01.01.2018
The divorce process in the Czech Republic consists of two different proceedings. First proceeding deals with the children custody and child support, the second proceeding deals with the divorce itself and the common property division. The divorce proceedings cannot be finalized prior the court's ruling on the children custody. Both of the proceedings can be executed by a written agreement between the husband and wife, i.e. the agreement on custody and children visitations, and also the property settlement. If both agreements are concluded, the whole procedure can be finalized within couple of weeks (however, it can take quite a time before the court issues summons for the hearings; it depends on the work load of the courts).
During the divorce proceeding and after the divorce, the parents can either share custody of their children, or the custody can be assigned to of one of the parents, while the other parent has right to visit the children. The visitation rights can be proposed by the parents, or the court will decide itself. However, in both cases the parents have obligation of maintenance of the children in the amount stated by the court.
Taking, retention, or concealment of a child or children by a parent in contradiction with the court approved custody rights, including visitation rights of the other parent, can be classified as so-called "parental abduction". The Hague Convention on the Civil aspects of International Child Abduction of 1980, makes it possible to request assistance from relevant state authorities (in the Czech Republic it is the Office for International Legal Protection of Children in Brno) which shall communicate with the relevant Office in the state where the child is staying, if the state is also a party of the Convention, in order to recover the child.
According to the section 200 of the Czech Criminal Code, a person shall be punished by a term of imprisonment up to three years or by a pecuniary penalty, if he/she takes away a child from the care of the person who under the law or an official decision of the Czech court is bound to take care of such child (criminal offense – Abduction of a Child and a Person Suffering from a Mental Breakdown). Another section of Criminal Code related to the family law is the section 196 – Evasion of Alimony Payments. In respect to the child support, whoever does not, even through negligence, fulfill his/her statutory duty to maintain or provide subsistence for another person, shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment up to two years, if an intention is proved, up to three years.Czech courts take quite severe approach to non payment of alimony and the sentences are quite harsh, so it better be avoided.
Contact:
JUDr. Mojmír Ježek, Ph.D. partner
ECOVIS ježek, law firm
t: +420 226 236 600
e: mojmir.jezek@ecovislegal.cz
About ECOVIS ježek advokátní kancelář s.r.o.:
The law office ECOVIS ježek practices mainly in the area of commercial law, real estate law, dispute management, as well as finance and banking law, and provides full-fledged advice in all areas, making it a suitable alternative for clients of international law offices. The international dimension of the services provided is ensured through past experience and through co-operation with leading legal offices in most European countries, the US, and other jurisdictions. The members of the ECOVIS ježek team have many years of experience from leading international law offices and tax companies, in providing legal advice to multinational corporations, large Czech companies, but also to medium-sized companies and individual clients. For more information, go to www.ecovislegal.cz.
