How to divorce by german law

If you are a foreigner living in Germany and want to divorce your partner, german law can be applied. Regardless of your or your partner’s citizenship(s). Even though the court language over here is German, and a lot of our clients are able to understand german, we are publishing this article for a deeper understanding and preparation of your possible divorce in Germany. No matter if you are hiring us in the end or not, you might feel more confident after learning some of the quite basics of the German family law.  

Who can get divorced in Germany/by German law?

You can get divorced when you are living in Germany. Neither your citizenship, your nationality or the place of your marriage change that fact. Of course you could file your divorce in your home country as well, and get it recognised in Germany. The procedure of doing that though is more troublesome than getting directly divorced by german law.

There is one exception: If you are a citizen of a European Union member state you could choose by which law you would like to get divorced. The procedure might take longer then though since the german court would have to deal with the foreign law what it is not familiar with.

Which attorneys are entitled to file your divorce?

You can choose a foreign attorney to represent you, maybe from your EU home country, or a german attorney.

Foreign attorney

There are cases when an attorney from a member state of the EU is representing his countrymen in Germany in court. Even though this attorney may handle very well, it can happen that the court would still assign a german attorney additional to your „own“ one if the court doubts that your rights are not represented properly by the first attorney. All that causes some delays why it is better to ask for an english speaking attorney residing his chancellory in Germany.

German attorney

Theoretically, you can choose now any german attorney. Maybe there is even one in your neighbourhood. Practically, you should consider two things though:

1. Normally the attorney says on his or her website which areas of law he or she is specialized in. Look for somebody who mentions „Familienrecht“, „Scheidungsrecht“ or „Unterhaltsrecht“.
2. Have you found somebody like that nearby? Great. If you are not sure about this local service or wanna compare several attorneys with each other, you can also search for attorneys throughout Germany. Digitalization makes it possible that you can work with an attorney coming from another city.

What city court is responsible?

It helps to know in the first place which city court will hear your divorce.

• If your are both still living in the same district, the locally responsible court (Amtsgericht) is in charge.
• If you are living in two different districts, it depends on where your child/ren live.
• If you don’t have children, it is normally the court where the partner is living who is filing the divorce.

If both of you are living abroad, it is quite easy though: In this case, the Amtsgericht Berlin-Schöneberg is in charge.

1 Year of seperation - requirements to get divorced in Germany

In Germany you need to live 1 year in seperation before you are allowed to get divorced. This does not mean everyone of you had to live in an own appartment – if your current one is big enough you can live seperated under one roof. It is important though that you can not share the same rooms at a time. Usually, one partner is moving out but running two appartments has become more difficult in times of more and more economic pressure.

Good to know: Make sure you can prove the date of seperation

Using the same appartment during these 365 days, be aware of documenting the exact day of seperation. Being able to prove the exact date of seperation, is highly important. Would your partner claim that you have not seperated at all, or at least, have seperated later only, your whole plan is in danger. Making the exact date clear also helps with some financial aspects of your divorce. The best way for that is moving out yourself. Alternatively, you can show a signed seperation letter or prove the date by your application form for procedural cost aid („PKH“/“VKH“) .

It is not important anymore whose fault the break-up was

In Germany, you do not have to name a reason for your divorce. It does not matter if one partner had sex with somebody else or misbehaved in any way. It is sufficient to tell the court that you want a divorce.

Your partner can delay your divorce 3 years long

Living 1 year seperatedly does not mean that you definetly will get divorced automatically. If your partner is contesting the divorce and does not show any good will to negotiate, you will have to wait two more years until your partner can not stop the divorce anymore. She or he should know though that the total costs for everything increase this way.

Calculating costs of divorce in Germany

In Germany, you do not have to stay married just because you would not have the money for getting divorced. If you or both of you are employless or of less income, you can ask for „Verfahrenskostenhilfe“ (legal aid). If your application for that is successful, you don’t have to pay anything for your divorce. Your attorney can further advice you.

If both of you is solvent enough, you might be interested how the costs are made up. You pay court fees and legal fees. Attorneys are paid by at fixed hourly rates. The court will make their fees dependent on

• both of your salary,
• number of children and
• how many divorce consequences you would deal with in court.

You have a right on a cost estimate before you sign any power of attorney. A (total) cost estimate should be free of charge and be offered to you by your attorney unasked.

Saving costs by having just 1 attorney (uncontested divorce)

It is a myth that both of the partners had to hire one attorney each. If you agree on everything, just one of you hast o hire an attorney. Your divorce should be uncontested then. If you decide later to still hire an own attorney you can easily do so.

Saving costs by a divorce consequences agreement

As mentioned, court will charge you more the more divorce consequences are to deal with in court. Instead, you and your partner can agree on many divorce consequences, such as

• parental care,
• right of visitation,
• child support,
• post-marital maintenance,
• pension rights adjustment,
• equalization of gains or division of household goods.

The arrangements are usually written down in a so called „Scheidungsfolgenvereinbarung“ (divorce consequences agreement) which is recommended to be notarized. Your attorney can further advice you.

Good to know: Be aware of interpretor costs

There can be additional costs for an interpretor. If the court thinks you and/or your partner is not able to understand the german language sufficiently it will arrange for an interpretor. To avoid that you should talk to your attorney at least once prior to the court date, for letting him or her getting an idea of your language skills.

Using the benefits of an online divorce

Usually, you will have to appear in court physically on the day of your divorce. If everything goes right, it is a short appointment of 15 to 20 minutes. Since we address people from abroad you might wonder if there is a fully remote online divorce. Especially when the two of you would live outside of Germany and need to take a flight just to meet for an appointment taking lesser than half an hour.

The first fully remote divorce took place in 2013, done by exact these reasons. During Covid-19, courts allowed more and more online appointments, and only in may 2023 german cabinet decided to extend the options for more court hearings remote (in civil law).

Your attorney will ask for this option at the responsible court. Such a permission was already given for partners living in northern german Kiel and the other one in Munich, in the south.

Getting divorced by a male or female attorney

Last but not least you can choose with us if you prefer a male or female attorney for your case. All our lawyers are highly experienced in family law affairs, and we also offer mediations. We can support you in maintenance calculations and other seperated post-divorce matters. If you have any questions about getting divorced by german law feel free to use the contact form below or visit our website for more information.