Amendment on legislation for Notification of Dissolution of Religious Marriages
As a result of modernisation, the Cyprus family law has recently been amended.
The previous legislation stated that in order to proceed with divorce proceedings of a religious marriage the potential applicant of divorce must first send a letter to the competent bishop stating his/her relevant divorce intentions and after three months upon delivery of that letter, a divorce application may be filed at the Family Court.
From the 1st of May 2023, such letter, will only be made online by completing a specific application.
According to the new law any notification of dissolution of religious marriages that is not made electronically will not be accepted and will be invalid. This amendment aims to make the notification process easier and faster.
Once the application for notification of marriage dissolution is filed, the involved parties are informed through email about it and further, they are invited to attempt a conciliation. This is mandatory, as the conciliation attempt will be confirmed by a specific certificate required by law, which will then be filed at the Family Court clarifying whether the reconciliation attempt failed or even if the involved parties decided not to attend the sessions.
It is noteworthy that the recent amendments to the divorce proceedings include a reduction in the post-notification waiting period. The waiting period before filing a divorce application at the Family Court has been reduced from 3 months to 6 weeks.
It is important to emphasize that if the reason for the parties’ divorce is irretrievable breakdown due to domestic violence against either the potential applicant or the child(s) of the couple, the requirement for Notification for Dissolution does not apply. In this case, the potential Applicant may proceed directly to file a divorce application at the Family Court, provided, however, that a complaint of domestic violence has previously been filed at the Police or Social Welfare Services and that the competent authority has issued a certificate-confirmation to that effect.
– IRENE KROKOU
In order to avoid poor judgment and poor decisions in court, make sure to hire a professional lawyer to advise you through the whole process and use their expertise to your benefit. Whether you are hoping to get the best results out of a divorce case or you’re dealing with any other family law issue, contact Evagoras Anastasiou & Associates LLC for help and support regarding this matter. One of our experienced family lawyers will get in touch with you to further discuss the case.
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