Request for divorce by the exclusively guilty spouse in Poland

Kancelaria Adwokacka
Adwokat dr Piotr Sobański LL.M.
Plac Pocztowy 6/4
65-062 Zielona Góra
piotr.sobanski@adwokatura.pl
ORCiD: 0000-0001-8303-1125

Request for divorce by the exclusively guilty spouse in Poland

The finding that the marital breakdown has reached a state allowing it to be described as permanent and complete is a necessary condition for a divorce judgment (Article 56 § 1 of the Polish Family and Guardianship Code). The durability and completeness of the
breakdown are positive conditions for divorce that are interrelated.
However, according to Article 56 § 3 of the Family and Guardianship Code, even in the case of a complete and permanent breakdown of the marital relationship, divorce is not permissible if it is requested solely by the spouse at fault for the breakdown of the marriage, unless the other spouse consents to the divorce or the refusal of their consent in the given circumstances contradicts the principles of social coexistence.
Determining the causes of the breakdown of marital relations is necessary for determining which spouse is at fault for the breakdown of the marriage. According to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 4 October 2001, I CKN 871/00: "The determination of the spouse's fault in the breakdown of the marriage in the divorce judgment is not a consequence of a specific assessment of evidence, but a legal conclusion drawn from established facts, expressing at the same time a negative assessment of the spouse's conduct that led to the breakdown." (...)