Changes in the Divorce Proceedings

In particular, the Bill proposes a new alternative for individuals to seek their divorce without the need to go to court, in certain specific cases. The Bill does not intend to exclude the intervention of courts definitively, but rather incorporates a new option to facilitate the process when the case is not complex and the decision is made by mutual agreement between the spouses.

In this sense, Section 352 of the Bill, located in Part III of Chapter V called "Justice", incorporates a new in Section 435 of the Civil and Commercial Code ("CCC") a new cause for dissolution of marriage: the joint petition of the spouses before the administrative competent organism. Until now, the causes for marriage dissolution are set forth in the three subsections of said article: a) death of one of the spouses; b) final judgment of absence with presumption of death; c) judicially declared divorce.

Therefore, the Bill seeks to incorporate a new subsection d) with this alternative. To use this administrative proceeding, both spouses must agree to present their petition for divorce before the applicable administrative body of the last matrimonial domicile (i.e., the registry in charge of registering in such jurisdiction the matters related to the civil status of persons). If the Bill is approved, the petition for dissolution before the administrative body would have the same effects that the judicial divorce.

It should be noted that the Bill does not intend to eliminate the judicial petition for divorce, which will remain in force, as well as the applicable rules for such process, nor does it contemplate the possibility of transferring to the administrative body the conflicts and issues that may arise from the divorce. Among other issues, the effects of the dissolution of the matrimonial property regime in general; the possible allocation of the family home; the distribution of assets; possible economic compensations; the exercise of parental responsibility and possible alimony payments between ex-spouses or to the children in common would remain in the judicial sphere.