How does a
divorce work?

Every divorce begins with the year of separation. Where both spouses live apart for a year and both want the divorce, the law presumes the marriage has broken down, § 1566 (1) BGB. After three years of separation this presumption even becomes irrebuttable, § 1566 (2) BGB.

Living apart does not necessarily mean living in separate homes. It is also possible within the shared flat – separate bedrooms, separate finances, no joint household.

Hardship cases break through the time limit. Where there is unreasonable hardship, the divorce is exceptionally possible even earlier, § 1565 (2) BGB.

You need not spend this year doing nothing. Maintenance, joint accounts, the question of who stays in the property for now – we settle that already.

It starts with a conversation. By phone, online or at my office in Frankfurt-Gallus – whichever is easier for you.

Three questions are central. What is your goal? What is your greatest worry?

The strategy grows out of the answers. Amicable, swift, fair – even when the atmosphere is tense.

Once the separation year is complete, I file the divorce petition with the Frankfurt am Main Local Court. Which court has jurisdiction depends on your place of residence, § 122 FamFG – not on where you married.

If you agree, one lawyer is enough for the petition. I handle all correspondence with the court.

Before things proceed, the court requests an advance on the court costs. The proceedings continue only after payment.

The amount depends on the procedural value. What matters above all is the income of both spouses and their assets.

In parallel with the petition we settle what is to endure after the decree. These “ancillary matters” often decide more about your future than the divorce itself.

Separation and post-marital maintenance are among them. Post-marital maintenance follows the principle of equal division – each earning spouse is first entitled to an employment bonus, as a rule one tenth of earned income.

This maintenance can be limited in time or amount under the conditions of § 1578b BGB.

Assets, debts and property are distributed, under the statutory regime of the community of accrued gains, through the equalisation of accrued gains, § 1363 BGB. Where necessary we demand disclosure of the other side's assets under § 1605 BGB.

The pension rights adjustment divides the pension entitlements acquired during the marriage. Both complete questionnaires; the pension providers report the entitlements back.

Where there are children: custody, contact, child maintenance under the Düsseldorf Table. Plus household goods and the living situation.

Once all the information is in, the court summons both spouses to the oral hearing.

It is brief. Both appear in person and confirm their wish to divorce and the separation year – as a rule the court asks no more.

I am there at your side during the hearing.

In the end the court pronounces the divorce and serves the decree on both sides.

If both waive the right of appeal directly at the hearing, the divorce becomes final immediately. Otherwise the one-month appeal period runs first, § 63 FamFG.

Once it is final, the marriage is over – for good.