Belarus

ARTICLE 32

Marriage, the family, motherhood, fatherhood, and childhood shall be under the protection of the State.

On reaching the age of consent women and men shall have the right to enter into marriage on a voluntary basis and start a family. A husband and wife shall be equal in family relationships.

Parents or persons in loco parentis shall be entitled and required to raise their children and to take care of their health, development and education. No child shall be subjected to cruel treatment or humiliation or used for work that may be harmful to its physical, mental or moral development. Children shall care for their parents or persons in loco parentis and render them assistance.

Children may be separated from their family against the consent of their parents or persons in loco parentis only according to the verdict of the court of law, if the parents or persons in loco parentis fail in their duty towards their children.

Women shall be guaranteed equal rights with men in their opportunities to receive education and vocational training, promotion in labour, socio-political, cultural and other spheres of activity, as well as in creating conditions safeguarding their labour and health.

The young people are guaranteed the right for their spiritual, moral and physical development.

The State shall create all necessary conditions for the free and effective participation of the young people in the political, social, economic and cultural development of society.

Constitution of the Republic of Belarus 1994 (rev.2004) – Constitute Project – English (PDF)

Article 12 Marriage

Marriage is a voluntary union of a man and a woman, which is concluded under the conditions provided for by this Code, aimed at creating a family and giving rise to mutual rights and obligations for the parties.

Article 17. Conditions for contracting a marriage

For the conclusion of a marriage, the mutual consent of the persons entering into marriage, their attainment of marriageable age and the absence of obstacles to the conclusion of marriage, provided for in Article 19 of this Code , are required .

Article 18 Age of marriage

The age of marriage is set at eighteen years.

In exceptional cases caused by pregnancy, the birth of a child, as well as in the case of a minor acquiring full legal capacity before reaching the age of majority, the civil status registering body may reduce the marriage age established by part one of this article to persons entering into marriage, but not more than by three years.

The lowering of the marriageable age is carried out at the request of the persons entering into marriage. At the same time, the consent of parents, guardians of minors for marriage is not required.

Article 20 Equality of spouses in family relations

All questions of marriage and family relations are decided by the spouses jointly, by mutual agreement and on the basis of equality.

Spouses are obliged to build their relations in the family on the basis of mutual respect and mutual assistance, fair distribution of family responsibilities, assistance in the realization by each of them of the right to motherhood (fatherhood), physical and spiritual development, education, manifestation of their abilities, work and rest.

Spouses have the right to independently resolve issues related to their personal interests, unless otherwise specified in the Marriage Contract.

Article 22 Right of spouses to free choice of occupation, profession and place of residence

Spouses are free to choose their occupation, profession and place of residence.

Article 23 Common joint property of spouses

The property acquired by the spouses during the marriage, regardless of which of the spouses it was acquired or to whom or by whom of the spouses money was deposited, is their common joint property. The spouses have equal rights to own, use and dispose of this property, unless otherwise provided by the marriage contract.

Spouses enjoy equal rights to jointly acquired property even if one of them during the marriage was engaged in housekeeping, caring for children or for other valid reasons did not have independent earnings (income), unless otherwise provided by the Marriage Agreement.

Article 24 Determination of shares in the common joint property of the spouses upon division of property

In the event of a division of property that is the common joint property of the spouses, their shares are recognized as equal, unless otherwise provided by the Marriage Agreement. The court has the right to deviate from recognizing the shares as equal, taking into account the interests of minors and disabled adult children in need of assistance or the worthy interests of one of the spouses. The share of one of the spouses, in particular, can be increased if the other spouse avoided work or spent common property to the detriment of the interests of the family. Personal belongings of minor children (clothes, shoes, school supplies, musical instruments, etc.) are not taken into account in the division of property and are transferred without appropriate monetary compensation to the spouse with whom the children will live.

When dividing property that is the common joint property of the spouses, in the presence of a marriage contract, the court proceeds from its conditions and determines which items are subject to transfer to each of them.

The division of property that is the common joint property of the spouses, unless otherwise provided by the Marriage Agreement in respect of this property, may be carried out by mutual consent of the spouses both during the period of marriage and after its dissolution by the conclusion of the spouses (ex-spouses) in writing an Agreement on division property, which is the common joint property of the spouses, which is subject to notarization.

In the event that items are transferred to one of the spouses, the value of which exceeds the share due, the other spouse is awarded the corresponding monetary compensation.

When the property is divided, the court also takes into account the general debts of the spouses and the rights of claim for obligations arising in the interests of the family.

For claims on the division of property that is the common joint property of the spouses whose marriage has been dissolved, a three-year limitation period is established, calculated from the day when the person learned or should have learned about the violation of his right, regardless of the time of the dissolution of the marriage.

Article 25 Things of spouses’ professional occupation

Items of professional occupation of each of the spouses (musical instruments, special library, medical products, medical equipment, etc.) acquired during the marriage are the joint property of the spouses, unless otherwise provided by the Marriage Contract.

In the event of a division of property, the court may award items of professional occupation acquired during the marriage to the spouse in whose use they were, with a decrease in the share in the property of the other spouse or imposing on him the obligation to compensate their value to the other.

Article 26 Property of spouses

The property that belonged to the spouses before marriage, as well as the property received by them during marriage as a gift or by way of inheritance, is the property of each of them.

Personal items (clothing, shoes, etc.), with the exception of jewelry and other luxury items, although acquired during the marriage at the expense of the spouses’ common funds, are recognized as the property of the spouse who used them.

The property of each of the spouses can be recognized by the court as their joint property if it is established that during the marriage, at the expense of the common property of the spouses or the personal property of the other spouse, investments were made that significantly increase the value of this property (major repairs, reconstruction, etc.) ), unless otherwise provided by the marriage contract.

Article 29 Responsibilities of spouses for mutual maintenance

Spouses are obliged to financially support each other.

A wife in need of material assistance during pregnancy, a spouse caring for a common child until he reaches three years of age, a common disabled child until he reaches eighteen, a common disabled adult child, as well as a disabled spouse have the right to judicially demand the provision of maintenance from another spouse who has the means necessary for this.

The marriage contract may also provide for other cases in which the spouse becomes obliged to provide material assistance to the other spouse.

Article 30. Retention of the spouses’ right to maintenance after divorce

The right of a disabled spouse in need of material assistance to receive support from another spouse who has the necessary means for this remains after the dissolution of the marriage, if he (she) became disabled before the dissolution of the marriage or within one year after its dissolution.

If the spouses have been married for a long time (at least ten years), the court is entitled to collect alimony in favor of the divorced spouse even if he has reached retirement age no later than five years from the date of divorce.

An ex-spouse in need of material assistance retains the right to receive support from another ex-spouse who has the necessary means for this:

until the common child reaches three years of age, if he (she) is caring for this child;

until the common disabled child reaches eighteen years of age, if he (she) takes care of this child;

for the period of caring for a common disabled adult child.

An ex-wife in need of material assistance retains the right to receive support from her ex-husband, who has the necessary funds for this, during pregnancy, if the pregnancy occurred before the divorce.

Article 34 Termination of marriage

A marriage is terminated as a result of the death or announcement by a court of law as deceased of one of the spouses, and during the life of the spouses – as a result of divorce.

Upon a joint application of both spouses, a marriage may be terminated by the civil registration authority in accordance with Article 35 1 of this Code. In this case, the marriage is considered terminated from the date of registration of the divorce.

At the request of one of the spouses, a marriage may be terminated by a court in accordance with Articles 36 and 37 of this Code. In this case, the marriage is considered terminated from the date of entry into force of the court decision on divorce.

Marriages dissolved by court decisions that entered into legal force before September 1, 1999 are considered terminated from the date of registration of their dissolution.

Article 35 Inadmissibility of dissolution of marriage

Dissolution of marriage is unacceptable during the pregnancy of the wife and before the child reaches the age of three years without the written consent of the other spouse to dissolve the marriage, provided that he lives with the child and carries out parental care for him, except for cases when paternity in relation to the child is recognized by another person or by a court decision, information about the husband as the father of the child was excluded from the record of the child’s birth certificate.

Article 47 Recognition of marriage as invalid if the spouse does not reach marriageable age

A marriage entered into with a minor whose marriageable age has not been reduced in accordance with the established procedure (Article 18 of this Code) may be invalidated if the interests of the spouse who married before reaching the marriageable age require it.

A claim for recognizing a marriage as invalid on this basis has the right to file a minor spouse, guardianship and trusteeship authorities, as well as the prosecutor in cases provided by law.

If, by the time the case is resolved, the minor spouse has reached the age of majority, then the marriage can be declared invalid only at his request.

Article 76 Equality of rights and obligations of both parents

The father and mother have equal rights and responsibilities towards their children.

Parents enjoy equal rights and have equal responsibilities in relation to their children and in the event of divorce between them, unless otherwise provided in the Children’s Agreement.

In the case of establishing paternity in court, the father acquires the rights and obligations from the moment the court decision enters into legal force, with the exception of the obligation to maintain, which may be imposed from the moment of filing a claim for establishing paternity.

If the parents of the child are not married to each other, the court may assign the custody of the child to one of them, limiting the rights and obligations of the other in relation to the child.

Article 77 Participation of a separately living parent in the upbringing of children

A parent who lives separately from children has the right to communicate with them and is obliged to take part in their upbringing. The parent with whom the children live has no right to prevent the other parent from communicating with the children and participating in their upbringing.

The court may decide to restrict communication with the child of one or both parents for a certain or indefinite period if they violate the Agreement on Children or a court decision, or if their communication is not in the interests of the child.

Article 103 Conclusion of the Agreement on the payment of alimony

An agreement on the payment of alimony (the amount, methods and procedure for paying it) is concluded between the parent who is obliged to pay the alimony and the person receiving the alimony. If the parent who is obliged to pay the alimony and (or) the person receiving the alimony are incapacitated, the Agreement on the payment of alimony on their behalf is concluded by their legal representatives.

Persons who do not have civil legal capacity in full, enter into an Agreement on the payment of alimony with the consent of their legal representatives, and in their absence – with the consent of the guardianship and guardianship authority.