SEPARATION AND DIVORCE JUDGMENTS MUST BE REGISTERED IN THE SPANISH CIVIL REGISTRY IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO REGISTER THE ASSETS AWARDED TO EACH SPOUSE IN THE LAND REGISTRY.
In this article we analyse a resolution of the Spanish Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith, which rules on the negative qualification of the property registrar when registering the division of assets of a Spanish divorce decree of a foreign marriage because the divorce had not been previously registered in the Spanish Civil Registry.
In the proposed case, a Spanish court decreed on 20 October 2021 the divorce of two spouses of Ukrainian nationality with habitual residence in Spain. The spouses were married in their country of origin.
After the divorce decree and the division of the common property in Spain, the former spouses proceeded to file the decree at the Spanish Land Registry in order to register the new ownership of the common property after the division.
However, the land registrar, after examining the documentation provided, rejected the registration of the division in the Land Registry because the divorce decree had not been previously registered in the Spanish Civil Registry.
Although it is true that Article 266 of the Civil Register Regulations requires that for entries in the Land Registry that reflect facts that affect the matrimonial property regime, the details of the entry in the Civil Register must be stated, it is not possible to comply with this provision in the case of foreign marriages.
This is because, although it is possible for two Ukrainians habitually resident in Spain to file for divorce in our country, these marriages are not registered in the Spanish Civil Register and cannot access it because the registry legislation does not allow it when both spouses are foreigners and celebrated their marriage outside Spain.
Taking into account this fact, requiring in these cases the spouses to previously register the marriage in the Spanish Civil Registry in order to subsequently register the divorce and its effects in the Land Registry would be contrary to effective judicial protection, as it is not possible.
This is why, in this situation, when a Spanish court issues a divorce decree between foreign spouses whose marriage is not registered in the Spanish Civil Register, the court ruling on the divorce proceedings will have to send an official communication to the Central Civil Register so that it can register the marriage as a support for the divorce.
All of this so that there is no collision between Registers and to avoid each one of them recording a different reality.
