Family lawyers in Spain for divorce and custody
Your marriage has broken down and there is no agreement, or there was one and it is no longer being kept: the maintenance is not paid, the children are not handed over at weekends, or your ex wants to take them to another city. Our family lawyers handle contested divorce, variation of the court's orders and the winding up of the matrimonial property regime before the family division of the Tribunal de Instancia (the Spanish first instance court), and also enforcement when the judgment exists but is ignored. A lawyer registered with the Spanish bar stays with you from start to finish, with no handover of your case along the way.
What we handle
Your spouse refuses to sign the agreement
Divorce petition with orders and, before that, interim measures; three months after the wedding neither a ground nor the other spouse's consent is required (arts. 81.2 and 86 of the civil code; arts. 770 and 771 LEC).
The maintenance the judgment set is no longer viable
Variation of the orders for a substantial change of circumstances, with no deadline but with effect only from the date of filing, so every month of delay is a month you pay for (art. 775 LEC).
Child maintenance is not being paid
Enforcement with attachment and coercive fines and, in parallel, a criminal complaint for family abandonment from two consecutive or four non consecutive unpaid months (art. 776 LEC and art. 227 of the criminal code).
You suspect your ex has hidden assets
Drawing up the inventory with challenges to individual items and documentary bank evidence: what was taken out in fraud is still counted in the division (arts. 806 to 811 LEC; arts. 1390 and 1397 of the civil code).
Your ex wants to move the child to another city or country
Application over the disputed exercise of parental responsibility with urgent interim measures and, if the child has already been taken, international return proceedings decided within six weeks (arts. 156 and 158 of the civil code; the 1980 Hague Convention).
The children are not handed over at weekends
Enforcement of the contact arrangements with successive coercive fines and, where the breach is repeated, a change of custody (arts. 776.2 and 776.3 LEC and art. 158 of the civil code).
Your ex still lives in the home you both pay for
Award or termination of the right to use the family home, and a new partner moving in is a ground to apply for that termination (art. 96 of the civil code as amended by Ley 8/2021; Supreme Court judgment 641/2018).
How we work on it
The first consultation sorts the matter into three blocks, because everything that will be argued falls into one of them: the children, the money and the home. From there the urgent part is almost never the final judgment, it is the interim measures: who stays in the home, where the children sleep and what is paid each month while the case runs, because what is decided there weighs heavily on the final outcome. Then we build the evidence, which in family cases is always the same and always decisive: payslips and tax returns for both parties, bank statements, the deeds and the mortgage on the home, and an account of the children's daily life, with the court welfare team's report where the judge orders one. Since 3 April 2025 an attempt at agreement is required before filing a contested family claim, subject to the exceptions the law itself sets out, and we use that step properly: a well negotiated agreement is kept far better than an imposed judgment. We promise no outcomes, because a judge decides and the child's best interest outranks what the adults want; what we do guarantee is that the lawyer who listens to you on day one is the one who attends the hearing.
Your matter is quoted after the consultation, because every case is different. The consultation fee is credited in full against the engagement if you go ahead.
Frequently asked questions
My spouse does not want a divorce. Can I still get one?
Yes. Three months after the wedding, divorce requires neither a ground nor the other spouse's consent: one party asking is enough. What is then argued is not the divorce itself, which will be granted, but the orders: custody, maintenance, use of the home and the division of assets. That is why the petition is drafted with those orders in mind from day one.
Do we have to try to agree before going to court?
In contested family matters, yes, since 3 April 2025: you must show a prior attempt at an agreed solution, subject to the exceptions the law itself sets out. It is not an obstacle but a chance to settle cheaply what can be settled and leave the judge only what is genuinely in dispute. In a joint divorce it is not needed, because the agreement itself already reflects that negotiation.
I am not allowed to see the children. Can I stop paying maintenance?
No, and it is the most expensive mistake in this field. Maintenance and contact are independent obligations: stopping payment does not bring your children back and does expose you to enforcement and, from two consecutive or four non consecutive unpaid months, to criminal proceedings for family abandonment. The right route is the opposite one: we enforce the contact arrangements, with coercive fines and, if the breaches continue, an application to change custody.
What does a contested divorce cost?
It is quoted case by case after the consultation, 100 euros for half an hour or 200 euros for a full hour, credited in full against the engagement if you go ahead, because a divorce with no children and no assets does not cost the same as one with custody, a company and two mortgages. A realistic warning: in family proceedings an award of costs is not automatic, so you should not count on recovering the outlay that way.
Law firm guides on this area
The dispute explained: what action lies, what deadline is running and what has to be proved.
- Your spouse will not sign the divorce: divorce anyway
- Changing the custody or maintenance set by the judgment
- Child maintenance unpaid: enforcement and the criminal route
- Your ex is hiding assets in the gananciales liquidation
- Your ex wants to take the child to another city or country
- Your ex will not let you see the children: enforce the order
- Your ex keeps the house: the use of the family home