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Author: Ilona Melnychuk, attorneyThe key points in brief
A decision of the court of first instance does not always put an end to a divorce case. If you believe the court made a mistake, misapplied the law, failed to take your arguments into account, or resolved questions about the children or property without a proper assessment, the law gives you the right to appeal. Below we go step by step through the deadlines, the real grounds, the cost, and the consequences of an appeal as of 2026.
An appeal is filed within thirty days from the day the court decision is announced (Article 354 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine). This is the basic rule that applies in all cases of dissolution of a marriage.
An important nuance about counting the term: if only the introductory and operative parts of the decision were announced at the hearing and the court drew up the full text later, the thirty days are counted precisely from the day the full decision was drawn up. This situation happens often, because the court frequently postpones preparing the reasoning part. Therefore the count does not always begin on the day of the hearing. For court rulings (for example, on leaving a claim without consideration or closing the proceedings) the term is shorter and is fifteen days. The advice is simple: do not wait until the last day. Obtain the full text of the decision at the court registry or in your electronic account, read the reasoning part carefully, and count the term from the date the full decision was drawn up.
The thirty-day term is counted from the day the decision is announced or from the day its full text is drawn up, and a term missed for valid reasons can be renewed by the court. That is, missing it does not always mean losing the right to appeal.
The most common valid reason: the decision was made in your absence and you received a copy much later. The law takes this into account. If the full text of the decision was not served on you on the day it was announced, you have the right to file an appeal within thirty days from the day the document was actually served, and the court will renew the term. Other valid reasons: prolonged illness, being abroad, military service, force majeure. In such a case a motion to renew the term with supporting evidence (medical certificates, border-crossing records, and so on) is attached to the appeal.
A separate situation: a default judgment. If the court considered the case without the defendant and issued a default judgment, the defendant has a choice. He may file with the same court of first instance an application to review the default judgment within thirty days from the day it was announced (Article 284 of the Civil Procedure Code), and if he received the copy later, the term can be renewed. Or he may go straight to an appeal. The claimant has no such choice and challenges a default judgment only through the appellate procedure. A default hearing is typical for cases where one of the spouses avoids taking part; you can read more about this in the article on dissolution of a marriage at the request of one of the spouses.
Formally it can be appealed, but overturning a divorce merely because you are against it is almost impossible: the court has no right to force people to remain in a marriage. This is the key thing to understand before filing an appeal.
Marriage in Ukraine is based on free consent (Article 51 of the Constitution, Article 24 of the Family Code). If at least one of the spouses insists on divorce, the appellate court will not restore the family by force. Therefore an appeal whose only argument is ‘I do not want to divorce’ is practically doomed. It is worth knowing this honestly, so as not to waste time and money in vain.
What then makes sense to appeal? Real chances are given by other directions:
That is, the subject of an appeal is usually not the fact of the termination of the marriage itself, but how the court resolved the related issues. If your dispute is really about property, it is more effective to focus precisely on that part of the decision; how division works we explain in the article on division of spouses’ property.
The appellate court reverses or changes a decision on four groups of grounds listed in Article 376 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine. It is precisely on these that you must rely in the text of the appeal.
In practice, in divorce cases it is most often procedural violations and the incorrect resolution of questions about children and property that succeed. Abstract disagreement with the decision is not enough: in the appeal you must specifically show which rule was violated and how this affected the outcome.
Part 3 of Article 376 of the Civil Procedure Code names violations for which a decision is reversed mandatorily, regardless of the other arguments of the appeal. It is enough to prove at least one of them.
The most common of these grounds in divorces: improper notification. If you were not informed of the date of the hearing at the proper address, and the decision was made without you, this is a weighty reason for reversal. The Supreme Court has repeatedly stressed that such a ground is imperative and the appellate court cannot ignore it.
In 2026 the court fee for an appeal against a divorce decision is about UAH 1,996.80. This is a fixed rate that does not depend on your financial situation.
The amount is calculated as 150 percent of the rate paid when filing the claim. A divorce claim in 2026 is charged at a rate of 0.4 of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons. Since from 1 January 2026 this minimum is UAH 3,328, the fee for the claim equals approximately UAH 1,331.20, and 150 percent of it is about UAH 1,996.80.
There is a lawful way to save. When an appeal is filed in electronic form through the Electronic Court subsystem, a reducing coefficient of 0.8 applies, that is, a 20 percent discount. Taking the discount into account, the fee will be about UAH 1,597. Certain categories of persons may be exempt from the fee by law. A receipt of payment (or a document confirming the exemption) must be attached to the appeal, otherwise the court will leave it without motion. Another point in the applicant’s favor: if the appeal is granted, court costs are as a general rule imposed on the party that lost the dispute (Article 141 of the Civil Procedure Code), so the fee paid can be recovered from the opponent. We examine the current rates and the payment procedure in detail in the guide on how to file a claim for the dissolution of a marriage.
An appeal is filed directly with the appellate court of the relevant region, and it is most convenient to do so in electronic form through the Electronic Court. An appeal is no longer filed through the court of first instance that issued the decision.
The text of the appeal states:
Attached to the appeal are copies of it in the number of participants in the case, a copy of the decision being challenged, the evidence you rely on, a receipt for payment of the court fee and, if necessary, a motion to renew the term. An appeal can be filed in person, by mail, or online. The electronic account is convenient in that it automatically records the date of filing and gives a discount on the fee. Having received the appeal, the appellate court opens proceedings or leaves it without motion so that you can eliminate the shortcomings (for example, pay the additional fee or add a missing document). If the shortcomings are not eliminated within the term set by the court, the appeal is returned without consideration, so you must react quickly to a ruling leaving it without motion.
While the appeal is pending, a divorce decision does not enter into legal force, so until the review is completed the marriage is not legally considered dissolved. This is one of the main practical consequences of filing an appeal.
As a general rule (Article 273 of the Civil Procedure Code) a decision enters into force after the term for an appeal expires, if no appeal was filed. If an appeal was filed, the decision will enter into force only after the appellate court has considered the case and only provided that it is not reversed. Several practical points follow from this:
The appellate court must consider the appeal within sixty days from the day proceedings are opened; in exceptional cases this term may be extended by no more than fifteen days. Read more about the content of the decision and the moment when it becomes effective in the article on a court decision on the dissolution of a marriage. And if the final decision is needed for use abroad, you will later need an apostille on a court divorce decision.
As a general rule, decisions in cases on the dissolution of a marriage are not subject to cassation appeal, because such cases belong to minor ones. Therefore an appeal is, as a rule, the last real instance in a divorce dispute.
The Civil Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court reviews minor cases only in the exceptional circumstances defined by Article 389 of the Civil Procedure Code. Cassation is possible if:
Mere disagreement with the outcome or a wish to ‘review everything once more’ is not a ground for cassation. The Supreme Court regularly refuses to open cassation proceedings on such appeals in divorce cases. That is exactly why the preparation of the appeal should be approached as seriously as possible: in most cases there will be no second chance.
Yes. If you were not duly notified of the hearing, this is both an unconditional ground for reversal (Article 376 of the Civil Procedure Code) and a valid reason for renewing a missed term. If a default judgment was issued, the defendant may file with the same court an application to review it within thirty days or go straight to an appeal.
Yes. An appeal filed on time prevents the decision from entering into legal force. Until the review is completed the marriage is considered to be in effect, and a new marriage cannot be concluded during this period.
Appeal not the fact of the divorce itself, but the specific part of the decision. An appeal can be filed regarding the determination of the child’s place of residence, the amount of alimony, or the division of property. Often these issues are more effectively resolved by separate claims, in particular for the recovery of alimony; be guided by the subject of the dispute and the advice of an attorney.
Yes. Until the appellate court adopts its ruling, you have the right to withdraw your appeal. In that case the court will close the appellate proceedings, and the decision of the court of first instance will enter into legal force.
By law the appellate court must consider the appeal within sixty days from the day proceedings are opened. In complex cases the term may be extended by no more than fifteen days. In practice the total duration depends on the workload of the particular court.
Yes. An appeal is filed through the Electronic Court subsystem in your own electronic account. This records the date of filing and gives a 20 percent discount on the court fee. A qualified electronic signature is required to sign the documents.
The marriage is considered dissolved from the day the decision enters into legal force. There is no need to register the divorce separately with the civil registration office (DRATsS). On request you can obtain a certificate of dissolution of the marriage, and for use of the document abroad additionally affix an apostille.
An appeal is mostly work with the law rather than with new emotions: you must precisely indicate the violated rules and show how they affected the outcome of the case. Mistakes in the deadlines or the reasoning often cost the entire case, and there is usually no second attempt through cassation. Therefore it is reasonable to entrust the assessment of prospects and the drafting of the appeal to a specialist.
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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