Eagerly awaited and resulting from a lengthy debate at Parliament, the Law on quick divorce impacts the procedural rules of separation and divorce, modifying the time required for the filing of the divorce application by separated couples.
On 26 May 2015, Law 6 May 2015, n. 55, the so-called Law on “quick divorce”, entered into force.
In order to better understand the innovative reach of the reform, it should be pointed out that before that date, in order to apply for divorce, the spouses were compelled to await three years from the time of separation, be it judicial or by mutual consent.
That rather long time limit had been provided by the Legislator in 1970 as a “spatium deliberandi”, i.e. necessary moment of reflection in view of a possible reconciliation or reconsideration.
However, according to the new Law in case of judicial separation, the application for divorce can be submitted already after 12 months of uninterrupted separation which start running from the appearance of the spouses before the President of the Court.
In the event of separation by mutual consent, the period of uninterrupted separation of the spouses required for the submission of the divorce application, shortens to six months. Also such deadline begins to run from the time of appearance of the spouses before the President of the Court.
In both cases the time limit remains the same, even when the couple has minor children or children in need of protection.
Even though the compulsory step of separation has not been eliminated, and the Parliament has hence opted for a “compromise” solution, an acceleration of the time needed for the final dissolution of matrimonial ties is nevertheless expected.
Not only that. An additional – and extremely interesting – change concerns marital property.
Before the coming into force of the new Law, the community property regime which started at the time of marriage, was dissolved only when the judgment of judicial separation became final or when the decree of confirmation of the separation by mutual consent was issued. However, with the entry into force of the new reform, there is no longer the need to wait for that to occur, since community property already dissolves at the moment in which the President of the Court authorizes the spouses to live apart in case of judicial separation, and when the spouses sign the minutes of separation before the President (provided that it is subsequently confirmed by the Court) in case of separation by mutual consent.
This change -which perhaps has a smaller impact on public opinion compared to the one described above- seems to be of great importance from a practical point of view, since it allows the spouses to define their proprietary relations immediately, dissolving a strong legal relationship which binds them.
Previously, purchases made by one of the separated spouses up to the moment in which the judgment of separation became final or the decree confirming the separation was issued, were paradoxically community property, and -despite the separation- each of the separated spouses could still access common assets for the needs of the family. Therefore, the assets of the separated spouses ran the serious risk of remaining immobilized throughout the separation proceedings. Thanks to the immediate dissolution of the community property, such risk does no longer exist.
It also seems important to remember that the mentioned changes will be immediately applicable to divorce applications filed after the entry into force of the reform, even in the cases where the proceeding for legal separation is still pending between the spouses.
(Bologna Office – Laura De Paulis – 0039(0)512750020)
