Divorce after the reconsideration period

When a divorce is handled at the District Court for the first time, the handling will be postponed until further notice. Thereafter the District Court shall grant the spouses a divorce when:

• the six-month reconsideration period has expired; and
• the spouses together demand or one of them demands that the spouses be granted divorce.

The demand for the granting of divorce after the six-month reconsideration period has to made in the same way as the application to initiate a divorce case.

Beginning of the reconsideration period

If a divorce case has been initiated by a joint application of the spouses, the six-month reconsideration period starts to run when the joint application was submitted to or arrived at the District Court. If, on the other hand, the application is made by one spouse alone, the reconsideration period starts to run when the other spouse has been notified of the application. The District Court attends to the service of the application.

The lapsing of a divorce case

A divorce case shall lapse if the demand for the granting of divorce is not made within one year from the beginning of the reconsideration period.

Divorce without a reconsideration period

However, the spouses can be granted a divorce immediately without the otherwise obligatory six-month reconsideration period if they have lived separated for the past two years without interruption.

Other issues handled in connection with a divorce

In connection with proceedings relating to divorce, also the following matters can be decided:

• maintenance to a child or the spouse
• the custody and visiting rights of the child
• end of cohabitation and the spouse who shall have the right to continue to live in the common home.

Also a temporary order may be given regarding these issues until the matter is decided.

Issues relating to the confirmation of the maintenance, the custody and visiting right of the child as well as the end of cohabitation may, however, be submitted to be decided by the District Court also in separate proceedings even if no divorce is demanded at the same time. For example in a case of family violence, a spouse may demand that the District Court order the end of cohabitation and order the other spouse to vacate the common home even if the first spouse does not demand divorce at the same time.

It is important to remember that issues relating to maintenance payable to a child or the spouse as well as to the custody and visiting rights of the child can be arranged also out of court. For example even before the initiation of a divorce case, the spouses may conclude a written agreement thereon to be confirmed by the municipal social welfare officers. A confirmed agreement is equal to a court decision. Information on the agreement procedure is available from the Social Welfare Office of your own municipality.

Information on legal issues relating to divorce is available from attorneys and the State Legal Aid Offices.