Q&A in Family Law Slovakia

Q and As regarding Family Law in Slovakia.

What are the requirements for service of divorce in Slovakia?

The delivery of service is formally organised by the court and is performed by the Slovak post or by electronic data mailbox (Slovensko.sk) signed by electronic signatures (Article 105, Civil Litigation Procedural Code).

Postal services are used for international delivery. For delivery to other EU member states Regulation 2020/1784 on the service of documents in civil or commercial matters applies. Slovakia is also a member state of the HCCH Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters 1965 (Hague Service Convention).

Are foreign marriages/divorces recognized in Slovakia?

Foreign marriages are recognised in Slovakia. A marriage entered into abroad is valid in Slovakia if it complies with the substantial legal and formal requirements for the validity of the marriage.

In Slovakia, recognition of a marriage is by registration with the local authority. Act No 154/1994 Coll provides legal provisions for Slovak recognition of a marriage concluded abroad if one of the spouses is Slovak citizen. The Slovak citizen must fill in a written request and provide the necessary documents, such as original of the marriage certificate, a Slovak ID card and so on. Documents issued outside EU member states must be apostilled/superlegalised under the HCCH Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents 1961 (Apostille Convention) and officially translated into Slovak language.

If the marriage is concluded within the EU, no registration or recognition of the marriage is required to divorce in Slovakia. Under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 on promoting the free movement of citizens by simplifying the requirements for presenting certain public documents, the administrative burden relates mainly to apostillation, and the requirement to secure certified translations of some public documents has been removed. The regulation applies to certain hardcopy public documents and their certified copies, but also to electronically issued public documents that certify facts such as birth, that a person is alive, death, parentage, adoption and so on. For public documents that fall under the scope of the regulation, there is no need for a higher verification in the form of an apostille certificate (since all EU member states are parties to the Apostille Convention, under which public documents covered by the regulation and their certified copies are exempt from all forms of higher authentication and similar formalities).

Divorces/annulments of marriages from other EU member states are recognised in Slovakia under the Recast Brussels IIa Regulation.

Does Slovakian law know Civil Partnerships?

No Civil Partnerships does not exist under Slovakian law.

When is a marriage considered as null in Slovakia?

The court can declare a marriage null if it was concluded:

With an already married spouse at the time of the marriage.
Between relatives.
By a person with limited or no legal capacity.
By a person suffering mental disease that would lead to a limitation or lack of legal capacity.
Not voluntarily or with insufficient willingness.
By a person younger than 16 (or between 16 and 18 without consent of the court).
By an unauthorised authority or priest.
By an unregistered religion.
By a proxy without a relevant power of attorney.

Are prenuptial agreements binding in Slovakia?

The Slovakian legal system does not recognize pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, and these are not considered to be valid if they are concluded.

What kind of matrimonial regime exists in Slovakia?

The statutory and default regime for matrimonial property is joint property. This property regime is established automatically by law on entering the marriage (Article 143, Civil Code).

The joint property regime applies to all property acquired by the spouses during the marriage and that is owned jointly, irrespective of whether the property is acquired together or separately.

The joint property regime does not apply things acquired by inheritance or gift, as well as things which, by their nature, serve the personal needs or performance of the profession of only one of the spouses (Article 143, Civil Code).

The joint property regime can be amended by agreement signed in the form of notarial deed.

How is the division of assets dealt in Slovakia?

Assets acquired by the spouses during the marriage, whether jointly or separately (such as income during the marriage), as well as any burdens over such assets, are part of the common assets. The shares in common property are generally equal. However, there are a number of exceptions. For example, in the situation where a spouse had an asset (usually real estate) before the marriage, and the asset was sold during the marriage and then money was added and a new asset bought, this second asset belongs to common property but the spouse who owned the previous asset before the marriage has the right to have their contribution fully returned.

The spouses are generally jointly liable for any debts arising from obligations undertaken by either of them during the community of property, unless one spouse entered into the debt without the knowledge of the other.

What are the rules for spousal maintenance after the divorce?

The legal entitlement to spousal maintenance lasts only until the final divorce date. Spouses have a duty of maintenance towards each other, and this duty is covered by the principle of equality, regardless of whether the spouses share a common household. The relevant factor is whether the marriage still legally exists.

After divorce, the maintenance duty continues only where the former spouse is objectively not capable of having their own income, which is very rare. This can be ruled by the court for a maximum five years after the divorce, and the court will consider the reasons for the divorce in these circumstances. Maintenance for more than five years after the divorce can be granted only in special cases, such as where the former spouse takes care of a minor child with special needs or has special needs in relation to health conditions (Article 72, Family Code).

On what basis is child maintenance calculated in Slovakia?

Slovakia has recently introduced a guideline table for calculating maintenance.

Child maintenance is calculated based on the following, in order of importance:

The justified needs of the child.
The financial capacities of the obliged parent and the needs of the minor child.
The other child maintenance obligations of the obliged parent.
The child's own income (if any).
Any state subsidies granted to the caretaking parent.

Child maintenance has priority over the parents' unnecessary expenses. The child's justified needs include (among other things) regular expenditures covering the necessities of life and the costs of their health care, education and development. Extraordinary costs to be included in the child maintenance are calculated on a yearly basis, with a division between months.

What is the legal position in relation to custody/parental responsibility following the breakdown of a relationship or marriage?

Parental rights are established by registration as a parent on the child's birth certificate. There is no difference between parents who are married or who are unmarried in relation to parental rights.

Both parents have parental authority to represent the child and decide on the child's behalf. They therefore share the ability to decide and resolve all matters that affect the child, even only one of them takes care of the child (Article 28, Family Code). A parent with whom the child lives (shares custody or joint custody) or who has visitation rights can decide on day-to-day issues without the consent of the other parent. Neither of the parents can represent their minor child in relation to legal actions in which there could be a conflict of interests between the parents and the child or between minor children represented by the same parent (Article 31, Family Code).

The court will decide essential matters related to the exercise of parental rights and duties on which the parents do not agree, such as:

A permanent change of residency of a child abroad.
The management of the child's property.
The child's citizenship.
Granting consent for the provision of health care.
Granting consent for preparation for a future profession.

(Article 35, Family Code.)

The breakdown of a relationship or marriage does not have any impact on parental rights and duties.

The court will regulate the exercise of parental rights and obligations towards the minor child for a time after a divorce or separation to determine, in particular, whether the child should be entrusted to the shared custody of both parents or to the sole custody of one parent. At the same time, the court will determine how the parent who was not entrusted with custody should contribute to the child's maintenance. If both parents are capable of raising the child and both parents are interested in the personal care of the child, the court can entrust the child to the shared custody of both parents, if this is in the child's interest and if the child's needs are ensured (Article 24, Family Code).

What are the legal rules in relation to access with the child after the divorce?

The primary consideration in decisions on all matters that concern a minor child is the best interest of the child. The following matters in particular are considered when determining and assessing the interests of a minor child:

The level of childcare required.
The safety of the child, as well as the safety and stability of the environment in which the child lives.
Protecting the dignity, as well as the mental, physical and emotional development of the child.
Circumstances related to the child's health condition or the child's disability.
The possibility of endangering the child's dignity or development by interfering with the mental, physical and emotional integrity of a person who is close to the child.
Conditions for the preservation of the child's identity and for the development of the child's abilities and aptitudes.
The child's opinion and possible exposure to a conflict of loyalty and a subsequent feeling of guilt.
Conditions for creating and developing relationships with both parents, siblings and other relatives.
The use of possible means to preserve the child's family environment where an interference with parental rights and obligations is considered.

What are the legal requirements for adoption in Slovakia?

Adoption is governed by Articles 97 to 109 of the Family Code. The requirements for a person to become an adoptive parent in Slovakia are:

Having full legal capacity.
Having the required personal qualities, particularly relating to health, personality and morals.
Being filed in the list of applicants for adoption.
Having a lifestyle (as well as that of any partner) that guarantees that the adoption will be in the best interests of the child.

Marriage is not a legal requirement for a person to be able to adopt a child, and single people can adopt children. However, couples living together without being married are not allowed to adopt a child as their common child, and in such cases only one of the partners can request an adoption.

The consent of the biological parents is needed for adoption of the child. However, the consent of the biological parents is not needed if they have not shown any interest in the child for at least six months, or have not shown any interest for two months after the birth of the child in circumstances where the biological mother anonymously abandoned the child immediately after the birth.

There is two-step procedure. The first step is pre-adoption care for at least nine months. After successful pre-adoption care, the child can be adopted. In Slovakia, adoption is irreversible, and the adoptive parent is registered on the birth certificate of the child.

Slovakia is party to the HCCH Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption 1993 (Hague Adoption Convention).