Unilateral Divorce in Colombia: What the New Law Means If You Are Married to a Colombian

For a long time, getting divorced in Colombia without your spouse’s cooperation was hard work. You either had to prove a fault ground such as infidelity, abandonment or mistreatment, or wait out two full years of separation before a judge would hear you. Plenty of foreigners found themselves stuck in marriages that had ended in every practical sense but not on paper.

That changed at the end of 2024. Law 2442 of 2024 added a new ground to Article 154 of the Colombian Civil Code, allowing a divorce based simply on the will of either spouse. No reason needed, and no signature from the other side.

If you are a foreigner married to a Colombian, or you married in Colombia and have since left the country, this is probably the most important family law change in a generation. Here is how it works in practice.

What the law actually says

The new ground, number 10 in Article 154, is short. Either spouse can ask for a divorce based on their own will, and the claim can be filed at any time with no deadline. There is no need to show that the other person did anything wrong.

There is one condition that catches people out. The person filing has to include a divorce proposal with the claim. That proposal sets out how the effects of the divorce will be handled, including spousal support, the division of marital property, and custody, care and support of any children.

The other spouse cannot stop the divorce itself. Under the law, their only option is to oppose the terms of the proposal by putting forward a different one. If the two of you cannot agree, the family judge decides those terms.

Do you still need a judge?

In most cases, yes. Divorce at a notary in Colombia has always required both spouses to agree, and that has not changed. As this explainer from Gerencie points out, a notarial divorce cannot be unilateral by definition, so a one-sided divorce starts in front of a family judge.

The law does leave a door open, though. If a case starts in court under the new ground and the spouses later reach agreement, they can move the process to a notary. That matters, because notarial divorces are usually much faster and cheaper than court cases. A unilateral claim can sometimes be the push that gets a reluctant spouse to the negotiating table.

Why this is such a big change

Before the reform, a spouse who wanted out but could not prove fault often relied on ground 8, which is separation for more than two years. Colombian family lawyers interviewed by Asuntos Legales noted that the new ground solves exactly that problem, removing the forced two-year wait and the uncertainty that came with it.

For foreigners this was a real trap. Many had already moved home, had a spouse who would not respond, and faced years of limbo before they could even file. That limbo is now gone.

Property and spousal support

Once the divorce is final, the marital partnership, known as the sociedad conyugal, is dissolved and then has to be liquidated. In simple terms, assets acquired during the marriage get divided. A unilateral divorce does not mean the person filing walks away with everything, and it does not shield anyone from a fair split.

The law also adds a specific support rule. A spouse who is left without the means to support themselves after a unilateral divorce can receive support, as long as they do not remarry or enter a new de facto union. If you hold significant assets in Colombia, this is worth discussing before you file, not after.

Couples with a prenuptial agreement, called capitulaciones matrimoniales, can now use it to agree in advance on compensation in the event of a unilateral divorce. Anyone planning to marry in Colombia should keep that in mind.

What happens with the children

Children are where judges pay the closest attention. The divorce proposal has to deal with custody, personal care, visitation and child support, and the judge reviews it with the children’s rights in mind. A proposal that leaves children without proper support will not simply be rubber stamped.

If you live outside Colombia and your children live here, expect the visitation and support terms to be examined carefully. It helps to propose arrangements that are realistic across borders, such as video calls, holiday visits and a clear method for sending payments.

Issues that are specific to foreigners

• Registration of the marriage. A marriage celebrated abroad generally needs to be registered in the Colombian civil registry before it can be dissolved here. If yours never was, that step usually comes first.
• You do not have to be in Colombia. Divorce cases can be handled by a lawyer acting under a power of attorney, which can be signed at a Colombian consulate or abroad with an apostille.
• Recognition back home. A Colombian divorce decree will normally need to be apostilled before authorities in your home country will accept it. Check your own country’s requirements early.
• Notifying your spouse. The other spouse still has to be formally notified. If you do not know where they are, the process takes longer, so gather any addresses, emails or phone numbers you have.

A practical checklist before you file

• Get recent copies of your marriage certificate and your children’s birth certificates from the Colombian registry.
• Make a list of property, bank accounts, vehicles and debts acquired during the marriage.
• Think through custody, visitation and support terms you would actually be willing to live with, because they go into your proposal.
• Decide whether you will travel to Colombia or sign a power of attorney.
• Ask whether your spouse might agree once a claim is filed, since that could open the faster notary route.

The bottom line

Unilateral divorce has given foreigners in Colombia something they never really had before, which is the ability to end a marriage on their own timeline. It is not a shortcut around property division or child support, and the divorce proposal needs real care. But nobody can hold you in a marriage indefinitely anymore.

Much of the practical detail in this article comes from this guide for anyone looking for a divorce lawyer in Colombia, which also covers contested cases, remote divorce and divorcing a foreign marriage. The full text of the law is available on the Colombian government’s official legal database.