Abogados de Divorcios en Madrid

In divorce proceedings by mutual agreement, savings are maximised, as both parties can be represented by the same lawyer and solicitor.

In addition, the proceedings by mutual agreement are very agile, taking approximately 3 months to obtain a decision from the filing of the lawsuit by mutual agreement (this is the so-called express divorce).

If the procedure is followed by mutual agreement, there is no appeal against the judgement issued in this procedure, as the procedure is carried out by mutual agreement between the two parties.

The procedure to be followed is to accompany the petition for divorce by mutual agreement with a regulatory agreement, that is to say, the document in which both parties set out the consequences that the divorce will produce:

a) The dissolution of the marriage.

b) The moment from which the divorce takes effect.

c) Who will keep the family home.

d) whether a compensatory pension is to be awarded to either party. This may be for life or for a limited period of time, paid monthly or in a lump sum.

e) whether or not community property is liquidated in the divorce proceedings.

f) All consents given during the marriage are revoked.

g) In the event that the marriage has minor children, the regime of parental authority, visiting arrangements or shared custody shall be determined, as well as the maintenance payments established in favour of the children and the manner and payment of extraordinary expenses.

h) The manner in which family expenses (payment of mortgages, etc.) are to be paid.

i) Likewise, if the spouses are married under the community of property regime, as from the Judgment, the community of property ceases, i.e., although it is not yet stated to whom everything belongs, from this moment onwards, everything they obtain or the debts they incur will be the sole responsibility of each one of them.

Thus, schematically, the extrajudicial and judicial actions for the resolution of a mutual agreement procedure will be as follows:

1. Signing of a regulatory agreement: a document in which the measures by which the couple will be governed from the signing of the agreement will be agreed (attribution of custody of the children, attribution of the home, pensions and, if applicable, liquidation of the community property.
2. Once the agreement has been signed, a lawsuit of mutual agreement will be drawn up, to which the agreement, the marriage certificate and, if applicable, the birth certificates of the children will be attached as documents.
3. Once the application has been filed (which must be signed by a lawyer and solicitor), once the court has issued an order admitting the application for processing, the court will set a date and time for the parties to ratify their application and the content of the regulatory agreement attached to the application.
4. Once the agreement has been ratified, if there are minor children, the Public Prosecutor's Office will examine it, in order to ensure that what has been agreed by the parties does not contravene the interests of the minors.
5. Subsequently, a Judgment will be issued approving the agreement and the measures contained therein.
6. Ex officio and final the Judgment, the Court will agree the registration of the same in the Civil Registry where the marriage is registered.

While in a divorce by mutual agreement the costs and resolution times of a mutual agreement procedure are short, the contentious divorce procedure has a higher economic cost, and the resolution time is also longer, depending on the court to which the resolution corresponds and the saturation of the court.

Thus, while in a mutual agreement procedure the resolution time is usually 3 months (express divorce), the estimated duration for a contentious procedure is usually between six months and a year.

In contentious proceedings, unlike in mutually agreed proceedings, each of the spouses must appear with their own lawyer and solicitor, as they cannot be defended by the same lawyer and represented by the same solicitor.

The contentious proceedings are initiated by the respondent, where the petitioner must set out exhaustively the measures he or she wants to be adopted in the judgment:

1. Measures to be adopted regarding parental authority after the divorce.
2. Measures to be adopted regarding custody and guardianship. Custody of the children may be single-parent (granted in favour of one parent) or joint custody. In order to determine which of the spouses will have the children, it will be necessary to see what dedication each of them gives to the children.
3. Measures to be adopted in relation to the visiting arrangements of the children with the non-custodial parent. The visiting arrangements are a right of the children to be with and enjoy the company of their children.
4. The maintenance allowance, i.e., the amount of money that the non-custodial parent must pay to the other parent to cover the expenses of the child, i.e., and as established in Article 142 of the Civil Code, ["...everything that is indispensable for sustenance (food and education), habitation (family home), clothing and medical care"].
5. Regime of extraordinary expenses.
6. Allocation of the family home, which, according to Article 96 of the Civil Code, "In the absence of an agreement of the spouses approved by the judge, the use of the family home and of the objects of ordinary use therein corresponds to the children and to the spouse in whose company they remain".
7. Establishment of compensatory pension. In this case it is necessary to follow the provisions of Article 97 of the Civil Code, which states that "The spouse to whom the separation or divorce produces an economic imbalance in relation to the position of the other, which implies a worsening in his or her previous situation in the marriage, shall be entitled to compensation that may consist of a temporary or indefinite pension, or in a single benefit, as determined in the regulatory agreement or in the judgment".

Schematically, the contentious divorce proceedings will have the following outline:

1. The main claim will be filed where the party will make the allegations on which he bases his different petitions in relation to the aforementioned points. In the defendant's pleading, a request may be made for evidence to be taken in advance, either by requiring the defendant to provide a series of documents, or by requesting that public bodies or private entities provide the information required.
2. Once the claim has been filed, the defendant is notified and is granted a period within which to reply within the following 20 working days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays).
3. The defendant shall submit his defence to the claim, together with the evidence he intends to submit in support of his position.
4. Once the defendant and the defence have been examined, a date and time will be set by the court for the corresponding hearing where the different evidence will be examined (mainly the interrogation of the plaintiff and the defendant).
5. After the hearing, the case files remain in the Court for the Judge to issue a Judgment, and the Judgment establishes the pertinent measures by which the parties will be governed from that moment onwards.
6. The judgement handed down at first instance and in contentious proceedings can be appealed before the Provincial Court.

Express Divorce. This type of divorce, commonly known as "express divorce", is a type of divorce that is characterised by its speed and in which both spouses agree by mutual consent on the measures relating to their marital breakdown. It can be processed, in any case, even if there are minor children.

Notarial Divorce. In cases where there are no children or where the children are of legal age, it is possible to process the divorce through a notary, thus avoiding the need to go to court.

Nullity is the ineffectiveness of the marriage due to a cause coetaneous to its celebration and which produces the non-existence of the effects of the marriage from the moment of its celebration, except in cases of putative marriage.

The nullity of the marriage begins from the very moment of its celebration, there is a defect in the consent. Through the nullity, the bond that never existed is destroyed.

Our Law Firm has lawyers specialised in marriage annulment both in Madrid and in the rest of Spain.