Divorce in Greece follows one of two routes under the Civil Code: a consensual divorce handled by a notary, which can be wrapped up in two to three weeks, or a contested divorce decided by a court, which can take anywhere from two years to more than three if it goes through appeals. The same statutory framework applies whether you are a Greek national or a foreign resident, though international couples pick up extra steps around jurisdiction, document authentication, and recognition abroad.
Consensual or Contested: Which Route Applies
If both spouses agree to end the marriage and on all the terms, you can use the consensual route under Article 1441 of the Civil Code. The marriage must have lasted at least six months before a consensual divorce can proceed.1U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Greece. Divorce in Greece You and your spouse must agree on everything, including property division, and when minor children are involved you must also sign a separate agreement covering custody, visitation, and child support that stays in force for at least two years.
When agreement is not possible, either spouse can file for a contested divorce under Article 1439 by arguing that the marriage has broken down beyond repair because of something attributable to the other spouse or to both of them, making continued marriage unbearable.2CEFL Online. Greece Civil Code Chapter VII Divorce – Section: Article 1439 Certain situations create a presumption that the marriage has broken down, shifting the burden to the other spouse to prove it can still be saved:
- Bigamy by the other spouse.
- Adultery by the other spouse.
- Abandonment of the marital home by the other spouse.
- A threat to the petitioner’s life or safety by the other spouse.
In these cases there is no waiting period. The defendant must either disprove the allegation or show that it did not actually damage the marriage.3CEFL Online. Grounds for Divorce and Maintenance Between Former Spouses – Section: B. Grounds for Divorce If none of those grounds applies, you can still obtain a contested divorce after two consecutive years of separation. At that point the breakdown is treated as conclusive and cannot be challenged, even if the petitioner caused the separation. This is the fallback for couples who simply grew apart.
How a Consensual Divorce Actually Runs
Much of the consensual procedure is now digitized. Lawyers, notaries, and spouses interact through an online platform. Lawyers enter the marriage certificate details and the system pulls spousal data from the citizens’ register, so a lot of the traditional paperwork never needs to be collected physically.4National Registry of Administrative Public Services. Divorce by Mutual Consent
Once both spouses electronically approve the written agreement, a 10-day reflection period begins. This cooling-off window is strictly enforced under Article 1441 and cannot be waived. If neither spouse withdraws consent within the 10 days, the notary draws up a notarial deed dissolving the marriage and incorporating the agreed terms.4National Registry of Administrative Public Services. Divorce by Mutual Consent The divorce takes legal effect once a copy of that deed is filed with the civil registry where the marriage was originally recorded.
In practice, a straightforward consensual case can be finalized within two to three weeks of the date both spouses sign the initial agreement.
How a Contested Divorce Runs
Before a contested family case can be heard, Greece requires a mandatory initial mediation session. The requirement was introduced by Law 4640/2019 and has applied to all divorce lawsuits since January 2020. The session must take place within 20 days of the request, or 30 days if a party lives abroad. You are not required to reach any agreement; the requirement is satisfied by showing up. But if you skip it without a valid reason, the court can refuse to hear the case at all, because filing the mediation minutes is a procedural prerequisite for the lawsuit. Foreign residents unfamiliar with the 2019 reforms are particularly likely to be caught out.
Once mediation is cleared, the lawsuit is filed with the competent single-member court of first instance. A hearing is typically scheduled about 12 months out, and the judge’s decision may take another year after that. If the losing party appeals, the appeal hearing is usually set roughly six months after filing, with a decision following within a year. A further appeal to the Supreme Court adds another 16 months or so. A fully contested divorce that goes through every level of appeal can therefore run three years or more from filing to final resolution.
The divorce decree must become final (meaning all appeal periods have expired or appeals have been resolved) before the marriage is officially dissolved. Only then can the decree be registered at the civil registry to update both spouses’ legal status.5Ministry of Interior. Divorce
Lawyers and Documents
Each spouse must have their own lawyer, in both consensual and contested divorces. This is not optional, and it applies even when the spouses agree on everything.
The core documents are your marriage certificate from the local registry office and birth certificates for any minor children. A consensual case also needs the signed written agreements covering the divorce itself and, where relevant, the children’s arrangements.
Foreign nationals have extra steps. Documents issued outside Greece generally need either an Apostille (if the issuing country is party to the Hague Apostille Convention) or authentication by the Greek consulate in the country of issue. Documents from EU member states are exempt from further certification. All foreign-language documents must be translated into Greek by an authorized translator or certified by the Greek consulate. If a spouse cannot attend proceedings in person, a notarized special power of attorney lets their lawyer sign and act on their behalf, provided it was granted within the month before it is used.5Ministry of Interior. Divorce
Dividing Property
Greece uses a system of separate property during marriage. Each spouse owns what they personally earn or acquire. The financial reckoning comes at divorce through a “participation in acquisitions” claim under Article 1400 of the Civil Code. If one spouse’s net worth grew during the marriage, the other spouse can claim a share of that increase by showing they contributed to it, whether through income, homemaking, childcare, or other support.
The law presumes the claiming spouse contributed at least one-third to the other’s wealth increase. That is a starting point, not a ceiling. You can argue for a larger share if the evidence supports it, and your spouse can argue the contribution was smaller or nonexistent.6Commission on European Family Law. Property Relationship Between Spouses – Greece
The claim covers the net increase from the date of marriage to the date of divorce, so assets owned before the marriage and inheritances or gifts received during it are typically outside the calculation. The claim must be filed within two years of the divorce becoming final, or it expires.
Spousal Maintenance
Spousal maintenance is not automatic. A court awards it when one spouse cannot cover their reasonable living needs from their own income or assets after the divorce and the other spouse has the capacity to pay. Judges weigh each spouse’s earning ability, age, health, and the length of the marriage when setting the amount and the duration.
Maintenance can be modified later if circumstances change significantly, for example when the paying spouse loses their job or the receiving spouse finds well-paid work. Courts may also order temporary maintenance during the proceedings themselves to prevent hardship before the final decree.
Child Custody and Support
Law 4800/2021 reshaped parental responsibility after divorce. The law creates a presumption of joint custody, meaning both parents share decision-making authority over the child’s education, health, and upbringing unless a court finds reason to deviate.7Council of Europe. Greece – New Law Regulates Separated Parents Access to Children in Line with ECHR Judgment It also encourages shared parenting time rather than defaulting to one primary residence.
In consensual divorces, the custody and support agreement must stay in force for at least two years. After that, the parents can renegotiate and sign a new agreement through the same notarial procedure, or either parent can ask a court to modify the arrangement.
Child support (diatrofi) is set based on the child’s actual needs and each parent’s financial capacity, with the court looking at housing, education, healthcare, and the child’s established standard of living. The best interests of the child govern throughout and override parental preferences where the two conflict.
Jurisdiction for International Couples
Before anything else moves, Greek authorities need to have jurisdiction. Under EU Regulation 2019/1111 (Brussels IIb), Greek courts (or a notary, in a consensual case) can hear a divorce if both spouses live in Greece, if the respondent lives there, if the couple last lived together in Greece and one spouse still does, or if the applicant has lived there for at least a year before filing. A joint application only requires that either spouse be habitually resident in Greece.8European Commission. Practice Guide for the Application of the Brussels IIb Regulation – Section: 2.3.3. General Jurisdiction, Article 3
Which country’s law then governs the divorce is a separate question. Greece applies the Rome III regulation (EU Regulation 1259/2010), in force there since July 2015. Spouses can agree in advance on which country’s law applies, provided they have a genuine connection to that country. If they cannot agree, courts apply a standard formula that typically points to the law of the country where both spouses last lived together.9European e-Justice Portal. Divorce and Legal Separation For two Greek nationals living in Greece, this rarely comes up, since Greek law applies automatically.
Greek Orthodox Religious Divorce
A civil divorce ends the marriage under state law, but if you were married in a Greek Orthodox ceremony the Church considers you still married until it grants a separate ecclesiastical divorce. You need that extra step to remarry in an Orthodox church.
The Church will not accept a petition until at least one year after the civil decree is issued. The petitioner submits the Orthodox marriage certificate, a certified copy of the civil divorce decree, a signed petition stating the religious grounds, and a filing fee. The Church recognizes specific grounds including adultery, abandonment for more than three years, threats to a spouse’s life, and certain undisclosed conditions predating the marriage. It does not grant divorce on grounds of irreconcilable differences, even though that is effectively the basis for most civil divorces.10Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. Divorce Factor the religious process into your timeline if remarriage in the Orthodox Church is part of your plan.
Using a Greek Divorce in the United States
If you are a U.S. citizen or plan to return to the United States after divorcing in Greece, you need your Greek decree to be recognized stateside. There is no treaty between the U.S. and any country on this subject, so recognition depends on the law of the particular U.S. state where the decree needs to be enforced.11Travel.State.Gov. Divorce
U.S. states generally recognize foreign divorces under the principle of comity, provided the foreign court had proper jurisdiction. In practice, state courts examine whether at least one spouse was genuinely domiciled in Greece at the time, whether both parties received adequate notice, and whether both had a meaningful opportunity to participate. When those conditions are met, recognition is usually granted without difficulty. The highest risk of non-recognition is where neither spouse was actually living in Greece and both traveled there solely to get divorced; many state courts have refused to honor foreign decrees in exactly that scenario.12U.S. Department of State. 7 FAM 1460 Divorce Overseas To use the decree in the U.S., you will typically need an Apostille-certified copy along with a certified English translation.11Travel.State.Gov. Divorce
U.S. Tax Points to Watch
For divorce agreements executed after 2018, alimony payments are neither deductible by the payer nor taxable income for the recipient under U.S. federal law, regardless of where the divorce takes place. If your Greek decree orders spousal maintenance, the paying spouse gets no federal tax benefit and the receiving spouse does not report it as income.13Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance
Property transfers between spouses as part of a divorce settlement are generally not taxable events. But if you receive assets worth $100,000 or more from a non-U.S.-citizen spouse, whether as part of the divorce or otherwise, you must report the transfer to the IRS on Form 3520.14Internal Revenue Service. Gifts from Foreign Person The form is due by April 15 following the tax year of the transfer, with an automatic extension to June 15 if you live overseas. Missing this filing can trigger steep penalties even though no tax is owed on the transfer itself.