One click and you’re free: how digital divorce works in Diia
18 August 2025 20:06
ANALYSIS FROM 
Following online weddings, the Ministry of Digital Transformation announces the launch of online divorces. Starting this fall, users of the Diia app will be able to officially get a divorce through the mobile application. The Minister noted that this initiative is especially important during the war, as it avoids queues and unnecessary visits to state registration authorities.
Who exactly and how will be able to use this feature, found out
Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, emphasized that the new service not only simplifies the process but also includes gamification elements so that users can think over their decision again and refuse to take a hasty step, if appropriate. Unlike marriage registration, when filing for divorce in Diia, users will be asked to think twice about their decision. In addition, the Ministry cares about the comfort and safety of citizens.
We are working on the divorce service to make it as convenient as possible for people. Now, when many processes are moving online, it is important to ensure comfort and safety for citizens,” said Fedorov, presenting the innovation.
Is online divorce a blow to demographics?
However, this caused a mixed reaction in society. People’s Deputy Maksym Buzhansky is convinced that the divorce procedure in Diia is the most absurd thing that could be offered to Ukraine in general, and especially in the current situation.
The divorce procedure is specifically designed so that people cannot do it simply, under the influence of emotions, as a result of a quarrel. It is written out in such a way that you need to go somewhere, write something, explain something, go again. This complexity of the procedure saved a large number of families from disintegration, which at some point were on the verge of collapse, and saved the children both parents – mom and dad – who live with them,” the MP wrote on Telegram.
At a time when everyone’s nerves are on edge, and even the most resilient are breaking down, when a million people are in the army, far from their families, and millions more men have seen their families for the last time three years ago, simplifying the divorce procedure to a few electronic actions on the phone means, in his opinion, shooting the remnants of Ukrainian demography point blank from a cannon.
There are services, notarization of contracts and agreements, divorce – these are things that cannot be simplified. You need to appear in person and confirm your will, not do it through someone else. Otherwise, it is dangerous. Online divorce is the wildest thing I’ve ever heard. The family is turning into a phone case: you take it off, throw it away, and go look for another one,” emphasizes Buzhansky.
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“Diia” will replace a trip to the registry office
Lawyers are more reserved in their statements, as online divorce will be available only to certain categories of citizens, not to everyone.
Today, the law provides for divorce through the courts, unless both spouses agree to divorce and do not have minor children together. To do this, they just need to submit an application to the registry office. The procedure takes about a month. If a couple has children together, a dispute over property, or one of the parties does not agree to divorce, these issues are resolved in court,” says
[Kommersant] lawyer Valentin Serkov.
In fact, divorce is a legally complicated procedure, lawyers emphasize. It requires an individual approach and control by the state. Moreover, today it is possible to get a divorce remotely and without the help of Diia, with the participation of lawyers. They check all the data, collect certificates, write applications and represent interests in court.
I think the developers of the Diia divorce service came up with this option for those who got married through Diia. There are cases when people get married “to spite” their parents or exes, without thinking, under the influence of alcohol or emotions. It has happened more than once that after the wedding, the next day, a week or a month later, they run to the registry office to get a divorce. It will be the same story here: those who got married and then couldn’t live together, but have nothing to share – no children, no property – will divorce online,” Valentin Serkov believes.
“As a result, we will get a simplified divorce procedure, when both spouses submit an application online through the app, the decision is made by the registry office, and the notice of divorce is sent in the same 30 days as now. After the application is reviewed, the spouses receive an official divorce document.
Author – Alla Dunina
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