Under German law, the institution of marriage is protected by the constitution. Article 6(1) of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) states: "Marriage and the family shall enjoy the special protection of the state." Virtually all the fundamental aspects of family-law relationships in Germany — including entering into marriage, the marriage itself, and its dissolution — fall within Book Four of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch — BGB). Legally speaking, a marriage takes legal effect only from the moment it is officially registered with the competent state authority, while a marriage can be dissolved in Germany only through the courts. Discouraging statistics show that, in Germany, every second marriage ends in divorce. Family courts are busy, and often even overloaded, which partly explains the comparatively long duration of divorce proceedings. In addition, under § 78 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), the parties to divorce proceedings must be represented by a lawyer. Without a lawyer, one may neither file a divorce petition, nor make a statement, nor reach mutual agreement within the proceedings.
Important on divorce
In addition, under § 78 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), the parties to divorce proceedings must be represented by a lawyer.
Under § 1566(1) BGB, spouses must live apart for at least one year before filing for divorce. At that duration of separation, a marriage is deemed to have broken down if both spouses wish to divorce, or if the respondent consents to the divorce in response to the petition. Where no such consent exists, the mandatory period of separation before the marriage can be dissolved is extended to three years.
Today's reality on Berlin's property market, as in other large German cities, is such that finding new housing can sometimes prove a harder task than finding a new partner. For this reason, among others, it often happens that spouses in the middle of divorce proceedings continue to live within the walls of the same house or flat. They may keep separate bedrooms, or simply avoid communicating with one another. Most often, in such a situation, spouses also divide up other areas of life, wholly or partly — buying groceries, doing laundry, ironing, cleaning, cooking, and other household tasks — with each spouse handling these matters independently. There are, moreover, no shared meals, no shared leisure activities (television, cinema, weekend walks, picnics, and so on), and not even — however strange it may sound — shared groceries in the fridge. Even where there are children in common, spouses living apart within the same flat arrange their daily schedules so as to see and encounter one another as rarely as possible.
It is important to note here that the state, as a general rule, does not interfere in the particular arrangements chosen by spouses who are temporarily at odds or have finally separated. The question of living together or apart, of finding new housing, and of establishing a new daily life under the new circumstances is rightly left to the former partners themselves to work out. Adults are, more often than not, eventually able to come to an agreement and establish a new life acceptable to both. But what is to be done when one of the parties finds themselves in a situation that endangers their life and health?
One day a young woman knocked on the door of our law firm — let's call her Maria — and one look at her was enough to see that she urgently needed our help. At first glance, her situation seemed fairly ordinary: after not even two years of marriage, she and her husband had decided to divorce. For both of them it had been an early, first experience of married life; the young couple had never really learned how to build a relationship, they had had no children together, and they saw no further prospects for a life together. Their case is, unfortunately, neither the first nor the last of its kind, and it is not for us to judge them — were it not for one "but"... Maria's husband, let's call him Vasily, had some time earlier become seriously involved with hard drugs. After the final break with his wife, Vasily set off in search of adventure to Thailand, which lured him with the cheap price of its harmful pleasures, and spent around two months there carefree, sparing no expense. During those two months, Maria gradually came back to herself and recovered from the exhausting marital relationship. After a while, she began to find a taste for life again — she started seeing friends and going to parties. At the time, she assumed, rather carelessly, that Vasily would linger a long while yet in "hot" Thailand. But it was not to be... One evening, at yet another gathering with friends, Maria received a text from a husband who had not been in touch for a long time. As it turned out, Vasily, having had his fill of enjoyment and spent all their savings, had decided to return to Germany — and not just anywhere, but to the very flat he and Maria had previously rented together. It would not have been so alarming, had this text not contained insults, and even threats, directed at her. He blamed her alone for their ruined married life, reproached her for failing to live up to his expectations, even accused her of having deceitfully married him purely out of self-interest, demanded the return of "his money," and threatened violence. The texts that followed were much the same in content, and even more threatening in tone. Maria soon learned, moreover, that their flat had turned practically into a den for drug users, since Vasily had no qualms about bringing his "using friends" there. Knowing her husband's character all too well — his unpredictability and hot temper, both sharpened by the use of strong narcotics — Maria realized it would be dangerous for her to go home. She had no choice but to move in temporarily with close friends. Maria's correspondence with Vasily led to nothing but further escalation of the conflict, and she was too afraid to go to the police. The only way out of her situation was to seek qualified legal help, and, on a friend's advice, Maria came to our law firm.
Having listened to the young woman, reviewed the correspondence, and gathered information about Vasily's recent way of life, our lawyer realized this was not a case of imagined fears, but a genuinely real threat to our client's life and health. As already noted in this article, the state, as a general rule, does not concern itself with the question of whether divorcing spouses live together or apart — who lives with whom is usually a matter for them to decide themselves. This case, however, was exceptional, and it was the lawyer's task to present the judge with compelling evidence in order to protect the young woman's life and health.
Our lawyer accordingly prepared and filed a detailed complaint with the court, accompanied by extensive irrefutable evidence that it was genuinely dangerous for Maria to live under the same roof as her husband. The main relief sought was the forced eviction of Vasily from the flat — all the more so given that his parents lived in the same city, meaning that, whatever else happened, he would not end up out on the street. Since the situation at that point was close to critical and required immediate intervention, the court accepted the case for expedited proceedings. Having carefully examined all the arguments and evidence we submitted, together with the testimony of the witnesses called at our request, the judge found the threat to Maria's life and health to be real, and ordered Vasily's forced eviction from the flat at the earliest possible date. It is difficult to put into words how relieved our client was to learn she could now return home without any further trouble.
Clients turn to our firm with the widest range of problems, and family law is one of the core focuses of our work. Unfortunately, a genuine threat of domestic violence is not an uncommon occurrence. We understand that, in such situations, a straightforward analysis of the law alone is, regrettably, not enough, and we work to find the arguments that establish the exceptional nature of such cases and the need for an expedited decision on them. We believe that, despite this unhappy experience of married life, Maria's personal life will sooner or later fall into place. We also hope that Vasily's parents will help him overcome his serious addiction, and that he will be able to return to a dignified life. Divorce in Germany is an expensive and lengthy matter, since the state does everything it can to preserve the family. By examining every nuance and weighing every chance of success, the experienced lawyers at our law firm do everything possible to defend our clients successfully — especially in cases where their life and health are at stake.
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