (request) part.

• In the introductory part, in the upper right corner, you must indicate the name of the court to which the application is submitted; your and the defendant’s full names, as well as the full name of the plaintiff’s representative, if the statement of claim is submitted by a representative, RNOKPP (Tax IDs) of the parties, their place of residence (stay) or location, postal code, communication means numbers, if known; the price of the claim, if the claims contain material requirements, information about the presence or absence of an electronic cabinet.
• In the descriptive part, you need to set out the circumstances with which you justify your requirements, and indicate the evidence confirming each circumstance.
• In the motivational part of the statement of claim, you provide the justification for your legal position, requirements to the defendant. In this part, you must refer to specific actual circumstances of the case and legal facts confirming your requirements.
• In the prayer part, directly indicate the claims against the defendant.

Secondly, it is necessary to attach all appendices and mandatory documents that we spoke about above. The plaintiff is obliged to send, along with the original statement of claim, its copy with all appendices in accordance with the number of defendants. In addition, you must send a copy of the lawsuit with all appendices to the defendant, and attach evidence of such sending to the lawsuit for the court.

The best solution would be to contact a qualified specialist who will help you draft such a document without unnecessary difficulties.

Where to file for divorce: determining jurisdiction

After drafting the application, its correct submission is important. According to the general rule, lawsuits against an individual are filed in court at their registered place of residence or stay established by law, unless otherwise provided by law (that is, the application needs to be filed at the registered place of residence or stay of the defendant).

At the same time, there is an exception when the plaintiff is given a choice of jurisdiction. The plaintiff may bring a lawsuit for dissolution of marriage at their registered place of residence or stay if they have young (under 14 years old) or minor (under 18 years old) children under their care, or if they cannot travel to the defendant’s place of residence due to health or other valid reasons. Also, by agreement of the spouses, the case may be considered at the registered place of residence or stay of any of them.

How much does it cost to file for divorce in 2026?

The cost of state fees in 2026 will depend on where the spouses will divorce: in the Civil Registry Office or the court. Let’s consider both of these options.

Regarding the Civil Registry Office, at the time of writing the article, the state duty for registration of marriage dissolution by mutual consent of spouses who do not have minor children is 8 UAH 50 kopiykas. In the case of registration of marriage dissolution with persons recognized in the established order as missing or incapacitated, the state duty is 51 kopiykas.

At the same time, when divorcing through the court, you will have to pay a court fee, the amount of which is several times higher than the state duty. For filing a lawsuit by one of the spouses, the court fee will be 1,211 UAH 20 kopiykas. At the same time, if the court makes a decision in your favor, you will be able to return the paid court fee, because the defendant will have to pay it.

Moreover, subject to the submission of a joint application for marriage dissolution upon the application of spouses having children, the court fee will be 605 UAH 60 kopiykas. In addition, the court fee is not charged for an application for dissolution of marriage with a person recognized in the manner established by law as missing.

Consequently, in the case of marriage dissolution through the Civil Registry Office, the cost of divorce will be significantly lower.

How does the case consideration in court take place and what are the consideration terms?

Unlike marriage dissolution in the Civil Registry Office, which carries out this procedure after the expiration of one month from the date of submission of the application, such a process takes somewhat longer in court. Such cases are considered in the order of simplified and separate proceedings, which affects, among other things, the term for making a decision.

The court makes a decision on the dissolution of marriage if it is established that the further joint life of the spouses and the preservation of the marriage would contradict the interests of one of them, or the interests of their children that have significant importance. To do this, the court clarifies the actual relationship of the spouses, the real reasons for the lawsuit for dissolution of marriage, takes into account the presence of a young child, a child with a disability, and other circumstances of the spouses’ life. Such a marriage is considered terminated on the day the court decision enters into legal force.

After that, the decision is sent to the state civil registry body at the place of the decision to enter information into the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Citizens and place a mark in the marriage act record. In addition, the document certifying the fact of marriage dissolution by the court is the court decision on marriage dissolution that has entered into legal force.

As for the terms of consideration, they depend on whether the spouses have mutual consent. If such exists, the case is conducted in the order of separate proceedings, and usually, in accordance with the norms of the current legislation, the divorce process takes 2 months.

Another situation arises if the consent of the second spouse is absent. Such a case will be considered in the order of simplified proceedings. Accordingly, the court may give time for reconciliation, which may be several months. At the same time, the process may be delayed by the defendant themselves, who will not attend court hearings, because in the absence of a party, the court may postpone it.

The court clarifies the actual relationship of the spouses, the real reasons for the lawsuit for dissolution of marriage, takes into account the presence of a young child, a child with a disability, and other circumstances of the spouses’ life. The court makes a decision on the dissolution of marriage if it is established that the further joint life of the spouses and the preservation of the marriage would contradict the interests of one of them, or the interests of their children that have significant importance.

In the case of marriage dissolution by the court, the marriage is terminated on the day the court decision on marriage dissolution enters into legal force. The court decision on marriage dissolution, after it enters into legal force, is sent by the court to the state civil registry body at the place of the decision to enter information into the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Citizens and place a mark in the marriage act record. The document certifying the fact of divorce through the court is the decision on marriage dissolution that has entered into legal force.

How to divorce if the spouse is abroad?

Due to the war in Ukraine, the majority of citizens were forced to leave the borders of our country. In this regard, many have a question: “Is it possible to divorce if the spouse is abroad, and what actions are required for this?”.

If you are in Ukraine, and the spouse is in any other country, you can divorce only in a judicial procedure. In such a case, the lawsuit will be filed in court at the registered place of residence or stay of the defendant established by law. If the defendant has deregistered from the place of registration, then the plaintiff can submit an application at their registered place of residence or stay. In addition, by agreement of the spouses, the case may be considered at the registered place of residence or stay of any of them.

Moreover, the spouse who is abroad can also use this method. This can be done online through the “Electronic Court” subsystem, which was already written about above today.

Lawyer’s help during divorce: when is it needed and why is it useful?

As we have already figured out, there are many nuances of the judicial process during divorce in Ukraine: from collecting the correct package of documents to the division of property and protection of children’s rights. A lawyer helps to pass the entire stage faster, calmer, and with minimal risks.

Firstly, as already indicated in the article, there are situations when the second spouse does not agree to divorce. In addition, such a “judicial opponent” may, for example, not come to court hearings, thereby delaying the process. A lawyer knows how, with the help of procedural actions, to prevent this and speed up the consideration of the case.

Secondly, when the second spouse is abroad, as we found out, various difficulties may arise.

Thirdly, when there is a dispute regarding the place of residence of children, alimony, or division of property, many other procedural questions arise, with which a qualified specialist can help.

As a result, a lawyer can help you divorce with minimal loss of time and money.