Divorce in Romania

What is divorce, and what routes are there?

I know it’s a hard decision and that you want to know from the start what lies ahead. Divorce ends a marriage while both spouses are alive, on one of the four grounds in art. 373 of the Civil Code: divorce by agreement (divorț prin acord), fault-based divorce (divorț din culpă), living apart (separare în fapt) for at least 2 years, or one spouse’s state of health.

I can help you in Cluj whichever route you take: I draft the agreement and the application, come with you to the notary or represent you in court. I’ve explained the grounds in detail in the article on the grounds for divorce (in Romanian), and the other family matters are on the family law page.

How do you choose between the registry office, a notary and the court?

It comes down to two questions: do you both agree to the divorce and to everything that follows from it, and do you have minor children? If you don’t agree, only the court is left; if you agree and have minor children, you can choose between a notary and the court.

How does divorce at the registry office or a notary work?

The procedure has three steps, with a fixed 30-day period between the first and the third.

1. You file the application together, in person; at a notary it can also be filed through a representative with a notarised power of attorney (art. 376(1) and (2) of the Civil Code). The application goes to the registrar or a notary in the place where you married or where you had your last shared home (art. 375(1)).
2. The application is registered and you get a 30-day reflection period (art. 376(1)). If you have minor children, the social inquiry report (raport de anchetă socială) is drawn up during this period (art. 375(2)).
3. When the period ends, you both come back in person. The registrar or the notary checks that you still want the divorce and that your consent is freely given and not vitiated (art. 376(3)), then issues the divorce certificate, with no mention of fault (art. 376(4)).

The marriage ends on the date the divorce certificate is issued (art. 382(3)).

The application is rejected if the conditions in art. 375 aren’t met (art. 378(1)). With minor children, it’s also rejected if you don’t agree on exercising parental rights jointly or if the social inquiry shows that your agreement isn’t in the child’s interest; the notary then sends you to court (art. 375(2), art. 376(5), second sentence). You can’t appeal the refusal, but you can file your application in court (art. 378(2)). Anything you don’t agree on, such as the division of property (partaj), is left to the court (art. 376(6)).

When must you divorce in court?

When one of you doesn’t agree, when you have minor children and don’t agree about them, when you rely on fault, living apart or health, and after the notary or the registrar has refused the application (art. 378(2) of the Civil Code).

• By agreement (art. 373(a), art. 374): however long you’ve been married and whether or not you have minor children; the court checks that your consent is freely given and not vitiated (art. 374(1) and (3)) and records your agreement on the ancillary claims (cereri accesorii) (art. 931(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure).
• On fault (art. 373(b)): the court finds one spouse at fault or, if the evidence shows it, both, even if only one of you asked for the divorce (art. 379(1)). If the respondent (pârât) admits the facts and the applicant (reclamant) agrees, the divorce is granted without the court examining the reasons and with no mention of fault (art. 932(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure).
• Living apart for at least 2 years (art. 373(c)): either spouse can ask for the divorce, which is granted with the applicant solely at fault, unless the respondent says they agree (art. 379(2), art. 935 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
• State of health (art. 373(d)): the court takes evidence about the illness and grants the divorce with no mention of fault (art. 381, art. 933 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

How does a divorce in court work?

The application is filed at the district court for the spouses’ last shared home. If you never had one, or neither of you still lives there, the court for the respondent’s home has jurisdiction, and if the respondent doesn’t live in Romania, the court for the applicant’s home (art. 915(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure). For spouses who lived together in Cluj-Napoca, that’s the Cluj-Napoca District Court.

1. The application gives the names of any minor children, or states that there are none, and is filed with a copy of the marriage certificate and copies of the birth certificates (art. 916). In a divorce by agreement it’s signed by both spouses or by a joint representative with a special notarised power of attorney (art. 930(1)).
2. The respondent can also ask for a divorce, by counterclaim (cerere reconvențională), up to the first hearing to which they were lawfully summoned (art. 917(1)).
3. Appearing in person is the rule at first instance; the exceptions are a prison sentence, serious illness, special guardianship (tutelă specială) and living abroad, when you can appear through a lawyer or a representative (mandatar) (art. 921(1)). The court tries to reconcile you at every hearing (art. 921(2)) and hears any child who has turned 10 (art. 921(3), art. 264 of the Civil Code).
4. If the applicant misses the hearing without good reason and only the respondent comes, the application is dismissed as not pursued (art. 922).
5. The judgment is given without written reasons if you both ask for that (art. 927). In a divorce by agreement it’s final (art. 931(4)); in other cases it can be appealed to the Cluj Tribunal (Tribunalul Cluj) within 30 days of being served (art. 468(1)). The marriage ends on the day the judgment becomes final (art. 382(1) of the Civil Code).

The steps are set out in detail in the article on the divorce procedure (in Romanian).

What happens to the children, your name and your property?

The court rules of its own motion on parental authority (autoritate părintească), the children’s residence (locuința copilului), each parent’s contribution (art. 919(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure) and the name (art. 919(3)); on the family home, damages, a compensatory payment (prestație compensatorie) and the division of property, it rules only if asked (art. 919(1)).

The children. What people call ‘custody’ is, in law, parental authority. After divorce it belongs jointly to both parents, unless the court decides otherwise (art. 397 of the Civil Code); it’s exercised by one parent alone only for well-founded reasons (art. 398(1)). The court sets the child’s residence with the parent the child lives with on a stable basis (art. 400), personal contact (legături personale) with the other parent (art. 401) and each parent’s contribution to the costs of raising and educating the child (art. 402), based on the psychosocial inquiry and the parents’ agreement (art. 396(1)). There’s more detail on the pages about custody and parental authority and child maintenance (pensie de întreținere), and the child maintenance calculator gives you an estimate.

The name. Since 3 May 2026, each spouse decides alone whether to keep their married name or go back to their previous one, without needing the other’s agreement; a spouse who doesn’t choose keeps the married name (art. 383 of the Civil Code, as amended by Law no. 57/2026). The same rule applies at the notary and the registry office (art. 376(5), first sentence).

Property. The matrimonial regime (regim matrimonial) ends on the date the divorce application is filed, and on request the court can find that it ended on the date you separated (art. 385(1) and (2)). It’s wound up by agreement at a notary, or in court (art. 320). You can ask for the division of property together with the divorce (art. 919(1)(f) of the Code of Civil Procedure) or separately; see the page on the matrimonial regime and division of property. One spouse can be given the use of the family home, whether rented or jointly owned, until the division, depending on the children’s interests, fault and each spouse’s housing options (art. 324).

Between the former spouses. A spouse who isn’t at fault and is harmed by the divorce can claim damages from the spouse at fault, decided in the divorce judgment (art. 388). After a marriage of at least 20 years, the applicant can ask for a compensatory payment, in money or in kind, together with a divorce granted with the respondent solely at fault (art. 390-392). Maintenance between former spouses is owed only to a spouse who is in need because they are unable to work (art. 389(2)). There’s more in the article on the effects of divorce (in Romanian).

How much does a divorce cost?

Under art. 15(a) and (b) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 80/2013 (OUG 80/2013), as amended by Law no. 268/2024, the court stamp duty (taxă judiciară de timbru) is 200 lei for a divorce under art. 373(a)-(c) of the Civil Code and 50 lei for one on health grounds. Claims for damages and for a compensatory payment carry 50 lei (art. 15(c)); claims about the children carry 20 lei each, but only when they aren’t ancillary to the divorce (art. 15(d)). The division of property has its own duty: half of the duty calculated on the value of the property to be divided (art. 5). You can check the amounts with the stamp duty calculator.

At the registry office and the notary there’s no court stamp duty; you pay the town hall’s or the notary’s fee, at their own rates. You’ll know my fee before I start, and we put it in the contract (how the fee is set).

How long does a divorce take?

At the registry office and the notary, the 30-day reflection period is compulsory (art. 376(1) of the Civil Code). As a rough guide, with your documents in order and no social inquiry, the certificate is issued shortly after the period ends. In court there’s no time limit set by law. A divorce by agreement can be settled at the first hearing. A fault-based divorce takes as long as the evidence takes: as a rough guide, several months, sometimes more than a year when the claims about the children or the division of property are heard too.

What documents you need

• the marriage certificate: the original at the notary or the registry office, a copy in court (art. 916(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure);
• both spouses’ identity documents and the minor children’s birth certificates;
• documents about the home, such as a lease or a land register extract (extras de carte funciară), when you ask for the use of the home or for the child’s residence to be set;
• proof of both parents’ income, for the contribution to the child’s costs;
• your agreement on the children, the name and property, or the agreement reached in mediation (art. 916(4));
• in a fault-based divorce: documents, messages, medical certificates, the list of witnesses and, if there is one, the protection order (ordin de protecție).

How I can help

From our first conversation, I’ll tell you which route you can take and what each one involves. I draft your agreement and the divorce application, prepare the documents, come with you to the notary and represent you at the Cluj-Napoca District Court and, on appeal, at the Cluj Tribunal. In a fault-based divorce, I put together the evidence and the ancillary claims. If there is domestic violence, I apply urgently for a protection order.

You may also want to read the pages on custody and parental authority, child maintenance and the matrimonial regime and division of property. The consolidated text of the Civil Code is on legislatie.just.ro.

You don’t need to have everything decided before we talk. Write to me and we’ll work out together which route suits you.