Family
A 2012 Family Code setting marriage age 18 with a foreign-marriage fee
The Family Code sets the marriage age at 18 and provides for community of marital property. A state fee and conditions historically applied to marriages between citizens and foreigners.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Civil registry offices register marriage; courts grant contested divorce.
Governing law
- Family Code of Turkmenistan2012
- Law on State Guarantees of Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities for Women and Men2015
In practice
The requirement that a foreign national pay a state fee and meet residence and housing conditions to marry a Turkmen citizen has been the most-reported feature of this area, drawing criticism as a restriction on the right to marry. Same-sex relations between men remain criminalised, which is unusual even within the region and is raised in every treaty-body cycle. Marital property is joint and divided in principle equally. Domestic violence is not a distinct criminal offence and no specific protection-order regime is published.