DIVORCE IN POLAND

The general rule of court jurisdiction in Poland states that the case may be brought before a polish court if the defendant is domiciled or a resident in Poland.

Institution of a divorce existed in ancient times, then was spread by roman law. However, under the influence of christianity, it practically disappeared as it became a sacrament. Recovery of this institution happened during the period french revolution through french law.

In a divorce verdict the court decides on parental custody over the common minor child of both spouses and decides how each spouse is obliged to bear the costs of raising the child. The court may give the custody to one parent by limiting the parental authority of the other to the specific duties.

At the request of one of the spouses, the court may, in a divorce verdict, divide the common property if it does not result in an excessive delay in the proceedings.

A divorced spouse who has not been found guilty of the divorce and who is in need may request from the other spouse financial aid within the scope of his/her legitimate needs(alimony).

Divorce in Poland is a civil dissolution of a valid marriage by a court at the request of one or both spouses. Divorce in addition to widowhood and marriage annulment is one of the circumstances leading to end of a marriage.

According to article 133 of Code of Family parents are required to pay maintenance to a child who is not yet able to sustain himself unless the income from the child's property is sufficient to cover his maintenance.

Within three months from the date of the divorce in Poland, the divorced spouse who changed his or her name as a result of marriage has the right to return to the name he/she had before the marriage.

If the spouses share an apartment, in Poland the court in the divorce verdict also declares how to use the apartment for the time when the divorced spouses live together.

When a marriage in Poland dissolves by a divorce a legal division of assets occurs, but bank credit is a matter that remains unsettled. The court in Poland may establish who will take over the apartment, the car, the household equipment, but the court has no power over bank credit.

If upon separate agreement spouses decide that only one of them will be using the money loaned by the bank and they both agree that only one person who should pay the installments for the loan, both spouses should address the bank.