FAMILY LAW

The Family Code of Costa Rica establish that the marriage is the foundation of the society and it´s the government duty to protect the family. This code regulates all subjects related to civil matrimony, marital dissolution, parenthood and filiation, child support, and adoption. The civil marriage can be performed according to the law, by a Judge, Mayor, Province Governor or Notary Public. Only the Notary Public is authorized to celebrate the marriage in any part of the Costa Rica territory and he is the only one who can charge for this type of services, because the others are public employees.
After the ceremony is performed a certificate must be issued to be presented before the Civil Registry which is the government office that can declare a legal marriage.
The documents required for those who want to get married in Costa Rica are: 1. Birth certificate of each party; 2. Certificate of marital status issued by the Civil Registry (proving the he or she is single or divorced but with more than 300 days between the date of the judicial declaration of the divorce and the date of the new marriage; if it is less than the 300 days, they must provide a medical certification of non existing pregnancy); 3. Two witnesses for the matrimony that must know the couple; 4. If one of the couple to be wed is under age (less than 18), they must provide proof of emancipation with parental consent.
If one of the couple is from a foreign country, he or she will have to do a legal declaration under oath and before a Notary Public stating that there is no other marriage involving him or her in his original country or in any other country. Besides that document it will need to identify by it´s legal passport.
The Family Code specifically states that:
The marriage is legally impossible if: a) one of the parties is not legally divorce; b) the marriage is between blood relatives; c) the marriage is between siblings related by blood; d) the marriage is between the one who adopts and the adopted; the adopted and the children of the one who adopts; the adopted and the excouple of the one who adopts; e) an individual is charge with the murder of his or her spouse, then that individual can not marry the surviving spouse of the murdered victim; f) between persons of the same sex.
The marriage is prohibited when: a) one of the parties is under age (less than 18) and has not been legally emancipated or hasn’t got the parents consent; b) a woman who has divorced previously wants to be remarried within 300 days of her divorce, unless she provides a medical certification that she is not pregnant; c) the marriage is between a guardian or his descendants and the orphan under his care.
The marriage can be declared void if: a) consent to the marriage was procured by way of threats: b) one of the parties is mentally incapacitated: c) one of the parties is under the age of 15 years old; d) the marriage is performed by an unauthorized government official. Also, the marriage can be performed by using a specialisimo power of attorney which will contains the name, marital status, occupation, identification number and domicile of the party given the power. If this party is Costa Rican, the power of attorney must be issued by a Notary Public, and if it is for a foreign party, it will have to be issued by de Consulate of Costa Rica in its original country and then stamped and legalized by de Exterior Commerce Ministry in Costa Rica. For the dissolution of the marriage the law establish two ways: mutual consent or by judicial determination. The first one consist in a agreement between the parties to dissolve the marriage but they must have been married at least for 2 years, for this, the parties must issued a termination agreement including all the aspects of the divorce, such as: child custody, child support, and the marital assets distribution. This legal document is executed by a Notary Public who must presented to the Family Judge in order to get its approval. To file a petition for dissolution of marriage in the Family Court, the law specifically determines the grounds, which are: Adultery; An attempt by one of the spouses to corrupt or prostitute the other or any of the children; an Attempt against the life of a spouse or child; spousal or child abuse; if the spouse is legally declared missing; if the parties have been separated for at least three years. If a couple has been married for less than 2 years the law indicates that they must file for a declaration of legal separation in the Family Court, which means that they are no longer obligated to live and share the same roof, but they still have the duties of married couple, such as: fidelity, parenthood, economical child support. The grounds for this type of petition are: any of the grounds indicated for a dissolution of marriage; abandonment by one of the spouses; neglect by one of the spouses to support their children and spouse; serious offenses; mental or physical impairment of one of the parties which continues for more than a year and threatens the life or health of the other spouse: a criminal conviction resulting in a prison sentence of 3 years or more; mutual consent of the parties. The Family Code also establish that the spouses share the responsibility and the management of the family. Together they must regulate the domestic affairs, provide the education for their children and prepare them for life. They are obligated to respect one another, keep faithful to each other and be helpful in any way; also they must live in the same house except for convenience or health reasons of one of them or of the children.
 
ILC International Legal Consultants
P..O. Box 525-2120
Moravia, Costa Rica
Phone/ Fax: (506) 297-1203 / (506) 240-9303 / (506) 236-0845 
E-mail: [email protected]