I took about seven years as a trial lawyer and during that time to practice as I have been working exclusively as family lawyer in Panama. During the same time I also have noticed that in Panama, Divorces aregaining territory to marriages; however, there is great ignorance by the Panamanian society with regard to legal proceedings and all family processes that are submit with Divorce when there are minors and common goods.
For Panamanian law marriage is “the voluntarily union established between a man and a woman with legal capacity, which binds to and shares a common life”; being so, marriage can then be dissolved by death, by annulment of the act or through divorce. Now, when a marriage is dissolved by the institution of divorce, it is necessary to concur in the process and show at least one of the 10 grounds for divorce established in the Family Code; this does not mean that issues that are closely related as they are to be resolved: Who stays with the children?; child support and liquidation of the economic regime of marriage.
Faced with the above, as family lawyers in Panama seek to make clear that in our country, that with the mere process of divorce everything related to marriage is not resolved; that is to say, that unlike what we usually see in “Hollywood” (Panama has a different legal system to the US) to solve issues such as child support; liquidation of the economic regime of marriage and the care and upbringing –regulation of visits children, so will require different processes, closely related are filed, but not necessarily binding in its decision.
Forget the Master hearing where the judge (with a large wooden hammer) will declaressomeone guiltyof the divorce, that will establish who will stay with the children, will set the alimony that will pay those who do not have them and then divide all assets incurred in the marriage. By contrast, the mere divorce proposal can be the trigger for other three or four processes that may remain based in different courts and their examinations depends on the specifics of each case and try later.
From the above, it interferes that if for some reason we are dealing with a case where we find irreconcilable differences between the spouses, so that the marriage is not justified; and therefore, the last and only option is divorce, the parties should be aware that the simple process of divorce will not solve what is concerning to the other issues mentioned above, and can be promoted processes including alimony; liquidation of the economic regime of marriage or care and upbringing-visits ruling before the divorce itself and likewise being able to promote only divorce without necessarily existing a decision of the above mentioned subjects.
Thus, it is quite possible that if you are in the middle of a divorce in Panama and has been unable to reach a comprehensive agreement on all these issues, you will not only be immersed in the three aforementioned processes, but also presents a legal situations related to criminal law, administrative law and civil law itself.
It is for this, that in all matters related to Divorce, we always recommend to reflect and think things through and if, after that, it is concluded that definitely you are “over love” and you cannot remain “united forever”, it is not necessarily to make the situation more difficult by promoting litigation and sterile disputes that ultimately affect not only those who are divorced but all family members, especially children born in marriage.
References:
• http://mujer.com.pa/la-custodia-paterna-y-sus-realidades/
• http://www.panamaamerica.com.pa/notas/1194712-divorcios-le-ganan-terreno-los-matrimonios
• http://www.laestrella.com.pa/online/impreso/2011/04/07/quien-se-queda-con-los-hijos-custodias.asp
By Jorge Barahona
Family Lawyer