do business in the Dominican Republic - Pellerano & Herrera

DOING BUSINESS INTHE DOMINICAN REPUBLICalimony payments.The Judge of First Instance who, after verifying that all formalitieshave been complied with, issues a judgment admitting the divorce,which cannot be appealed, by any of the parties must ratify this agreement.Afterwards the divorce must be registered, pronounced, and published withincertain deadlines.b) Divorce for Specific ReasonThe divorce for specific reason may be requested in the event of incompatibility,absence, adultery, criminal conviction, bodily harm, abandonment, and alcoholismor drug addiction.The competent court is the Court of First Instance of the domicile of the defendantspouse.This court, after examining the evidence and hearing the witnessesfrom each party, orders the divorce on behalf of one of the spouses and decides,among other things, on the custody of children, if any, and on the alimony payments.Ingeneral,children younger than four years should remain with the mother,and older children should remain with the parent obtaining the divorce, butthe court can always take into account any special circumstances.Once the term to appeal, which is two months, has expired, certain registration,pronouncement and publication formalities must be fulfilled.c) Special or Quick DivorceSpecial divorce applies only to foreign or Dominican couples residing abroadthat decide to divorce by mutual consent.The spouses need to sign an agreementbefore a Public Notary or similar officer in their country of residence where,apart from declaring their intention to get divorced and providing for the distributionof property, the custody of children, and alimony payments, they giveexclusive jurisdiction over the divorce to the Judge of First Instance.A DominicanConsulate must legalize this agreement.At least one of the spouses must be present at the hearing, while the other maybe represented by a duly notarized and legalized power of attorney. The judgewill also require copies of the marriage certificate and the birth certificates ofchildren, if any. If all formalities have been met the judge ratifies the agreementand admits the divorce.The process at the court, plus the registration, pronouncement and publicationof the divorce, takes from one to four weeks. Furthermore, in order to be validabroad the following authorities must certify the divorce judgment:a. The Attorney General Office,b. The Ministry of Foreign Relations, andc. The embassy or consulate of the country where the divorce is to be valid.ADOPTIONForeign persons that have been married for five consecutive years may adoptminors in the Dominican Republic.This term is three years for Dominican nationals.TheMinors Protection Code, contained in Law 136-03, regulates adoption.130