The
Reality Regarding Divorce
In The Dominican Republic
AMERICAN
CITIZENS WHO WISH TO
OBTAIN A DIVORCE IN THE
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SHOULD
CONSULT WITH A LOCAL
ATTORNEY FOR ADVICE AND
LEGAL REPRESENTATION.
Before seeking a
divorce in the Dominican
Republic, U.S. citizens
should be aware of
possible legal
restrictions by their
state of residence on
divorces obtained abroad.
It is advisable to
contact an attorney of
your state of residence
to determine whether or
not the courts of your
state will recognize a
Dominican Republic
divorce as valid. The
Dominican Embassy in the
US states that only Mutual Consent
Divorces are possible,
but the US Embassy in the
Dominican Republic
explains that there are two types of
divorces,
Incompatibility or Mutual
Consent. Whether a
Dominican Divorce is by
Mutual Consent or
Incompatibility, the
processing is the same
for such a divorce to be
legal.
In order to be
recognized in the U.S.,
the divorce decree must
be
"authenticated"
by a U.S. Embassy
consular officer. This
authentication states
only that the signature
on the decree matches the
signature of a Dominican
official on record with
the U.S. Embassy as an
official competent and
empowered to sign such a
decree.
There are
two types of divorces
available to foreigners
in the Dominican
Republic: mutual consent
and divorce for cause.
The majority of Dominican
divorces granted to
foreigners are mutual
consent divorces. The
demanding party does not
have to prove a specific
cause for dissolving the
bond of matrimony but
rather, must show mutual
agreement to dissolve the
marriage. Although
residency is not
required, the personal
appearance at the hearing
of at least one party is
necessary. The other
party can be represented by
an attorney authorized by power of
attorney duly file in
the Civil Registry
Office.
A foreigner
can obtain a divorce for
cause (e.g.,
incompatibility of
character, adultery,
etc.). The
divorce for cause
requires the personal
appearance of the
plaintiff or his
representative. In a divorce
for cause action, the
judge has extensive
powers, including the
right to determine the
disposition of marital
properties and support
payments for the spouse
and children of the
marriage.
A divorce in the
Dominican Republic,
whether by mutual consent
or for cause, has no
effect or validity until
such time as certain
precise steps have been
taken during the final
phase of the divorce
process. The judgment or
"sentencia"
must be rendered and
filed in the Office of
the Civil Registry, or
"Oficina de Registro
Civil." This filing
date begins the 60-day
period during which the
judgment may be appealed.
The next step is
to have the judgment
"pronounced" by
an appropriate,
non-judicial official of
the Oficina de Regristro
Civil. The pronouncement
ends the marriage. The
parties are then
considered single. Within
eight days of the
pronouncement, the
divorce judgment must be
published once in a
newspaper of general
circulation. Without the
pronouncement and
publication of the
judgment, the divorce is
not valid under Dominican
law.
When getting a
Dominican divorce, be
sure to get
a) Divorce Court
Order ( in Spanish and
English, with the
Consular's Signature and
stamp on the back of the
spanish version)
b) Divorce Extract ( in
Spanish and English, with
the Consular's Signature
and stamp on the back of
the spanish version)
c) Divorce Pronounciation
( in Spanish and English,
with the Consular's
Signature and stamp on
the back of the spanish
version)
If you are not
in possession of a, b and
c above, then you may not
be legally divorced!
NOTE:
The
Dominican public registry
offices
operate differently from
those in the U.S. and
documents concerning
legal procedures are
obtained differently
here. The only record of
a divorce is a
hand-written entry in a
book in one of the many
civil registry offices in
the city where the
divorce was performed.
Since the records are not
entered alphabetically
but chronologically, they
can only be retrieved on
that basis. In addition,
registry employees do not
perform searches for the
public. Books for a
particular month are made
available so that an
individual or her/his
representative can locate
the desired entry. An
extract of the record can
then be prepared by the
registry employee for a
fee.
Searching
for a particular record
can be very time
consuming unless one
knows the precise date of
the divorce and the
precise location of the
registry in which the
book is physically
located. Therefore, if
you cannot be in the
Dominican Republic to
perform the search, you
should consider hiring a
lawyer or other
representative to obtain
the extract on your
behalf.
Internet
Legal Referral
1-269-929-3849
leonard@globaldivorces.com
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