Under the New Civil Code and Law no. 36/1995, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented, couples who decide to dissolve their marriage amicably may choose a notary public as the competent authority.

Divorce by notary procedure is simple and quick, even if there are minor children involved, as long as both spouses agree on certain aspects: the amount of ‘child support’ owed to the minor and setting a visitation schedule, the parent with whom the minors will live, and the surname of the spouses after the dissolution of their marriage.

Notaries public have a general territorial competence in the exercise of their authority as determined by Law no. 36/1995, but also a competence limited exceptionally by law. Therefore, the application for divorce is to be submitted to a notary public operating within the jurisdiction of the court where the marriage was concluded or where the spouses’ last joint residence is; the spouses’ last joint residence is where they last lived together, which can be proved either with identification documents or with a sworn statement of the spouses given in regard to their last joint residence.

The application for divorce must be filed in person by both spouses or, if one of them cannot be present, by a representative based on a special notarised power of attorney containing all the clauses mentioned above.
Once the divorce application is registered, the notary public grants the spouses a period of 30 (thirty) days, at the end of which both spouses must appear in person at the notary’s office; there is no possibility of representation in this case.

The notary public will draw up the document whereby the application for divorce (if both spouses are present and stand by their request) is accepted and which is to be signed by both spouses. Then a divorce certificate will be issued that same day; the divorce certificate will not include information on the grounds for the dissolution of the marriage, nor on the sole or joint fault of the spouses in the dissolution of their marriage.

Under the current legislation, there is no time limit for the signing of a partition deed for the spouses’ joint property, nor is the acceptance of a divorce application conditional on the partition of joint property. A divorce by notary procedure is enforceable, the spouses’ agreement is a binding document and does not need to be submitted to the court for it to be enforceable.

Required documents:

Divorce without minor children:

• Identification documents of the spouses;
• Marriage certificate;
• irth certificates of the spouses, all in original.

Divorce with minor children:

• Identification documents of the spouses;
• Marriage certificate;
• Birth certificates of the spouses;
• Birth certificates of the children;
• Identification documents of the children: identity card and/or passport, all in original.

Marriage contracts:

A marriage contract is a notarised document whereby future spouses or persons married for more than 1 (one) year determine the rules applicable to the relationships between them and to the relationships between the spouses and third parties with regard to the spouses’ assets and debts. The possibility of choosing the marital property system granted by the Romanian Civil Code is limited to 3 categories: community property, separate property, or community property agreement.

Required documents:

• Identification documents of the spouses;
• Marriage certificate - for marriage contracts entered into during the marriage;
• Previous marriage contract (if any);
• Notarised power of attorney, if one of the spouses is represented by a proxy;
• Ownership deeds to property acquired during the previous marital property regime, in order for such property to be included in the liquidation deed.