Divorce and Separation in Costa Rica

The thought of being married together along the coastal beaches of the beautiful Costa Rican shores may be a dream come true to some couples. In this day and age when divorce is a very common word you may want to consider your options carefully.

Costa Rica has some very different laws compared to the US, Canada or the UK and are dependent on many aspects of your situation. Are you both citizens of Costa Rica? If this is not the case, is the female a citizen of Costa Rica? Did you get married outside of Costa Rica but are required to be divorced in Costa Rica? These are just a few of the questions you need to be asking if you are unfortunate enough to be looking at a divorce.

If you are both citizens the law is straightforward and allows you to divorce under mutual agreement within 3 months if the marriage is over 3 years old. If the marriage is not over 3 years old you will not be allowed to divorce however.

If you are not a citizen of the country and the female is a citizen of the country and you have had children together it is possible you will be asked to leave a deposit for care of the child before leaving the country. If however; you did not have children together it could be mutually agreed to separate if the marriage was over three years old. Again the rule applies that if it is not over three years you cannot go through with a divorce in Costa Rica. You can however raise divorce proceedings in your own Country or state if you are not the Costa Rica citizen however once it has been finalized you need to log a foreign resolution with the Costa Rican civil registry.

The same rules apply if you get married outside of Costa Rica, and are both citizens of the country however in order to be divorced in Costa Rica you would need to have your marriage license authenticated and translated before you could commence with the proceedings.

The above are standard, mutually agreed cases of divorce through the marriage breaking down irretrievably. There are other aspects to consider when going through this process.

Domestic violence is taken very seriously in Costa Rica and in 1996 they set up a law to protect women, children and relatives from violence in the home. This law allows protective measures to be taken without criminal or civil lawsuits and the section of the law referring to the wife and children can allow you to be divorced if the marriage is under three years old.

One of the more disturbing reasons for allowing an early divorce is prostitution of the spouse. You would need to supply evidence for this however. Adultery is also taken seriously and will allow the divorce to be carried out early however again, this must be proven. There are many lawyers who can offer a service to supply the evidence required for this.