Can we divorce by agreement, without a trial and without lawyers?
Yes — if both spouses agree, the divorce runs as a non-contentious court procedure, with no lawsuit and no mandatory lawyer. You file a joint proposal for consensual divorce, and the total court fees come to EUR 70: EUR 30 for the proposal (a single fee for both spouses) and EUR 40 for the decision (tariff NN 50/2026, since 1 June 2026). The condition that punctures the "overnight divorce" myth: if you have a joint minor child, you must first complete mandatory counselling at the Croatian Institute for Social Work and draw up a joint parenting plan. The counselling report is valid for 6 months. The first family-mediation meeting is no longer mandatory.
📋 The rules
- A divorce is sought either by one spouse's lawsuit or by a joint proposal for consensual divorce (Family Act, Art. 50, NN 103/15–156/23). The consensual route is decided in non-contentious proceedings, not litigation, and no statute requires an attorney — spouses may file the joint proposal themselves.
- Spouses with a joint minor child must first complete mandatory counselling at the Croatian Institute for Social Work (Art. 54(1) with Art. 321–328). The report is valid for 6 months — file within that window or repeat the counselling.
- The proposal must come with a joint parenting plan (Art. 106): who the child lives with, the contact schedule, and the amount of maintenance. The court checks and approves it, after which it becomes enforceable (Art. 54(2), 55, 456).
- Court fees since 1 June 2026 (Court Fees Tariff, NN 50/2026, Tar. no. 4): EUR 30 for the proposal — expressly only one fee when the spouses file jointly (Note 4) — and EUR 40 for the first-instance decision. A contested divorce by lawsuit is charged by value of the claim (Tar. no. 1) and costs more.
- The first family-mediation meeting is no longer a precondition: after the Constitutional Court decision (NN 49/23) and the Family Act amendment (NN 156/23), Art. 54(3) now says spouses may attend it — mediation is voluntary, and it is not conducted at all where family violence is alleged (Art. 332). In practice a consensual divorce is usually resolved at a single hearing, commonly in about 1–3 months (an indicative figure from practice guides, not official statistics).
🔓 Exceptions
- The husband's bar: a husband has no right to file for divorce during his wife's pregnancy and until their child turns 1 year old (Art. 50(3)) — but a joint proposal for consensual divorce (and the wife's own lawsuit) remains possible even then.
- No joint minor children: mandatory counselling and the parenting plan are not required — childless spouses go straight to court with the joint proposal.
- Stale paperwork and broken consensus: a counselling report older than 6 months stops the case and the counselling must be repeated. And if the spouses cannot agree on the plan, the consensual route collapses into a lawsuit, where the court decides on the child of its own motion (Art. 53).
⚠️ Penalties & fines
There are no fines here — the cost of getting it wrong is procedural and financial. A proposal filed without the mandatory counselling report or without the parenting plan is rejected; a report older than 6 months means starting the counselling over. Lose the consensus midway and the case turns into litigation, where fees are calculated on the value of the claim (Tar. no. 1, up to EUR 1,500 per act) and each side pays its own lawyer. The least obvious cost of all: skip the parenting plan and you hand the court ex officio control over where the child lives, how contact works and how much maintenance is paid.
📎 Official sources
- zakon.hr · front page of the statute register — look up the Family Act (consolidated text) →
- narodne-novine.nn.hr · front page of the official gazette — the Court Fees Tariff NN 50/2026 is published here →
- mrosp.gov.hr · front page of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy — divorce and mandatory counselling →
❓ Frequently asked
What does a consensual divorce actually cost in 2026?
Court fees come to EUR 70: EUR 30 for the joint proposal and EUR 40 for the decision, under the tariff NN 50/2026 in force since 1 June 2026. Older guides quoting EUR 13.27 and EUR 19.91 refer to the 2023 tariff and are out of date.
Do we need a lawyer?
You do not — no statute makes an attorney mandatory, and spouses may draft and file the joint proposal themselves. A lawyer earns their fee when the property is complex or the arrangements for the child are shaky.
Is the first family-mediation meeting still compulsory?
It is not: after the Constitutional Court decision (NN 49/23) and the Family Act amendment (NN 156/23), mediation became voluntary. Where family violence is alleged, mediation is not conducted at all.
The wife is pregnant and the husband wants a divorce. Is that possible?
The husband cannot file a divorce lawsuit during the pregnancy or until the child turns one (Art. 50(3)). A joint proposal for consensual divorce, and the wife's own lawsuit, remain available throughout that period.
How long does a consensual divorce take?
It is usually resolved at a single hearing, and practice guides put the whole thing at roughly one to three months. That is not an official statistic, so the real timing depends on the court's caseload and your paperwork.
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