Family disputes differ from all others in one respect: people make legal decisions in the worst emotional state of their lives. Hence the typical mistakes — agreeing to a “settlement” without doing the maths, signing away property, putting off a maintenance claim for years “to avoid a row”, missing the limitation period for dividing property or the six-month deadline for accepting an inheritance.
A family lawyer does the maths: what you will actually receive, how long it will take and what it will cost, so that emotion does not cost you a flat or years with your child. In most cases that means preparing the evidence before filing, applying to freeze the disputed assets straight away, and keeping the divorce, the maintenance claim and the division of property as separate proceedings.
Svarog has handled family cases since 2014. We work in Kyiv and across Ukraine: most cases run through the Electronic Court, without you attending hearings in person.
Areas of work
- Divorce lawyer — through the civil registry in a month or through the courts; divorce without the other spouse’s consent; divorce when one party is abroad.
- Child maintenance lawyer — recovery as a share of income or as a fixed sum, court orders, recovery of arrears and interest, increasing or reducing the amount.
- Property division lawyer — flats, cars, businesses, loans; a notarised agreement or court proceedings; protection against assets being moved out of reach.
- Inheritance lawyer — accepting an inheritance, restoring a missed six-month deadline, challenging a will, dividing an estate.
- Establishing paternity and removal of parental rights — DNA testing, establishing the fact of paternity, removal of rights as a last resort.
- Guardianship and custody arrangements — arranging guardianship of a child, disputes with the guardianship authority.
We also handle: determining a child’s place of residence, setting contact arrangements with a child, contesting paternity, having a marriage declared invalid, prenuptial agreements.
What is decided before filing a claim
The order of steps
Divorce, division of property and maintenance are three separate proceedings, and the order matters. Property can be divided without dissolving the marriage (Art. 69 of the Family Code), and where one spouse has debts or runs a risky business, that is the better option.
Deadlines
The limitation period for dividing property after a divorce is three years, but time runs from the day you learned your right had been infringed, not from the date of the divorce (Art. 72(2) of the Family Code). Child maintenance is recovered with no limitation period until the child turns 18, or until 23 if the child is in education (Art. 199); for the past, the court awards no more than ten years’ worth (Art. 191(2)).
Evidence
The court assesses documents, not accounts of events: an extract from the State Register of Property Rights, a Unified State Register extract on a business share, an income statement from the Pension Fund, bank statements, and messenger correspondence properly certified. This evidence is gathered before filing, because the court may refuse to admit it later.
Interim relief
If there is a risk that the other spouse will transfer the car to a brother or withdraw the money from an account, the application to freeze assets is filed together with the claim, not after you win.
When you do not need a family lawyer
Some situations are resolved without us, and at the consultation we tell you the timescale and the state fee:
- divorce with no children and by mutual consent: a joint application to the civil registry, a month’s wait and a state fee of 8.50 UAH;
- maintenance where the payer agrees: a notarised maintenance agreement, which has the force of an enforcement document;
- division of property where both agree on equal shares: a notarised agreement in one to two weeks.
You do need a lawyer when:
- the other side disagrees or is dragging the process out;
- there are children and the place of residence or contact arrangements have to be settled;
- assets are being moved out of reach or income is being concealed;
- you are not sure what counts as joint property: a sole trader business, a share in an LLC, a mortgaged flat, loans;
- one of the parties is abroad or on military service;
- the deadline for accepting an inheritance or for dividing property has been missed.
A case from our practice
In 2024 a woman from Kyiv came to us: her husband had filed for divorce and, a week earlier, had transferred the car to his father and was preparing to sell an LLC share acquired during the marriage. We filed a claim for division together with an application for interim relief, and the court froze the flat, the share and the accounts. The gift of the car was declared invalid as made without the other spouse’s consent (Art. 65 of the Family Code), and the share was valued by an expert. The case lasted about 14 months; our client received half of the flat and compensation of roughly 900,000 UAH (details changed).
Cost of services (family lawyer)
Court fees in 2026 (the subsistence minimum is 3,328 UAH): dissolution of marriage in adversarial proceedings — 1,331.20 UAH; dissolution by joint application of spouses with children in separate proceedings — 665.60 UAH; division of property — 1 % of the value of the claim, from 1,331.20 to 16,640 UAH; filing through the Electronic Court multiplies the rate by 0.8. Claimants seeking child maintenance are exempt from the court fee (Art. 5 of the Law “On Court Fees”).
Questions and answers (family lawyer)
My child has turned 18 but is still studying. Can maintenance still be recovered?
Yes. Under Art. 199 of the Family Code, parents must support an adult child who continues in education and needs financial help until the age of 23, provided they are able to do so. The key evidence is a certificate from the educational institution.
The father paid no maintenance for seven years and there was no court order. Can it be recovered for that whole period?
Maintenance is awarded for the past if the claimant proves that they took steps to obtain it and the respondent avoided paying, and for no more than ten years before the claim was filed (Art. 191(2) of the Family Code). Without such evidence, maintenance is awarded from the date the claim is filed.
How long does a family case take and what does the timing depend on?
A divorce in court takes two to four months; a reconciliation period under Art. 240(7) of the Civil Procedure Code can add up to six months. A maintenance order is issued within five days, the debtor has a further 15 days to apply to set it aside, so the enforcement document appears in about a month. Division of property takes four to 18 months: a valuation expert report adds two to three months.
Do I have to attend court in person?
No. The lawyer files documents through the Electronic Court and attends hearings on your behalf; where necessary you join by video link. Attending in person is really only needed to give explanations in a dispute about a child’s place of residence.
The flat was bought during the marriage but registered in my husband’s name. Is it joint?
Yes. Property acquired during the marriage is joint matrimonial property regardless of whose name it is in and who paid (Art. 60 of the Family Code). Personal property covers what was gifted, inherited or bought with one spouse’s own funds (Art. 57).
Contact a family lawyer at Svarog
Tell us about your situation at a consultation and we will break it down into concrete steps: what to file, in what order, what it will cost and what to realistically expect. If the matter can be settled by a notary in two weeks, we will prepare the agreement rather than take you to court.