FAMILY AND DOCUMENTS
Documents for a remote divorce in Georgia: the full checklist
If you both agree to divorce and plan to apply through a representative in Georgia, start with the checklist below. Here, remote means filing through an authorised representative. Sending document photos in a messenger does not complete registration. The supporting paperwork depends on the legal grounds and where your documents were issued.
Checked on 27 October 2026 against SDA guidance and Georgia’s Law on Civil Status Acts. This checklist covers registration through a representative. A contested court case needs a separate document review.
The core documents for a joint application
SDA lists these documents for a joint application and filing through a representative.
- A joint written application for divorce registration.
- Identity documents for both spouses.
- The marriage certificate.
- A duly certified power of attorney for the representative.
- The representative’s identity card or passport.
Official source: SDA · Registration of Divorce
Check whether registration in Georgia is available
Article 55 allows registration if a spouse is a Georgian citizen or holds a Georgian residence permit, or an authorised Georgian body registered the marriage. Tell your representative where you married and each spouse’s citizenship. If you rely on a residence permit, agree how to document it.
A power of attorney from one spouse does not establish the other spouse’s consent. If there is no agreement, clarify the divorce procedure before using the joint-application checklist.
Official source: Matsne · სამოქალაქო აქტების შესახებ · 55–56
The application and identity documents
Get the application form from your representative or the receiving SDA office before signing. Confirm who must sign and how signatures will be certified when the spouses are absent. A free-form letter consenting to divorce should not be treated as a replacement.
Prepare readable passport scans for the initial review. Ask which originals or certified copies must be submitted. Check names and birth dates against the marriage certificate. If a surname has changed, show the supporting record before ordering translations.
If the marriage certificate is missing
Give your representative the date and place of registration, the spouses’ names at the time and the record number if available. Ask how to obtain a replacement certificate and whether the representative needs authority to request it.
For a marriage registered abroad, confirm that the Georgian procedure applies before translating the foreign certificate.
Agree the power of attorney before visiting a notary
Have the Georgian representative review the wording before you sign abroad. Check authority to file the divorce application, sign the necessary paperwork and collect the certificate. Discuss requesting a replacement marriage certificate or arranging an apostille separately if needed.
If both spouses are abroad, agree how each will grant authority. One spouse’s power of attorney does not itself authorise action for the other.
Translation, authentication and delivery
Ask SDA or your representative to confirm the requirements for the country of issue: apostille, consular legalisation or an exemption under a treaty. An apostille for a foreign document is obtained through the competent authority in its country of issue.
Agree the Georgian translation and its certification before sending originals. Ask whether the notarial endorsement and apostille must also be translated. Keep scans and an inventory of the papers you send, including which originals should be returned.
Documents for an application by one spouse
The law provides separate grounds for one spouse to apply. The document establishing the relevant ground is added to the file.
- A divorce judgment if a court has already granted the divorce; check the treatment of a foreign judgment separately.
- A court decision declaring the other spouse missing, when applying on that ground.
- A court sentence imposing at least three years of imprisonment on the other spouse; Article 57 sets further conditions for this route.
Official source: Matsne · სამოქალაქო აქტების შესახებ · 55–56
Plan how you will use the divorce certificate abroad
Before filing, ask the receiving authority in the destination country what authentication and translation it accepts and whether divorce recognition is required.
SDA provides apostille and legalisation services for Georgian documents. These follow issuance of the certificate. Agree the representative’s authority and delivery arrangements in advance.
Official source: SDA · Apostille and Legalization