How Divorce in Spain Works, Step by Step

Spain grants no-fault divorce to any married couple after three months, with a notary route open to couples who agree on the terms and have no minor, non-emancipated child or adult child under a judicially established support measure. Mutual-consent cases can also proceed through the court procedure before the Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia. This guide covers the mutual-consent and contested routes, the documents and filing steps, property and custody, timing and cost factors, and the jurisdiction rules for cross-border cases.

How Does Divorce Work in Spain?

Couples who agree on the terms and have no minor, non-emancipated child or adult child under a support measure can divorce by public deed before a notary under Ley 15/2015. A mutual-consent case can also proceed through the court procedure before the Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia.

Spain has allowed no-fault divorce since Ley 15/2005 reformed the Codigo Civil, and neither spouse has to prove fault or wrongdoing. Article 86 decrees divorce on the same conditions as judicial separation under article 81, according to BOE’s consolidated text of the Codigo Civil: either spouse can file once three months have passed since the wedding, and the court waives that wait where there is proof of risk to the life, physical integrity, freedom, or moral or sexual integrity of a spouse or a child.

Two routes follow from there. A mutual-consent divorce can proceed by public deed before a notary when neither spouse has a minor, non-emancipated child or an adult child under a judicially established support measure, under article 87. The court route for mutual consent proceeds under LEC article 777 before the Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia. A contested divorce goes to a Juzgado de Familia under article 770.

Do You Need a Lawyer to Get Divorced in Spain?

Spanish civil procedure makes legal representation obligatory for a contested divorce. The Codigo Civil also requires practising-lawyer assistance for a mutual-consent divorce before the Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia or a notary: article 82 states the assistance requirement, and article 87 applies that route to divorce. A contested case proceeds through the juicio verbal under Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil (LEC) article 770, and BOE’s consolidated LEC text states plainly that the presence of each spouse’s own lawyer at the hearing is obligatory. A mutual-consent case must include a convenio regulador with at least the article 90 items that apply: arrangements for children, any necessary grandparent contact, companion animals, use of the family home and household goods, maintenance, liquidation of the matrimonial property regime, and any article 97 pension.

What’s the Difference Between Mutual Consent and Contested Divorce in Spain?

Mutual consent and contested divorce run through different Codigo Civil and LEC provisions, and the difference decides which route and which documents apply. Mutual consent divorce is filed once both spouses agree on the entire convenio regulador, covering custody, support and property, and it is filed jointly. It can proceed by public deed before a notary under Codigo Civil article 87 when neither spouse has a minor, non-emancipated child or an adult child under a judicially established support measure. The court route proceeds under LEC article 777 before the Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia. A contested case proceeds through the juicio verbal under LEC article 770, with both spouses required to attend the hearing with their own lawyers.

A contested case that goes to trial involves more procedural work than a mutual-consent filing. How long does a divorce take in Spain? covers the timing factors, and property division and custody and support cover the substantive issues.

What Documents Do You Need to File for Divorce in Spain?

The two court routes share the same core documents, and LEC articles 770 and 777 both name them. The notarial route runs under Codigo Civil article 87, and a notary can confirm any additional documents for that route. Gather these before you file.

• A marriage certificate from the Registro Civil. LEC articles 770 and 777 both require a certificacion de la inscripcion del matrimonio to accompany the petition, for either court route.
• Birth certificates for any children. Both articles also require registration certificates for any children of the marriage, from the Registro Civil.
• Documents supporting property and financial claims. LEC article 770 requires both parties to provide documents evidencing their economic situation where patrimonial measures are sought.
• The draft convenio regulador, for mutual consent. LEC article 777 requires the petition to be accompanied by a proposed convenio regulador containing at least the Codigo Civil article 90 items that apply.

A spouse who cannot attend in person should confirm whether the route requires personal signature or ratification and whether a power of attorney can be used. A power of attorney granted before a foreign notary needs legalizacion or an apostille before it is used in Spain, according to the Consejo General del Notariado. Power of attorney in Spain covers how that document is drawn up.

How Do You File for Divorce in Spain?

You file for divorce in Spain by working through six stages, whichever route applies to your case.

The Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia archives the file if either spouse fails to ratify a mutual-consent petition at the required appearance. Article 777 preserves the spouses’ right to proceed under the contested procedure in article 770.

How Is Property Divided in a Spanish Divorce?

Property division depends on the couple’s matrimonial property regime, and that regime is not the same 50/50 rule everywhere in Spain. Sociedad de gananciales, the community-of-acquests regime that splits assets acquired during the marriage roughly in half on dissolution, is the Codigo Civil’s default across most of Spain absent a marriage contract, under article 1344 of BOE’s consolidated text. A capitulaciones matrimoniales, a marriage contract, can set a different regime instead.

Two regions set a different default outright. Cataluna’s own Codi Civil, article 231-10, makes separacion de bienes, separate property, the regime whenever no capitols matrimoniales exist or the capitols are ineffective. The Balearic Islands run the same default across all four islands: article 3.1 of the Compilacion de Derecho Civil de las Illes Balears sets it for Mallorca, article 65 extends Book I to Menorca, and article 67.1 sets the same default for Ibiza and Formentera. Check any other applicable comunidad’s civil law directly. For a divorce that requires selling or transferring jointly owned Spanish property, Spanish property lawyers covers the conveyancing side.

What Happens to Child Custody and Child Support in a Spanish Divorce?

Custody in a Spanish divorce splits into two separate questions, and Codigo Civil article 92 governs both. Patria potestad, parental authority, continues to be exercised by both parents regardless of the custody arrangement, because separation, nullity or divorce does not exempt either parent from their obligations to their children. Guarda y custodia, day-to-day custody, is the separate question of who the children actually live with, and it can be sole or shared, custodia compartida. Article 92.5 orders shared custody when both parents request it in the proposed convenio regulador or agree to it during the proceedings; article 92.8 lets a court order it exceptionally at one party’s request, with a Ministerio Fiscal report, where it finds that only that arrangement protects the child’s best interest. Article 92.7 bars shared custody when either parent is subject to a qualifying criminal proceeding involving the other spouse or children living with both, and when the court finds well-founded indications of domestic or gender violence.

Child support, pension de alimentos, has guideline tables published by the CGPJ. Its utility page is currently withdrawn “en proceso de revision y actualizacion.” The original version was approved by its Comision Permanente on 26 June 2013, and an updated version became operative on 1 July 2019. Ask your lawyer which current material the court will use for your case.

How Long Does a Divorce Take in Spain?

Timing depends on the route, the issues in dispute and the court schedule. LEC article 777 has the Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia summon the spouses within three days after admission for separate ratification at the appearance. A contested case goes through a full vista under article 770 and involves more procedural work.

How Much Does a Divorce Cost in Spain?

The fee depends on the route, the disputed issues and the work required. A contested case that goes to a full vista under LEC article 770 involves more legal work than a mutual-consent filing under article 777. Each lawyer and notary sets a fee for their work. Ask for a written quote once the route and scope are clear.

What Mistakes Delay a Divorce in Spain?

Six points from the sourced procedure above are worth checking before you file.

• Filing with a foreign marriage certificate the receiving office does not yet accept. Whether your certificate needs an apostille, consular legalization or a sworn Spanish translation depends on the country it came from; confirm the current requirement with your own lawyer before you file.
• Assuming the notary route is open when the couple has a minor, non-emancipated child or an adult child under a support measure. Codigo Civil article 87 applies “subject to the same requirements and circumstances” as article 82, and article 82.2 closes that route where a minor, non-emancipated child or an adult child under a support measure exists, sending the case to a Juzgado de Familia instead.
• A convenio regulador that leaves out an applicable item in Codigo Civil article 90. Check arrangements for children and any necessary grandparent contact, companion animals, the family home and household goods, maintenance, liquidation of the matrimonial property regime, and any article 97 pension.
• Filing before the three-month marriage minimum has passed without documenting the safety-risk exception. Codigo Civil articles 81 and 86 set that minimum, waived only with proof of risk to safety.
• A spouse living outside Spain who cannot personally ratify a mutual-consent petition. LEC article 777 requires separate ratification at the appearance after the Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia summons the spouses. Confirm before filing whether a power of attorney can be used for the chosen route.
• Treating a Spanish decree as self-executing abroad. Outside the EU, recognition depends on the destination country’s own recognition process. Cross-border recognition covers what changes once a foreign country is involved.

Can You Get Divorced in Spain as a Foreign National, or if You Married Abroad?

Yes, subject to jurisdiction rules, and it is not automatic just because you live in Spain or married a Spanish national. For an EU cross-border case, Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111, Brussels IIb, sets the jurisdiction grounds in its article 3, applicable to proceedings started on or after 1 August 2022 under article 100. Spanish courts have jurisdiction where Spain is the spouses’ habitual residence, their last shared habitual residence if one still lives there, the respondent’s habitual residence, either spouse’s habitual residence on a joint application, or the applicant’s habitual residence for at least a year, or at least six months if the applicant is also Spanish; Spanish courts also have jurisdiction where both spouses hold Spanish nationality.

For a non-EU spouse or a case Brussels IIb’s grounds do not reach, Spanish jurisdiction runs on the Ley Organica del Poder Judicial’s own residual rules instead, under article 22 quater c). Those grounds largely mirror Brussels IIb’s own list: both spouses’ habitual residence in Spain, a shared last residence one spouse keeps, the respondent’s residence, a joint petitioner’s residence, an applicant’s residence of at least a year, or six months for a Spanish applicant, or both spouses’ Spanish nationality, provided no other foreign court already has jurisdiction.

Recognition works differently depending on where the decree needs to be used. Within the EU, Brussels IIb article 30 recognizes a decision from one member state in the others without any special procedure, Denmark excepted. Outside the EU, a Spanish decree’s recognition depends on the destination country’s own recognition process. Spain’s exequatur procedure under Ley 29/2015 recognizes a foreign decree here. Article 52 places the application before the Juzgado de Primera Instancia at the domicile of the party against whom recognition is sought, or the domicile of the person affected by the decision’s effects, and subsidiarily at the place of enforcement.

Can an English-Speaking Lawyer Help With a Cross-Border Divorce in Spain?

Yes. A cross-border element is exactly where the jurisdiction and recognition questions above stop being background reading and start deciding whether a case can even be filed in Spain at all. A lawyer already fluent in both the Spanish procedure and your own situation helps where a spouse does not live in Spain, where the couple married outside Spain, where assets or children sit in more than one country, or where you simply want the jurisdiction and recognition questions answered before you file.

References and figures on this page are current as of 25 August 2026.