Marriage between two persons may be dissolved, according to the civil legislation in force in Romania, by the Court  - by a court decision, by the Civil Status Officer - by a Divorce Certificate or by the Notary Public, within the notarial divorce procedure - by a Divorce Certificate.

As a rule, the spouses apply to the competent Notary Public with the request to initiate and complete the notarial procedure of divorce.

The territorial competence of the Notary Public relates to:

• the place of concluding the marriage of the spouses (registered as such in the Marriage Certificate) - in our case for those married in the competent Municipality of Bucharest is the Notary Public with headquarters in the Capital the first notified or

• the last common residence of the spouses, proved as such by their identity documents or by an authentic joint declaration.  

  
In the case of married couples with minor children, the marriage cannot be dissolved before the Civil Status Officer but only before the Notary Public or, in case of misunderstanding, before the Court. 

Note: same-sex couples married in another Member State of the European Union or another State cannot request the dissolution of their marital union in Romania, according to the current provisions of the Civil Code, their marriage is not recognized and does not produce legal effects in Romania.

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As a general rule: The divorce application is filed by the spouses personally or through a trustee and the Notary Public will grant a term (reflection) of 30 days (within which the spouses can change their minds about the divorce), and upon its expiration, in if he finds that the spouses persist in their desire to divorce, he will issue the Divorce Certificate.

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If the spouses do not insist on the Divorce Application, they do not agree on the issues regarding the surname that will be carried after the divorce, the issues regarding their minor children and / or do not appear in person.  at the final deadline set for the issuance of the Divorce Certificate, then the Notary Public will reject the Divorce Application and will direct the parties to the Court.

The detailed issues regarding minor children - on which the spouses will be required to keep joint parental authority (so-called joint custody, the essence of notarial divorce) - will be set out in a certified Parental Agreement at the end of the divorce proceedings, with the opinion mandatory of the competent Guardianship Authority.