Marriage
Marriage is a legally regulated life union between a woman and a man.
A marriage is entered into by the consent of a woman and a man before a registrar in a civil marriage or before an official of the religious community which has a regulated legal relationship with the Republic of Croatia in a religious marriage with the effects of a civil marriage.
When entering into marriage the spouses agree on the choice of the surname.
A marriage may be entered into by a person who reached the age of 18 (the age of majority). As an exception, with court approval, a minor who has reached the age of 16 may enter into marriage, provided that the court finds the person mentally and physically mature to marry, and that entering into marriage is in accordance with the well-being of that person.
A marriage may not be contracted between persons of lineal consanguinity or collateral consanguinity between a sister and a brother, a stepsister and a stepbrother, the child and its parent's sister or stepsister or brother or stepbrother, or between the children of sisters and brothers or stepsisters and stepbrothers. This provision shall also apply to relationships established by adoption.
A marriage may not be entered into by a person incapable of discernment.
A person deprived of legal capacity in giving statements relating to personal conditions may enter into marriage with the approval of a guardian or the court, if a guardian refused to give the approval.
In a marriage spouses are equal. Spouses shall decide by consent on giving birth and raising children and on carrying out tasks in the family community.
Spouses shall determine by consent their place of residence, i.e., their address, that is a house or a flat for themselves and children that will mean their family home.
Link: Family Act (Official Gazette 103/15 and 98/20)
Divorce
A spouse may initiate a divorce by filing of an action, or both spouses may file a consensual divorce application. Prior to filing a divorce application before the court, spouses who have children together are required to submit an application to the social welfare centre for mandatory counselling.
The purpose of mandatory counselling is to inform the spouses about the possibility to turn to a family or marriage counselling centre beforehand, to inform about the legal and psycho-social consequences of a divorce, to refer to child welfare when reaching decisions in a divorce proceeding, and to create a shared parental care plan.
If, in the mandatory counselling procedure the spouses failed to reach a plan for shared parenting, they are obliged to participate in the first family mediation meeting, with the exception of cases where there are allegations of family violence.
A shared custody plan is a written agreement between the parents setting out ways to provide shared parental care after they no longer cohabit. A shared custody plan includes: the place and address of the child’s residence; the time the child will spend with each of the parents; the ways of exchanging information on the consent required when making important decisions for the child; the ways of exchanging important information in relation to the child; the amount of child maintenance; the ways future issues considered important for the child will be resolved.
A shared custody plan becomes enforceable by verification and approval from the court. Shared custody may also be regulated by the court ruling based on the parents’ agreement reached in court proceedings.
If no agreement can be reached, the court rules on custody. In the decision-making process, when there is no agreement between parents, the court establishes the opinion of the child, appoints a special guardian to represent the child in the court, and may request an expert opinion of the social welfare centre or a judicial expertise.
Link: Family Act (Official Gazette, number: 103/15 and 98/19)
Property relations between spouses
Spouses may have personal property and martial property.
Property that is owned by a spouse at the moment of entering into marriage remains his or her own personal property
Personal property is also the property acquired by a spouse during marriage on a different legal basis (e.g., inheritance, author’s work).
Marital property is the property which the spouses acquired by their work during marriage or it originates from that property.
Spouses own equal shares of marital property, unless they agreed differently by a marriage contract.
Spouses may conclude a marriage contract to determine property relations for the existing and future property. Signatures of spouses in a marriage contract must be certified by a notary public.
Stipulations on the management or disposition of property have a legal effect on third parties if they are entered into land registers, or public records where registration is required for gaining the rights.
Spouses shall determine by consent their place of residence and a house or a flat for themselves and children that will mean their family home. For the duration of the marriage, a spouse may not alienate or encumber the family house or flat that is their marital property, and is also a family home where the other spouse and their children live, without the written consent of the other spouse.
With regard to matters of regular administration of marital property, it shall be deemed that a spouse has given consent to the other spouse, unless proven otherwise.
Joint administration or written consent of the other spouse certified by a notary public is required in terms of extraordinary administration of real property or movable property registered with public registers.
Property relations after the termination of marriage is regulated by a court agreement or a court decision, if not regulated by a marriage contract.
After dissolution of marriage, if no agreement is reached, upon application of a spouse residing with the children, the court may adjudicate the right to housing in the real property that represents marital property and the family home, and maximum until the dissolution of the co-ownership over the property representing the family home.
Marital and extramarital unions are equal before the law and property relations between spouses also refer to extramarital partners.
Contact details of the Central Authority, and the Receiving Authority and Transmitting Authority of the Republic of Croatia:
Ministry of Labour, the Pension System, Family and Social Policy
Trg Nevenke Topalušić 1
10000 Zagreb
Telephone: 01 555 7111
Telephone number for calls outside of the Republic of Croatia: +385 1 555 7111
Fax: 01 555 7222
Email:
ministarstvo@mdomsp.hr
(Service for International Cooperation in the field of Protection of Children)
Link: Family Act (Official Gazette, number: 103/15 and 98/19)
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