At Abogados Cabo we know that, good or bad, it depends on the optics of each one, but divorce is a fact that is increasing in the realities of many couples who once decided to unite their affective bonds before the laws in Mexico.
As of September 2020, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) published that the divorce rate in Mexico continues to increase every year. In 2019, 160,107 divorces were registered, of which more than 90% were resolved judicially.
Being a reality that is on the rise, our lawyers receive daily questions about the steps to initiate a divorce in Mexico and that is why we were encouraged to write this article to give the general public more guidance.
Learn the steps to initiate a divorce in Mexico
Step 1. Locate a lawyer
If you have already made the decision to no longer be with the person you have chosen as your spouse, the first step is to find a lawyer or law firm specializing in family law that can categorize and classify the grounds for divorce.
Determining the grounds for divorce will allow the lawyer to identify which type of divorce is appropriate in your case, according to the provisions of the Federal Civil Code.
Step 2. Determine the grounds for a marital separation in Mexico.
According to Article 267 of the aforementioned Code, a divorce may be initiated in Mexico for any of the following causes:
- Adultery.
- An illegitimate child.
- The proposal to prostitute the couple.
- Incitement to violence.
- If immoral acts are committed with the purpose of corrupting the children.
- Having a disease such as tuberculosis, syphilis, or any other chronic or incurable disease that is also contagious or hereditary, and incurable impotence that occurs after the marriage.
- To suffer incurable mental derangement.
- Separation from the conjugal home.
- The separation of the conjugal home.
- The presumption of death,
- Severity, threats or insults.
- The accusation for crime
- Crime that is not political,
- Gambling, drunkenness or persistent drug abuse.
- Committing acts against the person or property of this one.
- Mutual consent.
- If the spouses have been separated for more than two years.
- Family violence.
- And if the orders of the administrative or judicial authorities to remedy acts of family violence are not complied with.
The grounds stipulated in numbers 5 to 9 can be used for a non-binding divorce or also called “Judicial Separation” which allows the parties not to cohabit and still maintain the economic commitments, leaving the custody of the children with the spouse who is mentally and physically healthy. The numeral 16 serves as a basis to appeal a divorce by mutual consent, while the administrative divorce can be given if the parties have not conceived children and have been married for more than one year.
The voluntary judicial divorce in Mexico, also called mutual consent divorce, is carried out when the spouses agree to go before a family judge to request the dissolution of the marriage and an agreement is presented between both parties where clauses are established regarding the shared custody of the children and the distribution of the assets that have been acquired during the marriage.
In other countries such as Chile this type of separation is called express divorce and does not necessarily have to involve minors.
These 19 numerals dictated by the Civil Code can be used to initiate a contentious divorce, understanding by this term, when one of the two parties manifests one of the causes that will imply a lawsuit that leads to a divorce trial.
Step 3. Filing for divorce
This activity will be the responsibility of the lawyer you have hired to support you in the administrative process, he/she will be in charge of drafting the divorce document and submitting it to the respective public entity to give validity and legality to this fact.
Depending on the type of divorce, the lawyer will know if you must go to a civil registry or to a family judge.
It should be noted that each type of relationship and marriage has its particular characteristics and for this reason the lawyer must study the case to be able to explain the most convenient and favorable process to achieve the divorce legally, minimizing the legal complications that a decision like this could generate if it is not oriented with professionals, especially if there are children involved.
The causes of divorce, the years of marriage, the age of the spouses, their characteristics in terms of employment, income, number of children and age of the same, will play a crucial role in the advice that lawyers have to give you, hence the importance of making an appointment with professionals who can consider each of these elements and take the time to explain the different options based on your best interest.
Do you need a lawyer?
Are you in Baja California Sur, Mexico? Todos Santos, Los Cabos, La Paz, Loreto, San Jose Del Cabo, Los Cabos, El Pescadero? Are you in Nuevo Leon, Mexico? Apodaca, Cadereyta Jiménez, El Carmen, García, San Pedro Garza García, General Escobedo, Guadalupe, Juárez, Monterrey, Salinas Victoria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Santa Catarina and Santiago…
At Cabo Lawyers we seek to satisfy the different legal needs of our clients, both in their business and personal matters. Contact us at: (+52)8119384461, where we will gladly advise you.
