Divorce in Germany: the separation year, costs and what the court decides

3 min read · 7 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

German law does not ask who is to blame. A marriage is dissolved when it has failed, and the year of separation is how that is shown. What costs time and money are the questions around it: maintenance, the children, the home and the pensions.

Rules, amounts and deadlines change. Check the official source named at the end before you act, and ask the office in your city, because procedures differ from town to town.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, speak to a lawyer or an advice centre.

Step by step

1. Start the year of separation

   You must live apart for at least one year. Living apart is possible inside one flat, if you run separate households: separate bedrooms, separate shopping, cooking and washing. Write down the date, and tell your spouse in a way you can prove later, for example by letter.

   Done

2. Know the exceptions

   A court can grant a divorce sooner in cases of hardship, for example violence. If one spouse does not agree to the divorce, the marriage is presumed to have failed after three years apart.

   Done

3. Sort out the practical questions

   Who stays in the flat, who pays what, where the children live and how contact works, and whether one of you needs maintenance during the separation. Agreements reached now save court time later. A family advice centre or a mediator can help.

   Done

4. Hire a lawyer

   The spouse who files must be represented by a lawyer. If you agree on everything, the other spouse can simply consent without a lawyer of their own, which roughly halves the lawyers' costs.

   Done

5. File at the family court

   The lawyer files the application at the family court (Familiengericht) responsible for your place of residence. The court sends the other spouse the application and forms about the pension rights of both.

   Done

6. Pension equalisation

   The pension rights each of you earned during the marriage are added up and shared equally (Versorgungsausgleich). The court does this by itself, and it is usually what takes the longest. For marriages of under three years it happens only on request.

   Done

7. The hearing

   Both spouses come to a short hearing. The judge asks whether the year of separation has passed and whether both consider the marriage over, and then pronounces the divorce. It becomes final a month later, or at once if both waive an appeal through their lawyers.

   Done

Good to know

Costs depend on the value of the case, which is based on three months of both net incomes. Handbook Germany gives 532 euros of court fees for a value of 10,000 euros, plus the lawyers. Court fees are usually shared. People with low incomes can apply for legal aid: legal aid in Germany: how to get a lawyer you cannot afford.

If your residence permit depends on the marriage, get advice before you separate. After three years of marriage lived in Germany, spouses usually get a residence right of their own, and earlier in cases of hardship.

For foreign couples, German courts are normally responsible when both live in Germany. Which country's law applies can differ. Ask the lawyer at the first meeting.

After the divorce your tax class changes from the following year: your German payslip explained.

In short: One year apart, practical agreements, a lawyer files at the family court, pensions are shared, short hearing, final after a month. Four to six months with agreement.