There are several types of divorce procedures in the Dominican Republic which are applicable depending on the reason of the spouses and if they agree on all terms or not. The Divorce by Mutual Consent is the quickest and simplest way to divorce in the Dominican Republic, characterized by the mutual consent of the spouses regarding common property and custody matters (if they have children).
It is important to differentiate the Divorce by Mutual Consent from a Quick Divorce. The Quick or Special Divorce for Foreigners is a type of divorce by mutual consent but is only applicable for foreigners. The Divorce by Mutual Consent itself applies for all the Dominicans who reside or not in Dominican territory, foreigners who reside in the Dominican Republic but do not want to take advantage of a Quick Divorce, and for foreigners married to Dominicans who reside or not in the country.
Divorce Law 1306-Bis specifies the conditions for applying for this type of divorce. These include the following:
• Spouses should have at least two years of marriage
• Husband must be under 60 years old and wife under 50
• Spouses must agree on the distribution of property and custody and alimony matter of the minor children in common
• Must sign an Act of Conventions and Stipulations before a Public Notary
As for the documents required to deposit in Court are the original Marriage Certificate duly authenticated in the Central Electoral Board, original Birth Certificate of minor children duly authenticated in the Central Electoral Board, copy of identity documents (Dominican identity card or passport) of the spouses, Separation Agreement (The agreement if the spouses were married under a regime of separation of property, the same will be ruled by the clauses of the Separation Agreement or Prenuptial Agreement); documents evidencing asset ownership such as Title Deeds, bank accounts, vehicle registrations, etc., and a power of attorney authorizing the attorney working on the case to represent the spouses in Court.
After compiling these documents the hearing date must be requested through a formal process where the same will be set within approximately 30 days. On the day of the hearing, the spouses are not required to be present in Court since they will be represented by their attorney through a special power, however, the presence of either spouse is recommended.
Once the hearing has been held, the judge reserves the right to study the case and dictate a sentence, process which may take up to 45 working days.
Once the Divorce Decree and the Divorce Certificate have been issued, the next step to follow is the publication of the divorce in a national newspaper. If the documents will be presented abroad, these must be legalized with the Apostille or by the Consulate of the country where they will be presented, depending on the case.
We strongly advise that if the spouses have agreed on making such a difficult decision to divorce, they should make a strong effort to reach an agreement on property distribution and custody matters, which are factors that typically end mutual consent divorces and forces the spouses to apply for a contested divorce which is a longer pricier process.
Bibliography:
Law 1306-Bis about Divorce
Gaceta Jurídica Virtual No.6 Year 2
Book “Todo Sobre el Divorcio”, Lic. Máximo A. Diaz, Santo Domingo, Rep. Dom., 2000