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Author: Ilona Melnychuk, attorneyKey points in brief
Divorce in Ukraine takes place under one of two procedures, and confusion between them costs people extra time and money every time. Below we will work through both routes step by step, name the current timeframes and amounts for 2026, and help you determine your route. If you are still at the very beginning, it is useful first to understand where to start the divorce procedure.
The law provides exactly two methods of dissolving a marriage: through the registry office (the state civil status registration authority) and through a court. The choice of route does not depend on your wish to formalize it faster: it is predetermined by two circumstances, namely whether there are shared minor children and whether both consent to the divorce.
The rule is easy to remember. There are no shared minor children and there is mutual consent, so the marriage is dissolved by the registry office. There is a shared minor child, or one spouse is against it or evades, so the case is decided by a court. The sole ground for the dissolution of a marriage under Article 105 of the Family Code of Ukraine is worded broadly: further life together and the preservation of the marriage run counter to the interests of one of the spouses. No one is forced to remain in a marriage against their will; the authority only checks the genuineness of the intentions and cares for the children’s interests.
Another important point: the dissolution of the marriage itself and the resolution of related disputes are different things. Child support, determining the child’s place of residence, and the division of joint property may be considered separately and take longer than the divorce itself. Therefore you should not postpone the divorce just because you have not yet agreed about property or money: in most cases these questions do not block the termination of the marriage.
The registry office formalizes a divorce in two cases, directly named in Articles 106 and 107 of the Family Code. The first is a joint application of spouses who have no shared minor children. The second is an application of only one spouse, regardless of whether there are children, if the other has been declared missing or legally incapable by a court.
Under Article 106, both must consent and have no dispute that only a court can resolve. The presence of adult children plays no role: the restriction concerns exclusively shared minors. Under Article 107, the precondition is a court decision declaring the other spouse missing or legally incapable, and only with such a decision can you apply to the registry office. In this case the state duty is even smaller than the usual one, about UAH 0.50. A separate situation is a divorce from a convicted person, which has its own nuances and requires a careful check of the grounds. We tell about the administrative route in detail, with a list of grounds, in the material on divorce through the registry office without a court in 2026.
The procedure at the registry office consists of filing a joint application, a one-month wait, and the state registration of the dissolution. This is the fastest lawful route, which as a general rule takes about one month.
Step one, the spouses file a joint application for the dissolution of the marriage with the registry office branch at the place of residence of one of the spouses or at the place of registration of the marriage, in person or through available electronic services. Step two, a state duty of about UAH 8.50 is paid. Step three, the one-month period for reflection established by law elapses: it is provided specifically so that the decision is not hasty, and this period cannot be shortened. Step four, on the appointed day the branch carries out the state registration of the dissolution of the marriage and enters the act record, after which it issues a document confirming your new status. If desired, the spouse who changed their surname at the marriage can immediately declare the return of their pre-marriage surname.
If on the appointed day neither spouse appeared without valid reasons, the application is considered to have lost force, and the procedure will have to be started anew. To avoid being refused because of an incomplete package, check in advance which documents are needed for a divorce in your case.
People divorce through a court in two typical situations: when there are shared minor children and when there is no consent of one spouse. This is the main difference of the judicial route from the administrative one, and it is precisely the presence of children that most often brings people to court even with full consent.
The first situation is governed by Article 109. If the spouses have children but have reached agreement on the divorce, they file with the court a joint application for the dissolution of the marriage together with a written agreement about whom the children will live with and how the other parent will take part in their upbringing and support. In this case the court does not clarify the reasons for the family’s breakup, but checks whether the agreement violates the child’s rights. This is a peaceful option, and you can read more about it in the article on divorce by mutual consent. The second situation is governed by Articles 110-112: when one wants a divorce and the other is against it or evades, a claim for the dissolution of the marriage is filed. More complex cases, such as a divorce from a foreigner, with a spouse abroad, or with a debtor, have additional specifics regarding jurisdiction and notification of the party.
The judicial procedure begins with filing a claim or a joint application with the appropriate court and ends with a decision that enters into legal force. Let us consider the procedure for claim proceedings, that is, when there is no consent.
Step one, a statement of claim for the dissolution of the marriage is drawn up and jurisdiction is determined: as a general rule, the claim is filed at the respondent’s registered place of residence, but in cases where young or minor children live together with the claimant, the law allows filing at the claimant’s place of residence as well. Step two, the court fee is paid and the necessary documents are attached. Step three, the court opens proceedings, sends a copy of the claim to the respondent, and schedules a hearing; the respondent has the right to file a response. Step four, under Article 111 the court may take measures to reconcile the spouses and grant a period for this, if this is not prevented by the will of one of the spouses; such a period, as a general rule, does not exceed six months. Step five, the court makes a decision. Under Article 112 the court rules to dissolve the marriage if it finds that further life together of the spouses and the preservation of the marriage would run counter to the interests of one of them or the interests of their children. We have provided a practical guide on how to correctly draw up and file the documents separately: how to file a statement of claim for the dissolution of a marriage.
The personal presence of both at every hearing is not always obligatory: participation through a representative or in a remote mode is possible. If the respondent does not appear and does not file a response, the court, if there are grounds, may consider the case in the procedure of default proceedings, so the evasion of the other spouse does not block the divorce forever.
The cost depends on the chosen route: at the registry office it is a symbolic state duty, and at a court a court fee in a larger amount. For a divorce on a joint application at the registry office, the state duty is about UAH 8.50.
For a court, the base value is the court fee for a statement of claim of a non-property nature. In 2026 it is calculated as 0.4 of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, and this minimum from 1 January 2026 is UAH 3,328. Therefore, the court fee for a claim for the dissolution of a marriage is about UAH 1,331, more precisely UAH 1,331.20. If you file the claim electronically through the Electronic Court system, a reducing coefficient applies and the amount decreases to about UAH 1,065. These are official payments; an attorney’s legal assistance may be paid for separately, if you use it. Note that claims for child support or the division of property, if you make them together with the divorce, are charged under their own rules: in particular, claimants in cases of the recovery of child support are, as a general rule, exempt from the court fee, and property disputes are paid for depending on the value of the property.
The period depends on the route: a divorce through the registry office as a general rule takes about a month, and a judicial one is longer and less predictable. The one-month period at the registry office is set by law and begins to run from the day the joint application is filed.
A judicial consideration has no fixed duration. It is affected by the court’s workload, the behavior of the parties, the need to properly notify the respondent, and the possible granting of a period for reconciliation under Article 111. If both agree and have filed a joint application with an agreement about the children, the case usually moves faster. But if one spouse is against it, drags out the process, or asks for time for reconciliation, the consideration may stretch out to several months. Additionally, you need to take into account the period for the decision to enter into legal force, since until that moment the marriage has not legally been terminated, and the decision can still be appealed on appeal.
Yes, as of 2026 you can divorce both during the wife’s pregnancy and within a year after the child’s birth. Previously, Article 110 of the Family Code contained parts that prohibited the husband from filing for divorce in this period and allowed the wife to do so only under certain conditions, but these restrictions have been abolished.
The abolition was carried out by Law of Ukraine No. 4073-IX, which entered into force on 19 December 2024. Therefore, any advice or old articles that refer to a ban on divorce during pregnancy no longer correspond to the current legislation. This does not cancel other protective rules: the wife, during pregnancy and after the child’s birth, retains under certain conditions the right to maintenance (support for herself), but this no longer affects the possibility of dissolving the marriage. We examined the current state and the old rule in detail in the material on divorce during pregnancy.
The moment of termination of a marriage is determined by Article 114 of the Family Code, and it is different for the two routes. In the case of dissolution through the registry office, the marriage is terminated on the day of the state registration of the dissolution. In the case of dissolution by a court, the marriage is terminated on the day the court decision enters into force.
This difference has practical significance. Until the court decision has entered into legal force, you legally remain married, so you should not plan a new marriage or important property actions in advance. After the termination of the marriage, you can obtain documents confirming this and, if needed, return your pre-marriage surname: this right belongs to the spouse who changed their surname at the marriage (Article 113). The question of the child’s surname is decided by other rules. If desired, the one who divorced through a court can obtain a marriage dissolution certificate at the registry office (Article 115), but there is no need to re-register a court divorce at the registry office, since the marriage has already been terminated by the court decision.
Yes. If one spouse is against it or evades the joint application, the other files a claim for the dissolution of the marriage with the court under Articles 110-112. The court may grant a period for reconciliation, but has no right to forcibly preserve the marriage if it is satisfied that life together runs counter to the interests of a party.
On a joint application at the registry office, the state duty is about UAH 8.50. On a claim to a court, the court fee in 2026 is about UAH 1,331 (0.4 of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, which is UAH 3,328), and when filing through the Electronic Court about UAH 1,065.
Through the registry office, a divorce as a general rule takes about a month from the day the application is filed. Through a court, the period is not fixed and depends on the consent of the parties, the court’s workload, and a possible period for reconciliation (up to six months under Article 111). A marriage is terminated only after the decision enters into legal force.
No. The presence of a shared minor child takes the case to a court even with full consent. In that case a joint application under Article 109 is filed together with a written agreement about whom the child will live with and how the other parent will support them and take part in their upbringing.
Partly. A claim to a court can be filed remotely through the Electronic Court system, and a number of actions can be done without personal presence. Divorce through the Diia app, as of 2026, is at the stage of a pilot and gradual launch and is not available to everyone, in particular it does not work when there are shared minor children. Instant online divorce does not exist: the monthly and procedural periods are retained.
Yes. The former restrictions of Article 110 regarding the wife’s pregnancy and the year after the child’s birth were abolished by Law No. 4073-IX from 19 December 2024. As of 2026 there is no such ban; either spouse can file for divorce.
This is a separate question that does not block the divorce itself. The parents can agree by contract or resolve the dispute in a court taking into account the child’s interests. Child support and the division of joint property are likewise resolved separately, so these disputes may continue even after the termination of the marriage.
Under Article 114: in a divorce through the registry office, on the day of the state registration of the dissolution, and in a divorce through a court, on the day the court decision enters into legal force. Until that moment you are legally married.
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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