My spouse is a Polish citizen. Do I have to divorce her in Poland?

The answer depends on the status of the divorce proceedings, the law of your country and several other factors. To be honest, each case should be checked separately.

The Polish Code of Civil Law Proceedings says that there is an exclusive jurisdiction of Polish courts in divorce matters only when both of the spouses have Polish citizenship and they both reside in Poland. This means that under Polish law such a divorce must take place before a Polish court. Additionally you may divorce in Poland when both spouses resided in Poland and now one of them still lives in Poland or the plaintiff at least for one year preceding the divorce has a place of residence in Poland or the plaintiff has a Polish citizenship and lives at least 6 months directly before the divorce proceedings in Poland or when both spouses are Polish.

For the citizens of European Union there is a special regulation before which court you can file for divorce and there is a provision saying which court should rule on the divorce in case there are two proceedings pending in different Member States. The court pertinent for divorce is the court that was first seized.

Aleksandra Dalecka

attorney at law

Contact: Aleksandra.Dalecka@gmail.com