Recognition And Enforcement Proceedings Abroad
In divorce cases filed in foreign countries, the issuance of a divorce decree in those countries means that the marriage contract has been terminated. However, in our country, if no recognition and enforcement case has been filed, the marriage will not be terminated. In other words, the legal termination of a marriage abroad does not automatically mean that it is also terminated in Turkey. People living abroad can apply to the court in those countries to get divorced and remarry. However, this will not be possible because they are still considered married in Turkey. To prevent this situation, a Recognition and Enforcement Case must be filed in Turkey. Only in this way will the marriages of married couples be terminated and deleted from the records in Turkey.
The parties are not required to come to Turkey to file Recognition and Enforcement Cases. For this reason, having the proceedings carried out through lawyers can ensure that they proceed much more quickly. The correct preparation of legal documents is important for the proceedings to be carried out quickly and for results to be obtained in a short time. In order for a recognition and enforcement case decision to be issued in Turkey, the divorce decision of the country where the divorce took place is required first. For this decision to be valid, it must be issued by a court.
In most European Union countries, divorce decisions are issued by courts. However, in some countries, divorce decisions can also be obtained from municipalities. Divorce decisions not issued by a court will have no legal effect in Turkish courts. For this reason, the divorce decision must be issued by a court.
The divorce decree issued must be final, and the divorce must have been finalized. In this regard, the continuation of the case and the filing of a divorce case will not make it possible to file a recognition and enforcement case in Turkey. In addition, the final divorce decree documents must be apostilled. In our country, these documents must be apostilled in order to be submitted to the courts and accepted by the court.
The divorce decree and all necessary documents must be translated into Turkish by sworn translators. These translations and the original documents must be certified by consulates. If these procedures are not followed, it is not possible to file a Recognition and Enforcement Case in Turkey. In this regard, for a Recognition and Enforcement Case to be filed, the following procedures and documents must be completed and the procedures must be carried out.
Final divorce decree issued by the foreign court where the divorce took place
Apostille certificate for this divorce decree
Translations of the divorce decree and apostille certificate by sworn translators
Consular certification of the divorce decree and apostille issued by foreign courts
It is not necessary to come to Turkey to complete these procedures. The recognition and enforcement case to be filed is not a divorce case, and the parties do not need to be present. For this reason, attorneys can be authorized to prepare the documents and submit them to the court. This allows the procedures to be completed easily and without any problems.
Once the parties send the foreign court’s divorce decree and apostille certificate, along with their power of attorney to the lawyer, the remaining procedures will be completed in Turkey. The recognition and enforcement decision will be obtained, and the lawyer will easily have the marriage status removed from the Registry Office.