We handle the full range of family and matrimonial matters, and we do it in English from the first phone call to the final judgment:
Our family law practice in Warsaw regularly acts for:
You do not need to speak Polish to instruct us, and you do not need to understand the Polish court system before we start. That is our job.
Polish law draws a distinction that surprises many foreign clients. Parental authority covers the right to make decisions about the child - schooling, medical treatment, travel abroad, management of the child’s property. Contact is a separate matter: it is the time you actually spend with your child, and it is both a right and a duty that exists independently of parental authority. A parent whose parental authority has been limited normally still has the right to regular contact.
In every case the court is guided by one overriding principle: the welfare of the child. Where parents live apart and cannot cooperate, the court may entrust the exercise of parental authority to one parent and limit the other’s authority to the most important decisions. In contested cases the decisive piece of evidence is usually the opinion of court-appointed psychologists and educators (OZSS), and preparing properly for that examination often determines the outcome of the whole case.
Distance does not remove your right to see your child. Where one parent lives in another country, Polish courts typically order fewer but longer periods of contact - school holidays, part of the summer, long weekends - combined with an obligation to allow regular video and telephone contact. If a parent obstructs a contact order, there is a two-stage enforcement procedure: the court first threatens a payment for each breach, and then orders that payment to be made to the other parent. In practice it is an effective remedy.
Grandparents, siblings and other close relatives who have cared for a child also have the right to apply for a formal contact schedule.
Polish courts assess maintenance on two pillars. The first is the justified needs of the person entitled - food, housing, education, medical care, and the child’s activities and interests. The second is the earning and financial capacity of the person obliged to pay, and here the court looks at potential rather than only at the current payslip: qualifications, professional experience and state of health all count. Day-to-day personal care of a child is itself treated as a way of fulfilling the maintenance obligation.
Maintenance is never fixed forever. If circumstances change, either parent can apply to increase, reduce or terminate it. Because proceedings can run for months, we routinely file a motion to secure maintenance together with the claim; such an order is immediately enforceable, so money starts flowing while the case is still running. Where a parent stops paying, the judgment goes to a court enforcement officer, and persistent evasion of maintenance is a criminal offence under Article 209 of the Polish Criminal Code.
Property can only be divided once the statutory community of property has ended - normally through a final divorce judgment or an earlier separation of property. As a rule the spouses’ shares are equal, regardless of who earned more. In exceptional cases the court may order an unequal division, for example where one spouse dissipated the couple’s assets or avoided work without justification while contributing nothing at home.
Personal property stays out of the division: inheritances, gifts and anything acquired before the marriage. Assets brought from your personal property into the couple’s joint assets, however, can and should be accounted for, and this is frequently where the real money is.
One point catches almost every client with a mortgage: the court divides assets, not bank debt. As far as the lender is concerned both of you remain liable, so the property is usually awarded to one spouse with a settlement payment to the other, arranged together with the bank. How the division works once a divorce becomes final is explained on our divorce lawyer in Warsaw.
Most family matters - parental authority, contact and maintenance - are heard by the family and juvenile division of the District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) for the child’s place of residence. Divorce and legal separation are the exception: they go to the Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy). If your case is a divorce, see our divorce lawyer in Warsaw page
No. Proceedings are conducted in Polish, but you are entitled to a sworn interpreter and foreign-language documents are submitted with a certified translation. We handle all correspondence with you in English and prepare you for the hearing, so that you know in advance what you will be asked.
No. Agreements on maintenance, contact and the division of property can be signed before a notary or approved by the court as a settlement, which is faster, cheaper and far less stressful. We check first whether a negotiated solution is realistic, and prepare for litigation only when it is not.
It is a request for the court to regulate maintenance or contact temporarily, for the duration of the proceedings. The order is enforceable immediately, so a child does not have to wait for the final judgment for support or for time with a parent.
In most family cases the court hears the parties, so your attendance is normally expected at least once. We represent you at all other stages, and where you live abroad we will ask you about the options available in your particular case at the consultation.
Taking a child abroad is one of the important decisions covered by parental authority, so it generally requires the other parent’s consent or, where consent is refused, a court decision. For expatriate families planning holidays or relocation this is the single most common source of disputes and it is worth regulating in advance.
Yes. An online consultation follows exactly the same structure as a meeting at our office. We review the documents you send in advance and go through your situation by video or telephone, and you receive the same legal guidance.
Put together a short chronology of the key events and bring what you have: marriage and birth certificates, proof of income, a list of monthly costs for the children, notarial deeds relating to property, and any correspondence that documents the dispute. Nothing you say will be judged - we are bound by professional secrecy.
