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Author: Ilona Melnychuk, attorneyKey points in brief
The idea of a fictitious divorce looks simple: to divorce “only on paper”, obtain some benefit, and go on living as before. In practice this is one of the riskiest family-law steps, because the law knows no “unreal” divorces: the dissolution of the marriage occurs for real, with all the consequences. Below we examine in detail what a fictitious divorce is, why people resort to it, what it threatens, and under what conditions it can be declared fictitious in court at all.
A fictitious divorce is a dissolution of a marriage without the intention to actually end the marital and family relationship. The spouses officially formalize the divorce, obtain the relevant documents, but continue to live together, run a joint household, and perceive themselves as a family. Formally the marriage is terminated, in fact, no. It is precisely the discrepancy between the outward, legal action and the people’s real intentions that makes a divorce fictitious.
It is important to understand that the term “fictitious” describes the motive, not a separate procedure. People divorce fictitiously by the same means as for real, through the registry office or through a court. The difference is only in the internal intention of the parties, which is later very hard both to assess and to prove. Because of this, a fictitious divorce often remains a gray area until one of the participants or an outsider decides to challenge its consequences.
These are two different legal constructs with different consequences, and they should not be confused. A fictitious marriage, under Article 40 of the Family Code, is a marriage entered into without the intention to create a family; a court declares such a marriage invalid. A fictitious divorce, on the contrary, is the termination of a marriage without the intention to actually sever the family ties; a court may declare it fictitious under Article 108 of the same code.
People often mix up these concepts, because both are about “unreality”. But the legal mechanism differs fundamentally: in the first case the creation of the marriage is challenged, in the second, its dissolution. The consequences and evidence are also different. The invalidity of a marriage is not discussed here, since that is a separate topic; further on the discussion is about divorce and only about it.
The reason is almost always one: an attempt to obtain a material or other benefit that is unavailable to an official married couple. The most common motives are as follows:
The common feature of all these motives is that they are aimed at circumventing the law or misleading state authorities or creditors. That is precisely why any benefit here always goes hand in hand with a hidden risk, discussed in detail below. People who decide on such a scheme usually underestimate how real the consequences of a formally “unreal” step become.
There is no separate article in Ukrainian legislation that would punish specifically for a fictitious divorce. The codes do not establish direct criminal or administrative liability for the very fact of a “divorce for show”. However, this by no means means impunity, because liability arises for the purpose for which the scheme was launched.
If a fictitious divorce became a tool for the unlawful receipt of subsidies, social assistance, or other payments, the actions may be qualified as fraud under Article 190 of the Criminal Code, and the unlawfully received funds will have to be returned. If the aim was to evade debts, a creditor has the right to challenge the re-registration of property as a fictitious transaction under Article 234 of the Civil Code and to obtain the levying of execution on the assets. That is, people are punished not for the divorce as such, but for the unlawful purpose that they tried to hide behind it. Therefore the “safety” of a fictitious divorce should be assessed precisely through the prism of what it is done for. Separately, it is worth remembering that even without a criminal case, a state authority that discovers inaccurate data has the right to review the assigned payments or benefits and to demand the return of the overpayment for the past period.
The main consequence is that from the point of view of the law the divorce is absolutely genuine. The moment of termination of the marriage occurs, as a general rule, on the day of registration of the dissolution at the registry office (Article 114 of the Family Code), and no oral agreements of the spouses change this. Then come the specific consequences, which often become an unpleasant surprise:
Each of these points is capable of turning a “temporary arrangement” into a permanent problem. But the most sensitive question, of course, is the property one, so we will dwell on it separately.
After a divorce, property acquired by each former spouse becomes their personal private property, and not joint. As long as the marriage lasts, everything acquired during married life is, as a general rule, joint co-owned property (Article 60 of the Family Code). After the termination of the marriage this regime no longer applies: an apartment, a car, funds, or a business registered to one person after the divorce belong only to them (Article 57).
This is precisely where the biggest trap of a fictitious divorce lies. If the spouses “just in case” rewrote the assets to one of the partners, the other loses the automatic right to them. The arrangement “but we are actually together” has no legal force, and if the relationship sours, returning the property will be extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, especially if it has already been sold or gifted. Moreover, if the partner to whom the assets were rewritten later enters a new marriage, this property risks becoming an object of already their new family relations, and untangling such a knot will be even harder. The question of dividing what was acquired over years then has to be resolved by other, much more complex rules. Read more about the fair and lawful distribution of assets in the material on the division of spouses’ property, and about the situation with obligations, in the article on divorce from a debtor.
Yes, but only in a clearly defined case and only through a court. Article 108 of the Family Code of Ukraine directly provides that, on the application of an interested person, a divorce may be declared fictitious by a court if it is established that the woman and the man continued to live as one family and had no intention of terminating the marital relationship.
The key restriction is as follows: this rule concerns exclusively divorces formalized through the registry office on a joint application of spouses who have no children (Article 106). If the marriage was dissolved by a court, such a divorce cannot be declared fictitious, since during the consideration the court has already made sure that further life together of the spouses is impossible. Therefore, fictitious in the meaning of Article 108 can only be “quick” divorces through the registry office. We write about this method in more detail in the articles on divorce by mutual consent and divorce through the registry office without a court.
If the court grants the claim, on the basis of its decision the act record of the dissolution of the marriage and the marriage dissolution certificate are annulled by the registry office. Legally this means that the marriage is considered not to have been terminated, that is, the spouses are again in a registered marriage. What exactly happens to the divorce document we explain in the material on the marriage dissolution certificate.
The court assesses not the fact of the divorce itself, but the real behavior of the former spouses after it. To declare a divorce fictitious, the applicant must prove two circumstances simultaneously: that the man and the woman continued to live as one family and that they had no genuine intention of terminating the marital relationship. The burden of proof lies precisely with the one who files the claim.
Convincing for the court are usually evidence that shows systematic, and not episodic, behavior:
No single piece of evidence is decisive. The court assesses them in their totality, by its inner conviction, and draws a conclusion about the parties’ true intentions. Because of this, court practice in such cases is quite reserved: objectively proving that people “did not actually divorce” is not always easy, and random coincidences like a single joint photo the court is unlikely to consider sufficient.
Any interested person whose rights are affected by a fictitious divorce may apply to the court. This may be one of the former spouses, for example when the other partner “changed their mind” about returning to the family or appropriated the jointly acquired property. It may likewise be a third party whose interests have been violated: a creditor, an heir, or an authority that granted payments designed for a single person.
A claim to declare a divorce fictitious is a demand of a non-property nature. The court fee for it in 2026 is about UAH 1,331 (0.4 of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, which from 1 January 2026 is UAH 3,328). When filing the claim electronically through the Electronic Court system, a discount applies, and the amount decreases by about 20 percent. For comparison, the state duty for the registration of the divorce itself at the registry office is symbolic, about UAH 8.50. We have gathered a general overview of procedures and payments in the article on the divorce procedure in Ukraine.
It is almost always safer to achieve the desired goal by lawful instruments than to risk a fictitious divorce. If it is a matter of protecting or arranging property, for this there are a marriage contract, a voluntary division of joint property, or an ordinary contract between the spouses. If the aim is to arrange debts, restructuring or other legal mechanisms will be more correct, rather than the withdrawal of assets, which a creditor can easily challenge.
The main thing worth remembering: a fictitious divorce gives an imaginary, short-term benefit, but creates real and long-term risks, from the loss of property and inheritance to charges of fraud. If you are considering a divorce for a specific practical purpose, first consult an attorney, who will suggest a lawful and safer route that will not turn against you in the future.
The very fact of a fictitious divorce is not a separate crime, since there is no special article for it in the law. But if it was used for the unlawful receipt of payments or subsidies, the actions may be qualified as fraud under Article 190 of the Criminal Code, with the obligation to return what was received.
No. Article 108 of the Family Code allows only a divorce registered through the registry office on a joint application of spouses without children to be declared fictitious. If the marriage was dissolved by a court, it has already established the impossibility of life together, so such a decision is not declared fictitious.
After a divorce is declared fictitious, the marriage is considered not to have been terminated, so the regime of joint co-owned property of the spouses returns to the property. However, in practice untangling already re-registered assets can be difficult, especially if they have been sold or transferred to third parties.
As a general rule, no. After a divorce a former husband or wife is not part of the first line of heirs at law. Therefore, if one of the partners dies, the other will not inherit at law, unless and until the divorce is declared fictitious through a court.
Yes. After a divorce both are free in the right to enter a new marriage, and it will be fully valid. This is one of the most serious risks of the scheme, since the other partner has no legal levers against such a step.
This is a non-property demand, so the court fee in 2026 is about UAH 1,331. When filing through the Electronic Court, a discount of about 20 percent applies. The exact amount is worth checking on the day of filing, since it is tied to the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons.
You need to prove that after the divorce the spouses continued to live as one family and had no intention of ending the relationship. Evidence of a joint household and budget, testimony of witnesses, photos, correspondence, joint events, and the birth of a child already after the divorce help. The court assesses this evidence in its totality.
Legally this is very risky: you become genuinely divorced with all the consequences, and you may not obtain the desired benefit after all. In most cases the goal can be achieved lawfully, through a marriage contract, the division of property, or other instruments, so before any decision it is better to consult an attorney.
Ilona MelnychukAttorney, Lexon law firmSpecializes in family, civil, and commercial cases. Over 15 years of practice: representing clients’ interests in courts and negotiations.Author: Ilona Melnychuk, attorney In Brief You can dissolve a marriage through the registry office (DRATS, the body for the state registration of civil status
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