Family Law: divorce proceedings, conclusion of marriage (Russia)

Question:
Situation: I have been working in Switzerland for almost three years. My parents and two sisters are in Moscow. We are all registered in a three-room non-privatized apartment in Moscow (social rent contract). They ask me to send a document certifying that I’ve been living in Switzerland for the last three years. They say they need it for the purposes of rent re-calculation. Can they evict me on the basis of such document certifying that I’ve been living in Switzerland for the last three years? Comment: I looked through the Housing Code and haven’t found any explicit possibility to evict me on the basis of my three years absence. But I still would like to know a professional opinion before sending the mentioned document to my sisters. They are too concerned about the “dwelling matter” (for example they tried to convince our grandfather to bequeathe his apartment only to them as I “am fairly well settled in Switzerland” and they “have to deal with a dwelling matter in Moscow”).

Answer:
Such document may be used in court to prove that you unilaterally terminated the rent contract by moving abroad for permanent residence. I wouldn’t recommend you to send any documents of such kind and provide your relatives with other proofs (for example letters) certifying that you don’t stay in the apartment for a long time and stay in another place. On the other hand I would like to recommend you address to the Unified City Payment Center to obtain information about the payments, number of personal account, transfer a required amount to your representative in Russia: he/she will issue a receipt and effect your rent payments. By doing this you will disburden your relatives from paying your part of the rent payment and will be sure that you will not be evicted. If needed, I may help you in effecting your part of the rent payment for prior periods as well as in future.

Question:
My son and I live in a one-room apartment privatized in my name. I am divorced and only my 15 years old son and I are registered in the apartment. I want to sell the apartment and buy a two-room apartment but I was told that in this case I would need a written permit for change of housing conditions signed by my son’s father. He refuses to sign such permit (doesn’t want me to live better than he does). Question: Do I really need such permit? In case I do, how can I buy a two-room apartment without my ex-husband’s permit?

Answer:
In case the child is not an owner of a part of the mentioned apartment, you do not need Custody Agency’s consent which means you do not need second parent’s consent either. In case the child is an owner you need the consent.

Question:
My husband, 1.5 years child and I are registered in an apartment. The apartment was bought during the marriage (which still exists) and is registered on my husband’s name. It is a one-room apartment. My husband wants to sell it in order to repay some of his private debts. Can he sell the apartment without my consent and Custody Agency’s consent (we have a child)?

Answer:
According to Art. 35 part 3 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation a spouse needs a notarized consent of another spouse in order to dispose of real estate. A spouse whose notarized consent to effect a deal was not received is entitled to require annulment of such deal by judicial means within a year from the date he/she became or should have become aware of such deal. Custody Agency’s consent is not required in your case as the child is not an owner of the apartment's part.

Question:
Hello, my brother is divorced; court judgment came into force on 1.06.2006. In July 2006 his ex-wife gave birth to a child. As she doesn’t have a divorce stamp in her passport the child was registered as my brother’s child. We applied to a Civil Records Office to change information about child’s father but were refused and advised to seize the court. My brother has got a divorce stamp in his passport and a divorce certificate (issued by the same Civil Records Office) it means that the officers made a record without verification of information actuality in violation of regulations as my brother should have submitted an application in order to be recognized a the child’s father which he didn’t do. In addition, I think that these acts fall under Art. 69, 70 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “About Certificates of Civil Statutes”. According to the mentioned articles a document issued by a Civil Records Office and certifying that data given in a civil statutes document is incorrect or incomplete is a sufficient ground for correction or amendment of such document. Why do the officers advise us to go to the court when it is their fault as they registered a divorced man as child’s father which is not correct?

Answer:
Actions of Civil Records Office employees are lawful. According to Art. 48 part 2 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, in case a child is born in marriage or within three hundred days from the date of divorce a husband (ex-husband) of child’s mother is considered to be child’s father unless otherwise proved. Paternity of a spouse of child’s mother is certified by a record of their marriage. A similar provision is contained in Art. 17 part 2 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “About Certificates of Civil Statutes” according to which in case a marriage between child’s parents has been dissolved but the period form the date of the divorce to the date of child’s birth doesn’t exceed three hundred days, information about child’s father shall be entered in the birth certificate in accordance with the marriage certificate of child’s parents or any other document certifying state registration of the marriage as well as a document certifying the fact and the date of marriage dissolution. Therefore this issue may be solved only judicially.

Question:
I bought an apartment in my name being married to a foreigner. My husband and I live abroad. Do I need his consent to sell the apartment?

Answer:
Yes, it is compulsory. According to Art. 35 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, common property shall be possessed, used and disposed of by mutual consent of spouses. In case one spouse effects a deal with the common property it is supposed that he/she acts upon another spouse’s consent. In case a spouse intends to effect a real estate deal or a deal requiring notarization and/or registration in accordance with the procedure established by the law, such spouse shall obtain a notarized consent of the other spouse. A spouse whose notarized consent to effect a deal was not received is entitled to require annulment of such deal by judicial means within a year from the date he/she became or should have become aware of such deal. Custody Agency’s consent is not required in your case as the child is not an owner of a part of the apartment. These provisions do not depend on nationality except as otherwise mentioned in a marriage contract (Art. 40-44 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation).

http://www.russian-divorce.ru