Divorce Questions again (SOS)

G

grand_dre

New member
Aug 25, 2004
13
0
0
Although I know bits and pieces of these questions have been answered, I needed reconfirmation. This hopefully will confirm for my wife also.

I am American and my wife is Dominican. We married December 29th in San Pedro De Marcoris. We have decided to divorce. We are both in total cooperation. There is no property or children. She lives and works in the Dominican.

We need to know the best/easiest/cheapest way to carry out the divorce under Normal Mutual Consent.

She has contacted a Lawyer (legal advisor). She was told I could come to the DR and sign papers and she will file them. She said she would charge RD 16,000. I advised my wife I talked with an a Lawyer and I read on DR1 postings I could sign the documents in front of a US Consulate here in the US and that would make it legal. She was advised I had to come to the DR. Here are the questions:

1. Do we need a lawyer (legal advisor) if we both agree on every aspect of the divorce?
2. How much is the filing fee?s?
3. Are there do it yourself papers in the courts in San Pedro De Marcoris
4. Is my signature legal if I signed from the US? If so how will it be?
5. What is the normal process?
6. What is the minimum and maximum time for the divorce?

I am scheduled to be in the DR at the end of May, but we would like to get it started now as we heard it will take 2 months at least.

These are answers a real important to me but I think she will trust the answers from the board and hopefully Mr Guzman?s input so we can move forward and put this behind us.

I told her I live and breathe by the board. It has been a breath of fresh air.

Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.
 
F

Fabio J. Guzman

DR1 Expert
Jan 1, 2002
2,359
252
83
www.drlawyer.com
Quick divorces are only possible for Dominican spouses residing abroad or foreigners (Paragraphs IV and V of Article 28 of the Divorce Statute (http://www.drlawyer.com/txt/articles/divorcelaw.html)

If your wife is a Dominican citizen and resident, you?ll have to take the normal route. However, in the standard divorce procedure, mutual consent can only be admitted AFTER two years of marriage (Article 27 of the Divorce Statute) which is not your case. You will have to pick a specific ground for divorce, such as incompatibility.

As for your questions:

1) You do need a lawyer to do the divorce. Legally, you cannot do it by yourself.

2) You should expect to pay around $750 US, including all fees and expenses and English-speaking attorneys but excluding expenses related to powers of attorney in the US. Cheaper prices may be found with smaller firms and non-bilingual attorneys.

3) No, ?pro se? representation is not possible in civil matters in the Dominican Republic.

4) You could grant a power of attorney in the US to a Dominican attorney who will represent you in the divorce proceedings in the DR.

5) See the Divorce Statute at the address above.

6) Minimum time is approximately 3 to 4 months (there is mandatory 60-day waiting period for appeals at the end of the proceedings); maximum time if there is no disagreement, should be between the parties is 5 to 6 months.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom