Family Law

In Greek family law, there are two types of divorce proceedings. The first is a no contest divorce, also known as divorce by mutual consent. In this case, the spouses agree to dissolve the marriage and file a joint petition in the Single Judge Court of First Instance. The marriage must have lasted for at least one year, and there are two hearings with a minimum interval of six months. The spouses may attend the hearings or be represented by lawyers with special powers of attorney. If there are minor children involved, the spouses must submit a written agreement regarding custody and communication rights. The second type of divorce is contested, where one or both spouses file a lawsuit for the dissolution of the marriage in the Multidistrict Court of First Instance. In Greece, divorce requires a final judgment that cannot be appealed or revoked. There is currently a draft law that may allow uncontested divorces to be certified by a notary, but it is uncertain whether this will be implemented. Greek courts have jurisdiction over divorces if at least one spouse is a Greek citizen.

Family disputes cases are sometimes by nature the most difficult to handle, as such matters usually accumulate an enormous amount of emotional load and stress that we re aware off so we are available 24/7 and here to assist you by taking the weight off your shoulders and find someone you can rely and trust to deal with such delicate family matters. You can rest assured that as trusted & experienced Family Lawyers in Greece, we cover successful all the family law disputes than can arise though marriage and family relations and we can provide you with services in:

• Divorce by mutual consent/non mutual consent
  
• Child legal joint custody 
• Divorce alimony 
  
• Spousal and child support
  
• Visitation rights and communication 
  
• Domestic violence
  
• Adoption
  
• Marital legitimacy / parenthood
  
• Marital property division
  
• Enforcement of foreign divorce decrees

In recent years, Greece has gained a reputation as a paradise for surrogacy due to its particularly favourable legislation compared to other EU countries, where having a child through this method is prohibited. Official figures on the number of surrogate pregnancies in Greece are not available. The only data that are available relate to the period from 2005 to 2015, years in which 173 court decisions were issued by the Athens Court of First Instance alone, without knowing whether embryo transfer, gestation and delivery followed. Couples, mainly from France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, where no form of surrogacy has been institutionalised, are taking refuge in Greece – among other countries – in order to have their long-awaited child. A favourable institutional framework In our country, Laws 3089/2002 and 3305/2005 created the framework for medically assisted reproduction and specifically for surrogacy, which involves the transfer of fertilised eggs, often from the biological mother, into the body of another woman who carries and bears the child. “The relevant provisions on surrogacy are mainly defined in the Civil Code (Articles 1458, 1464), in Law 3305/2005 and in Decision 1704 of the National Authority for Medically Assisted Reproduction – HAIA (Government Gazette B5524/26.10.2022). Surrogacy enables couples who wish to have a biological child to do so. However, this process involves specific steps and has conditions. Firstly, the woman applying to have a child through surrogacy must be under 50 years of age, have a medically proven inability to conceive, and both she and her husband or partner must be free of a sexually transmitted disease (STD). For the surrogate, she must by law be aged 25-45 years, have one child, have not undergone more than two caesarean sections and not have an STI. It is also a condition that both the applicant and the surrogate must be resident in Greece and the genetic material used cannot belong to the surrogate. This is followed by the drafting and signing of an agreement, i.e. the act in which it is made clear that the woman who is to carry the embryo to term agrees to do so. Based on the above legislation, only then can the process of appointing a surrogate by court order begin. Once this is done, she can now legally receive the parents’ fertilised egg and carry it to term. “For the contract there is no standard. It is shaped according to the contracting parties.

If you need Family Lawyers in Greece, please call us at (+30) 210 3603824 or contact us at econlaw@live.com