Divorce in Estonia: a guide for foreigners and international couples

By Ero Liivik, lawyer (jurist) at Erovik Law Office · Updated 2 November 2026

Divorce in Estonia can be quick if you both agree: a vital statistics office or a notary can end your marriage on a joint application, without a court case. If you disagree, or no office is competent, a county court decides. International couples should check jurisdiction, the applicable law and their property regime early.

Key points

• An agreed divorce at a vital statistics office takes one to three months from the joint application.
• A court divorce is needed if you disagree; a breakdown of the marriage is presumed after two years apart.
• Unless you chose another regime, property acquired during the marriage is joint property, divided equally.
• Joint custody continues after the divorce unless a court changes it, and child maintenance has a statutory minimum.
• You can choose the law for your divorce under the EU Rome III rules.

Three ways to divorce in Estonia

Route	When it is available	When the marriage ends
Vital statistics office	You agree, and either you both live in Estonia and Estonian law applies, or you chose Estonian law	When the divorce entry takes effect
Notary	You agree, and Estonia has jurisdiction under the EU Brussels IIb Regulation	When the divorce entry takes effect
County court	You disagree, or no office or notary is competent	When the judgment enters into force

By agreement at a vital statistics office

The vital statistics offices (perekonnaseisuasutus) that grant divorces are the 16 county-centre local governments, such as Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu (Vital Statistics Registration Act (PKTS) § 3). Under the Family Law Act (PKS) § 64, they can divorce you if you both live in Estonia and Estonian law applies, or if you have chosen Estonian law. Your residence is presumed to be your population register address.

You file a joint written application in person, or online with digital signatures. You confirm that you have no disputes about the divorce or related matters, and state your future surname and the law that applies (PKTS § 44). The divorce date is set one to three months after the application (PKTS § 45). Both spouses normally attend. A spouse who cannot come for a good reason can give consent certified by a notary or a consular officer (PKTS § 47). A state fee is payable.

By agreement at a notary

A notary (notar) can also divorce you on a joint written application if Estonia has jurisdiction under the EU Brussels IIb Regulation (PKS § 64¹). For a joint application it is enough that one of you is habitually resident in Estonia, so this route can help when the other spouse lives abroad. The fee is fixed by the Notary Fees Act (NotTS). The Chamber of Notaries lists all notaries.

In court

A county court (maakohus) divorces you on one spouse’s claim if the marital relationship has irretrievably ended (PKS §§ 65, 67). This is presumed after at least two years apart. The court must try to reconcile you and may give you up to six months. Property division and custody can be decided in the same case. The marriage ends when the judgment enters into force. See also our page on court disputes.

Can foreigners divorce in Estonia?

Yes, if Estonian authorities have jurisdiction; your nationality and the place where you married do not decide this on their own. The EU Brussels IIb Regulation has applied since 1 August 2022 in every EU country except Denmark. It looks mainly at habitual residence: for example, where you both live or, for a joint application, where either of you lives. Other grounds rely on residence periods and nationality. Estonian national rules apply only where EU rules and treaties do not provide otherwise (Code of Civil Procedure (TsMS) § 70).

A divorce judgment from one EU country is recognised in the others without any special procedure, except in Denmark. For an Estonian divorce registered by a notary or vital statistics office, a county-centre local government issues the EU certificate (PKTS § 15³).

Which law applies to the divorce?

Estonia has applied the EU Rome III Regulation (1259/2010) since 11 February 2018. Couples can choose in advance the law of the country where both live, where they last lived together if one still lives there, or of which either is a national, or the law of the court. Without a choice, the law of the country where you both live when the case starts usually applies.

In Estonia the agreement is made in person in notarised form or recorded in court. You can make or change it until a notary accepts your divorce application or, in court, until an early stage of the case set by law (PKS § 64¹). Which law governs your property is a separate question; the regimes below apply if it is Estonian law.

Dividing property: joint property is the default

Estonian law offers joint property (varaühisus), accrual of assets (vara juurdekasvu tasaarvestus) and separation of property (varalahusus). You can choose in the marriage application or by a marital property contract (abieluvaraleping), signed in person in notarised form before or during the marriage (PKS §§ 24, 59–60). If you made no choice, joint property applies:

• Assets acquired during the marriage belong to both spouses, even if a register shows only one name.
• Separate property covers what you owned before the marriage, gifts, inheritances, personal items and mandatory funded pension assets. Assets are presumed joint until shown otherwise, so keep evidence (PKS § 27).
• Divorce ends the regime but divides nothing by itself. You divide joint property and its debts by agreement or in court, in equal shares unless agreed otherwise (PKS § 37).
• Until then, a contract about joint property made without the other spouse’s required consent is void unless that spouse approves it. Even a family home owned by one spouse alone generally cannot be sold or let without the other’s consent (PKS § 27¹).

Under accrual of assets, the spouse whose assets grew less can claim half of the difference, calculated as at the filing of the divorce application or claim. The claim is time-barred three years after you learn that the regime ended, and at the latest after ten years (PKS §§ 52–53).

Children: custody, residence and contact

Married parents have joint custody (hooldusõigus), and divorce does not change this by itself. A parent can ask the court for sole custody, in part or in full, also in the divorce case. The court refuses if a child aged 14 or over objects or if it is not in the child’s interests (PKS § 137).

Parents living apart decide important matters together, and the parent the child lives with decides everyday matters (PKS § 145). If you cannot agree on an important matter or on contact, the court can decide. In cross-border cases, the courts where the child habitually lives generally decide.

Child maintenance and spousal maintenance

A parent who does not live with the child mainly pays maintenance (elatis) in money, monthly in advance. It is due for a minor child and for an adult child in education up to the age of 21 (PKS §§ 97, 100).

For a minor child, PKS § 101 sets a monthly minimum by formula. It is a base amount indexed every 1 April with consumer prices, plus three per cent of the previous year’s average gross monthly wage, minus what the child allowance (and half of any large-family allowance) covers. The minimum is reduced if the child spends seven to fifteen days a month with the paying parent and, in some cases, for further children. The amount changes every year. A court can award more, and less only for a good reason (PKS § 102).

An agreement cannot exclude future maintenance, and past maintenance can be claimed for at most one year before the court claim (PKS §§ 108–109). For current maintenance up to a statutory limit there is also a fast-track payment order procedure (TsMS § 491).

Maintenance for a former spouse is the exception. It is due to a spouse who cannot support themselves while caring for a common child under three. It can also be due because of age or health, if the need already existed at the divorce (PKS §§ 72–73). As a rule it is due only from the filing of the claim and ends on remarriage.

Documents and language

• Foreign public documents, such as a marriage certificate, generally need an apostille or legalisation unless the law provides otherwise. None is needed if the data are already in the Estonian population register (PKTS § 6).
• For a vital statistics office, documents not in Estonian, Russian or English need a sworn translation into one of these languages (PKTS § 6).
• Notarial deeds are in Estonian or another language the notary knows well, and must be translated for a participant who does not understand them (Notarisation Act (TõS) §§ 5, 17).
• Court proceedings are in Estonian, and the court can require translations (TsMS §§ 32–33). English translations of many Estonian laws are in Riigi Teataja.

Typical mistakes international couples make

1. Planning an office divorce when one of you is registered abroad and Estonian law has not been chosen.
2. Arriving without a marriage certificate that is apostilled and, where needed, translated.
3. Assuming the divorce divides the property, or selling the family home without consent.
4. Waiting to claim child maintenance: as a rule, nothing older than one year before the claim can be recovered.
5. Making the choice-of-law agreement too late or without a notary.
6. Forgetting inheritance: a spouse loses the right to inherit by law once the deceased has filed for divorce in court or consented to it in writing (Law of Succession Act (PärS) § 16). See our guide to inheriting property in Estonia.

Related guide: Using a notary in Estonia.

Frequently asked questions

Can we divorce in Estonia if we married abroad?

Yes. The place of marriage does not matter; jurisdiction does. Unless your marriage is already in the Estonian population register, bring the foreign certificate with an apostille or legalisation where required, and a translation if needed.

How long does a divorce take in Estonia?

An agreed divorce at a vital statistics office takes one to three months from the application. A court divorce takes longer, especially if property or children are disputed.

Do both spouses have to be present?

You can file the joint application online with digital signatures. On the divorce date both spouses normally attend, unless one cannot come for a good reason and gives notarised or consular-certified consent.

How Erovik Law Office can help

Ero Liivik, lawyer (jurist) at Erovik Law Office in Tallinn, advises on divorce, property division, child maintenance and custody under Estonian law, in Estonian or English. We assess which route is open to you, review agreements before you sign them and prepare court documents such as a divorce or maintenance claim. Court representation is agreed separately.

An initial written legal analysis and action plan costs EUR 120–180. International matters may get a separate quote, and notary fees, state fees and translations are extra. We advise only on Estonian law. See our family and inheritance work and fees, or send us a short description of your situation; we usually reply within one working day.

This guide reflects Estonian law in force on 1 November 2026. It is general information, not legal advice for your situation.