Divorce of foreign nationals in Romania

According to the official EU website, 17 EU member states have adopted a single set of rules on which law applies to cross-border divorces (Regulation (EU) No 1259/2010, “Rome III”). Romania is one of them, and the rules are reflected in Book VII of the Romanian Civil Code on private international law. The participating countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Hungary.

In practice, if they agree (in a written agreement), the spouses may choose that either Romanian law or the law of one of the following countries applies to their divorce:

• the country where both spouses are habitually resident when they make the agreement;
• the country where the spouses last lived together, provided one of them still lives there when the agreement is made;
• the country of which one of the spouses is a national;
• the country where the divorce petition is filed;
• the country where they have lived for at least three years.

If the spouses do not agree, the courts of these 17 countries apply the law of:

• the country where the spouses live;
• failing that, the country where they last lived together, provided they still lived there one year before going to court;
• failing that, the country of which both are nationals;
• failing that, the country where the divorce petition is filed.

Foreign nationals can, under certain conditions, divorce in Romania under the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code, when:

• the spouse filing for divorce from abroad is a Romanian citizen;
• the other spouse lives in Romania;
• both spouses are Romanian citizens, whether or not they live in Romania.

Under art. 1081 of the Civil Procedure Code, the Romanian courts have jurisdiction over divorce petitions if, when the petition is filed, the petitioner has been domiciled in Romania for at least one year, and over cases between persons domiciled abroad concerning civil status acts or facts registered in Romania, if at least one of them is a Romanian citizen.

Territorially, the divorce petition goes to the district court (judecătorie) for the area of the spouses’ last common home. If the spouses never had a common home, or neither of them still lives in that area, the competent court is the one where the respondent lives; if the respondent does not live in Romania and the Romanian courts have international jurisdiction, it is the court where the petitioner lives. If neither spouse lives in Romania, they may agree to file at any district court in the country; failing such an agreement, the District 5 Court of Bucharest has jurisdiction (art. 915 of the Civil Procedure Code).

A key factor in reducing the time, effort and cost of the proceedings is for the two spouses to agree on a divorce by agreement, under the conditions set by law.

A lawyer can help you reach a consensus more easily on:

• the division of joint property (assets and debts);
• the surname each spouse will use after the divorce;
• the exercise of parental authority;
• where the children will live after the divorce;
• how the separated parent keeps in personal contact with the minor children;
• contributions to the costs of the children’s upbringing, education and training.

A divorce by agreement takes on average one to three months from filing to judgment.

Without agreement and cooperation, the average is six to ten months and can exceed a year.

As to attendance, under current law the court can grant the divorce without the parties being present, if they are represented by a lawyer, who can also tell you which documents you need. Under art. 920 of the Civil Procedure Code, the parties must appear in person before the first-instance court, unless one spouse is serving a custodial sentence, is prevented by serious illness, is under judicial interdiction, lives abroad or is in a similar situation preventing personal attendance; in such cases the spouse may appear through a lawyer, an agent or, as the case may be, a guardian or curator.

The costs of a divorce are the court stamp duty and the lawyer’s fee, plus, where one spouse is a foreign national, the cost of translating documents into Romanian.

For a Romanian citizen deciding where to start proceedings, divorcing in Romania has several advantages: a simpler procedure than in many other countries (for example Italy, the United Kingdom or Canada) and lower costs. A Romanian citizen who divorces abroad will also have to have the foreign divorce recognised and recorded with the Romanian civil registry.

To choose the right approach for your case — the procedure, implications and effects of a divorce in Romania — it is advisable to take advice from a lawyer experienced in international divorce.