Once the divorce judgement has been issued this is recorded in the Civil Registry of the place where the marriage was registered and it becomes effective between the former spouses.
The main effect of divorce is the dissolution of the marriage bond. Although in case of religious marriage while the termination of civil effects takes place, the sacred bond survives, according to the Canon Law.
The other main effects of divorce are:
- The final termination of reciprocal marital duties: loyalty; moral and material assistance; duty of collaboration and cohabitation.
- The wife loses the surname of the husband.
- A divorce allowance may be determined until the former spouse marries again.
- The child custody is assigned (sole or shared).
- The former spouses both lose their inheritance rights.
- The termination of the use of the property.
- The termination of the assets’ community.
Severance pay
Under Italian Law, an end-of-employment indemnity is provided for (TFR: Trattamento di fine rapporto), constituted by an amount of salary set aside each month to be paid to the employee, upon termination of the employment relationship.
Upon termination of employment or upon retirement, the former spouse is entitled to 40% of the employee severance pay if two conditions are met:
- The former spouse must already be the assignee of the divorce allowance;
- The former spouse must not be married again.
If the former spouse dies
If the former spouse dies, the divorced has no inheritance rights. However, under certain conditions, the former spouse may be entitled to the survivor's pension from the deceased former spouse.
In particular, the divorced spouse is entitled to a survivor's pension if he or she was receiving the divorce allowance on a regular basis and if the former spouse died without having a surviving spouse. Nevertheless, if there is a surviving spouse, the divorced spouse is still entitled to a share of the survivor's pension.