Dissolution of marriage can be based on the mutual separation agreement (non-contested divorce) of the spouses and also on a petition of one of the spouses (contested divorce). Only the court is entitled to dissolve a marriage.

If the parties want their marriage to be dissolved based on their mutual divorce settlement agreement, the spouses also need to come to a full marital settlement agreement on the exercise of parental custody of their common minor child, contact between the parent living separately and the child, maintenance of the child, use of the matrimonial home, and the spousal maintenance, if claimed. In this case the court approves the marriage settlement, does not examine the reasons that lead to the deterioration of the marriage.

The court shall dissolve the marriage at the request of either spouse if the marriage has completely and irretrievably broken down. The complete and irretrievable breakdown of the marriage can be established in particular if the community of life between the spouses has ceased, and, considering the process leading up to the termination of the community of life and of the duration of the separation, there is no prospect of restoring it.

The action shall be brought by one spouse against the other.

The District courts shall have material jurisdiction over the action to dissolve the marriage, and apart from the general rule, the court within whose area the spouses had their last common domicile shall also have territorial jurisdiction over the action. The action also can be brought before the court for the place where the defendant resides.

It is important to mention that an action concerning the division of assets shall not be linked to an action to dissolve a marriage, an disjoint action shall be filed to settle a dispute concerning matrimonial property.