Family
French-derived Código Civil with Ley 136-03 on children
Family law rests on the Código Civil, which descends from the French code, supplemented by Ley 136-03, the Código para el Sistema de Protección de los Derechos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes. Divorce is available by mutual consent through a streamlined procedure, or on determinate grounds including incompatibility of character. The bien de familia regime protects the family home from certain creditors.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Juzgados de Primera Instancia; Tribunales de Niños for children's matters
- Deadline — Divorce by mutual consent: pronounced after the statutory reflection steps are completed
- Deadline — Registration of the divorce: within the period fixed by law, or the decree may lapse
- Deadline — Child support: enforceable immediately, with criminal sanction for persistent default
Governing law
- Código Civil dominicano
- Ley 1306-bis sobre Divorcio
- Ley 136-03Código de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes
- Ley 24-97domestic violence
In practice
A Dominican divorce by mutual consent must be registered with the civil registry within the statutory period after pronouncement, and failure to do so can render the decree ineffective, which is a formality that catches foreign parties in particular. Non-payment of child support is treated as a criminal matter and can result in detention, so enforcement is materially more forceful than in many neighbouring systems.