Marriages are registered at a territorial body of the State Service Development Agency (a legal body of public law) at the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. Couples may choose the location of the territorial body based on their residence.
Marriage of a person placed at a penitentiary institution is registered in a place designated specifically for this purpose at the institution.
A notary may also register the marriage under his/her delegated competences.
Prior consent of the couple (engagement) does not impose the obligation to marry. If the couple decides to not proceed with the marriage, engagement presents will be returned to the parties. Engagement does not serve as grounds for forced marriage by law.
Marriage will be deemed inadmissible if:
The nuptial contract can be concluded before the registration of marriage and any time after the marriage has been registered. The nuptial contract defines couple’s property rights and obligations during the marriage as well as during a divorce.
The nuptial contract must be concluded before the marriage if at least one of the parties is a recipient of support. A process of concluding the nuptial contract requires the involvement of guardianship and curatorship bodies, as well as a support provider in relations to the party of the contract that are defined by a respective decision issued by the court.
The following can serve as grounds for the termination of the marriage:
Upon a mutual consent of both spouses, divorce takes place at a territorial body (the House of Justice) of the State Service Development Agency (a legal body of public law) of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. Spouses or their legal representatives submit a joint statement to the respective territorial body.
In the event of the dispute between the spouses, the divorce procedures move to the court.
Divorce can be registered by a notary within his/her delegated competences.
One of the spouses can file a divorce at the territorial body of the State Service Development Agency (a legal body of public law) at the Ministry of Justice of Georgia provided that:
During the pregnancy of the wife and within a year after the birth of the child, the husband has no right to file for divorce without his wife’s consent.
A decision of the court on the divorce must be registered at the territorial service of the State Service Development Agency (legal body of the public law) at the Ministry of Justice of Georgia or at the House of Justice. Termination of marriage takes effect from the moment divorce is registered.
Property acquired by spouses during their marriage is considered the shared property even if one of them did not generate income from independent sources.
Spouses are obliged to financially support each other. A spouse who is not able to participate in the labor market; a spouse in need of financial support, and a wife during her pregnancy and within three years from the birth of the child are eligible to allowance by a ruling of the court if they are refused allowance and/or there has not been a prior agreement on allowance between former spouses.
A spouse who cannot participate in the labor market and therefore is in need of support from the former spouse maintains the right to allowance after the divorce if s/he became disabled a year before the divorce or within a year from the divorce.
The court can release the spouse from the responsibility to support his/her spouse or change arrangements for a specific time period if the marriage lasted only for a short period of time, and/or the spouse demanding financial support has committed a dishonest act towards the allowance payer, also, if the spouse who demands financial support is unable to participate in labor relations due to his/her consumption of alcohol or drugs or committing premeditated felony.
The amount of allowance to be paid by the spouse is defined in a form of monthly monetary allowance based on financial standing and family conditions of the spouses.
