Application for divorce can now be filed electronically in Estonia

TALLINN - As of December, divorce applications can be filed in Estonia electronically, which means that the spouses about to divorce no longer have to go to the civil status office in person to file an application.

Filling in the paper application takes about 20 minutes with an official, provided all the necessary information is immediately available. By contrast, the e-application comes pre-filled with the information known to the state, saving both time and effort. In addition, there is no need to visit an office and, to this end, to find a suitable time to be away from work.

Enel Pungas, head of the department for population facts at the Interior Ministry, says divorce is often a very emotional process that ushers in major changes in a person's life.

"There is no reason for the state to make this process even more difficult for people," the official said. "From now on, only one physical meeting with an official is required to register a divorce."

The possibility to submit an e-divorce application means it is no longer necessary for the spouses to be physically present in the same room at the time of expressing their will. The 30-day reflection period, intended to support the careful consideration of a divorce, continues to apply.

The technical solution was developed by the SMIT information technology and development center of the Interior Ministry with its partners. Maie Ristissaar, head of the population services department at SMIT, said the new e-service is one of the country-wide event services that facilitate and speed up the conduct of procedures at one of the most difficult stages in a person's life.

Triin Gailan, product manager at the business services department of the Estonian Information System Authority (RIA), which manages the state portal eesti.ee, added that event services have been significantly developed in recent years.

"Our goal is to make a central overview of activities related to life events available on the state portal eesti.ee as clearly and simply as possible. One such example is the divorce service. In addition, there are other life event-related services in the state portal, and work is underway to bring more event services to the portal," Gailan said.

The state fee for divorce is 50 euros until the end of the year and 90 euros from the new year. The system of filing the e-application is structured in such a way that the state fee is paid by the spouse who fills out the application last.