Personal and Family Law
Family law: divorce, separation, and child custody
Family law is the sector of private law that regulates family relationships in the broadest sense, dealing with issues related to marriage, separation, and divorce; relationships of parentage, adoption, and kinship, as well as de facto and civil unions.
Our quality assistance in the field of family law
Family law is one of our main areas in which we boast a decade of experience with success stories in the field of separations, divorces, and child custody. Our quality service and determination to achieve the best possible legal results — the basis of the professional successes we have achieved —are the values on which we rely when welcoming our clients.
Family conflicts. The person behind the client
Family problems and conflicts generally have very far-reaching consequences for the people involved. These consequences may not simply be of legal nature, but also entail personal and human aspects. It is therefore crucial for those who find themselves dealing with family issues to receive assistance and advice from experts able to evaluate them with the personal attention they deserve.
Efficient and safe protection and legal assistance
In this area, legal problems often entail, for the persons involved, particularly delicate periods of uncertainty and contrasting emotions. Our team of lawyers and collaborators offer a welcoming and safe environment in which experiences, doubts, questions, and concerns can be openly shared.
We deal with your demands relating to family law with understanding and discretion, always providing the due attention that your individual needs deserve.
Separation and divorce
Mutual and judicial separation: distinctions.
Mutual separation process
Separation is mutual when the spouses decide to separate by mutual agreement. In this case, at the application of both spouses, the Chairman of the Court fixes the appearance hearing date. At this hearing, he or she hears from the spouses and attempts a reconciliation in accordance with the provisions of Art. 708 of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure. If a reconciliation is not possible, a report is prepared which acknowledges the consent of the spouses to separate and the measures to be adopted in the interest of the children.
In order for the mutual separation to take effect, it must be approved by the Court which deals with the case in the Council Chamber at the report of the Chairman.
In mutual separation cases, the spouses, if they wish, can both be represented jointly by a single lawyer.
Judicial separation process
A judicial separation takes place when there is disagreement between the spouses. The application should be filed at the local Court in the area in which the defendant spouse resides or is domiciled. The Chairman then fixes, by a decree, the date of appearance of the spouses and the deadline for serving the application together with the decree. At the hearing, the Chairman hears from the spouses first separately and then jointly, seeking a reconciliation.
If the reconciliation is successful, the report is prepared and the separation becomes mutual; otherwise, the Chairman, even ex officio, pronounces, by order, the temporary and urgent measures in the interest of the spouses and the children, appoints the Examining Magistrate and, finally, fixes the date for the appearance hearing before the latter. The case then continues until the separation ruling is issued but, if an agreement is reached during the proceedings, the procedure is converted and the separation becomes mutual.
With the entry into the Italian legal system of the “short divorce” (Italian Law no. 55/2015) each spouse may lodge a request for dissolution or termination of the civil effects of the marriage, provided that the separation has continued uninterruptedly since the presidential hearing for twelve
Custody and maintenance of minor children born out of wedlock
If unmarried parents cease to cohabit, they are entitled to regulate mutually the parental relationships. In that case, the parents must submit a joint application to the Court in the location of which the minor habitually resides.
In the absence of parental agreement, the parent of a child born out of wedlock, a minor, or a child not yet economically self-sufficient, may take action before the Court to establish the amount due from the other parent for child maintenance and, if a minor, also to regulate the exercise of parental responsibility.
Change of conditions of separation and divorce
The modification of the conditions of separation or divorce or of custody and maintenance of natural children may be requested if significant changes occur to the situation existing when the respective agreement was reached or the judicial measure was issued. For example, it is possible to ask for the maintenance payment to be reviewed if there is a significant increase of income for one of the parents/spouses or their economic situation deteriorates.