Guides
Worth knowingabout separation and divorce
Explanations of the questions we are asked most often, written for people dealing with family law for the first time. Every article comes out of our own practice in Frankfurt and is kept up to date.
Our guide
How does a divorce work?
The full route from the year of separation to the final order, in eight stations. Most of the articles here go deeper into a single station of that guide.
Before the
petition
Separation and the year of separation
Year of separation: from when can you file?When the period starts to run and why it pays not to file the petition too early.6 minSeparation before the divorceWhat is settled during the year of separation: maintenance, accounts, home, tax.6 minInheritance law during separation and divorceUntil the divorce is final, a separated spouse inherits as normal. Which powers of attorney belong revoked at once.6 min
Proceedings
& costs
How the proceedings actually run
How long does a divorce take?Realistic timeframes for Frankfurt and the three levers that set the pace.6 minHow the court hearing runsWhat happens in the courtroom and why the hearing is usually shorter than feared.6 minDivorce without an attorney: is one enough?When one representation suffices, what it saves and which risk remains.7 minOnline or in person?What actually changes with an online divorce, and what does not.6 minDoes the attorney have to be in my town?Local admission no longer exists. What your place of residence does mean.4 minMediation in separation and divorceWhat it achieves, how it runs and when it is the wrong route.6 minWhat a divorce costsValue of the proceedings, fee tables and the points where you can save.With calculator
The
maintenance
Who pays, how much and for how long
Separation maintenance: amount and startWhy the moment of the demand decides over months of hard cash.6 minReading the Düsseldorfer Tabelle correctlyHow the figure in the table becomes the amount that is actually transferred.7 minPost-marital maintenance: when it endsAfter the divorce, self-reliance applies. Why the time limit almost always turns on the disadvantage caused by the marriage.7 min
The
children
What applies to shared children
Shared care: when it fitsIn the Wechselmodell the child lives with both parents in roughly equal shares. What that requires and what applies to maintenance.6 minTravelling with children after the separationWhen you need the other parent's consent and what belongs in a travel authorization.4 minCustody and contact rightsWhat applies to shared children after the separation.Practice area
Assets &
property
What is divided and what is not
The property on separationSale, taking over or offsetting against accrued gains, and when a partition auction looms.7 minThe property in the equalization of accrued gainsWhat counts is the value, not the land register: half the house does not change owner.5 minDisclosure of your spouse's assetsWhat you are entitled to, which records you can demand and how § 1379 BGB uncovers assets that disappeared.5 minDebts in the divorceMarriage does not turn someone else's debts into your own. Who nevertheless answers for the joint loan.7 minThe inherited family home in the accrued gainsAn anonymized case from practice, calculated through: why in the end only the increase in value during the marriage counted.4 minValuing a business in the equalization of accrued gainsThe capitalized earnings method, two reference dates and the notional entrepreneur's salary.6 minPaying without breaking up the businessThe equalization falls due as a sum while the value sits in the business. Deferral and instalments as a way out.5 min
Pensions &
provision
The second calculation next to the assets
Filling in questionnaire V10The one point in the proceedings where you set the pace. Which entitlements are regularly forgotten.7 minWhen the pension rights adjustment does not applyA short marriage, minor entitlements, gross inequity or an agreement, and what a waiver really costs.6 minPension rights adjustment, explainedHow the pension entitlements acquired during the marriage are divided.With calculator
Settling it
in advance
What a prenuptial agreement can arrange
Across
borders
When two countries are involved
Married abroad: divorce in Germany?What counts is the spouses' habitual residence; the place of the wedding does not.5 minTwo countries would fit: where to file?Whoever files first fixes the court, and with it the law and the maintenance.5 minGerman or foreign divorce law?The competent court and the applicable law are two different things. Rome III and the limited choice of law.5 minDivorce with dual nationalityWith several passports the closest connection counts; a German passport usually prevails.6 minHaving a foreign divorce recognizedOutside the EU a decision takes effect only after formal recognition.5 minAssets abroad in the equalization of accrued gainsWhich matrimonial property law applies and why, without a choice of law, the first joint residence counts.5 min
After the
divorce
Note
What a guide cannot do
These articles explain the rule. Your case is the exception, at least in exactly those points that matter to you. Deadlines, amounts and statutes reflect the state of affairs at the time of publication and may change. A binding assessment requires a personal conversation.
Contact
You do not have to take the first step alone
Tell us about your situation. We reply personally, usually within one working day.