Divorce in Poland FAQ|

How to Divorce in Poland|Hot to Divorce in Poland

Divorce in Poland – our divorce lawyers prepared answers to more common questions.

Recently, one of our blog readers has asked few questions regarding our article “Can a polish citizen divorce a foreigner in Poland“.

My name is A. My partner she is polish and for the moment she is still married with a polish man. She would like to divorce for certain reasons (she has bean treated bad, her husband used to beat her). They have a little daugther age of 4, 1 house which is already paid and an apartament where they still pay mortgage. She wants to divorce but her husband is threaten her he will take the child and all the properties.

My question is, if she put the papers for divorce and he will not agree and wants to fight in the court for everything, what are hes chances to take the custody of the child and the properties? How long will it take if he would not agree with this divorce. If her husband find out that she is with someone else before or during divorce, what are the consequences? He can have the custody of the child and take all the properties? If during the divorce he see us or finds about our relation, he can use against her in the court? I would like to know what are the first steps so i can talk with my partener and convince her to divorce, because she is to scared to ask a lawyer. Thank you so much. Best regards, A.

Our divorce lawyers has prepared an explanation to those questions which you can read beneath:

We will answer the most crucial questions about divorce in Poland:

  1. What steps shall your partner undertake in order to file a divorce?
  2. What court is having a jurisdiction over this divorce file?
  3. What is the chance that your partner will remain custody?
  4. How long does the divorce case take if the interests of both spouses are a subject of a dispute?
  5. What are the consequences if the husband of your partner reveals your partnership?

The divorce lawsuit maybe filed by your partner in polish court. It is because she and her husband are polish citizens. It is advisable that the case would be in Poland (cheaper, no need of translation etc).

If happens that your partner and her husband file for a divorce (each one in different time) than the case would go under the jurisdiction of the court where first case was filed first.

The legal fee for a divorce must be paid onto court bank account (prior to filing for a divorce) and it is 600PLN. The administrative fee for power of attorney is 17PLN.

If your partner is a victim of domestic violence than it is advisable that she collects all proofs of that (doctors examination notes, police notes, she can record her husband during quarrels or she presents the witnesses of domestic violence).

According to Polish Family and Custody Code, the court is obliged to decide in verdict on parental power over the child who are younger then 18 years old. If that matter is not a subject of argument between spouses, than usually the verdict follows their wish on it.

If the motions of both spouses differ from each other or are against interest of a child than the court itself will decide about parental power. The verdict may entrust parental authority to both of parents and the same time the judge will decide that the permanent place of stay of a child is the place where one of the parents lives.

Alternatively the verdict may entrust parental authority to only one of the parents, restricting the authority of the other parent only to certain duties and eligibilities.

Of course, there are also drastic situations when the judge will suspend the parent authority of one of the parents or even ones parental authorities are terminated.

In practice, in Poland the children usually stay with their mother (in this is their place of stay) and the father is obliged to pay alimony.

If there is a dispute between spouses on if and how the marriage should be terminated than the evidence hearing may be very prolonged and wide. It is because the judge must assess who of the spouses is responsible for the marriage termination, who should hold the parental power (that will guarantee all interests of the child).

The judge may also order the expert witnesses (psychologists) who will write an opinion on the case and it fill have the fundamental meaning and the base of the verdict.

If your partner’s husband reveals your relationship than he may file for at fault-divorce.

This will prolong the divorce process – even over 1 year. If both spouses agree on fast divorce without fault indication than the whole procedures would take 3-4 months and would end on first court proceedings.

One of the most important factors in Divorce in Poland is the assessment on who responsible for breakup of the marriage. The court will not adjudicate on parties fault only if both spouses wish so. The fault-divorce as mentioned above takes much longer (over a year, sometimes even 2 years).

Generally, the judge may assess that:
– one of the spouses is faulty
– both spouses are faulty
– none of the spouses is faulty

The fault causing breakdown of marriage is an action or omission of the spouse that is against the law and principles of community life, which leads to irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

This faulty action or omission for instance is:
– threat
– refusal on sexual intercourse
– leaving a spouse without particular reason
– alcoholism
– aggression / violence
– marital infidelity

From your description I assume that your partner could file for a fault-divorce. This is because her husband is aggressive and violent. Eventually the verdict would be based on both sites fault if her husband also files for a divorce (or he will demand the fault based verdict in his response to the lawsuit).

The fault-divorce verdict has not only moral meaning but mainly is important from legal side. If the divorce causes decrease of material status of no-fault party, than this party may demand alimony from exspouse.

What is important that in this situation the non-fault party doesn’t have to be in poverty. The decrease mean loss of money resources or increase of one’s justified needs.

10 Comments

  1. Ruyee says:

    Hi hello… I have a Polish friend going thru with some Divorce which was being filed by the wife. They are both over 50 years old and with a grown up son.
    I find the whole procedure is rather intriguing. The wife filed for divorce because she said she doesn’t want to live with him anymore and she no longer love him and promised him that she will divorced him without any conditions.
    Hence, when the divorce petition started for hearing, each times when the judge make a decision that he is not at fault, the wife will re appeal the case again and again . Why? And how long is this going to take ?
    It’s a disappointment for many of us as it’s making the procedure much complicate then it shouldn’t be..
    Thank you
    Looking forward to receiving your response.
    Ruyee

  2. Hany says:

    Dear Sir/Madam,
    I have an issue and I would like to know whether it’s legal or not. My Polish spouse just left me without communicating and she hasn’t been responding to my messages, letters, calls for months. Now it’s pretty clear that we’re technically not together anymore however we haven’t had a divorce so basically we’re still married.
    Is is possible to get a divorce without her presence ? Is it legal by the law here in Poland?

  3. Zonnzy says:

    Dear,

    I and my wife are foreigners. After the birth of our daughter there came to drastic change in the behavior of my wife. For already 3 years, I am trying to understand her and to not annoy her, but she is very often nervous and that leads to oral fights that take all my energy. The main problem is that she doesn’t care if a child is with us or not or is it on a street, every time is a good time to fight. I see that this have a very bad influence on our daughter and me, but I am not sure what are my rights in this situation and how to stop this except through divorce procedure.

    Usually, I am the one who spends most of the time with our daughter, educate, play and be there for her, while my wife usually does some other things for our daughter. Although my wife does not spend a lot of time with our daughter and often it finishes by yelling at our daughter whenever it is not according to my wifes’ will, she threatened few times during the fights that she will take our daughter and go away, because courts are more favorable to mothers than to fathers. My questions are:

    1. As a foreigner from the same country is it better to start the whole procedure in Poland or in our country? We are living in Poland.
    2. Are there any chances that I can get our daughter? I believe if we divorce, she will go directly to our country and not leave me any option to see our daughter more than 1-2 times in a year.
    3. How to make the whole procedure fast and efficient?

  4. Foreign woman says:

    Hello,
    Can a mother who does not speak too well polish (A2) lose her child custody because of this?
    She is living in Poland for 3 years and has been working since day 1.
    Her ex-partner (polish) claims that he will have the custody because of this.
    The mother does not intend to go back to her home country and is learning everyday polish language.

  5. Charmaine says:

    Good day!

    My husband and I got divorced January this year and he just sent me a scanned copy of the decision from the court without even signatures of the written Names on it.

    I am confused why I do not get any papers or notice from the court. I am living in Germany and my ex is in Poland. I asked my husband why I do not get any and he just said I should apply for it.

    This is a really confusing matter since I am not living in Poland anymore. I do not know the steps I need to take without any supporting papers on my hand. Obviously I cannot rely on just screenshot sent through FB messenger.

    Please advise me on what the the protocols regarding post-divorce proceedings. Do I et to be notified by the court?

    Thank you!

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