Divorzio Breve: How Italy's Shortened Divorce Waiting Period Actually Works

Divorzio breve, quick divorce in everyday English, is the name Italians gave to L. 55/2015, the reform that cut the mandatory wait between separation and divorce from three years to as little as six months. It changed the clock, not the grounds: a couple still has to separate first in almost every case, following the same divorce process described on our main divorce page.

This page works through exactly how the six and twelve month periods are counted, why the counting method depends on which procedural route a couple used to separate, and what the 2023 Cartabia reform added: the option to request separation and divorce in a single filing.

Information verified on 21 July 2026. This page provides general legal information and does not constitute legal advice for an individual situation.

From three years to six or twelve months

Before 26 May 2015, art. 3 of L. 898/1970 required a separation to have lasted, uninterrupted, for three years from the comparizione dei coniugi before either spouse could ask a court to dissolve the marriage. L. 55/2015 replaced that single three year figure with two shorter, route-dependent periods.

Art. 1 of L. 55/2015 rewrote the relevant passage of art. 3 to read: the separations must have lasted uninterrupted for at least twelve months from the comparizione dei coniugi before the tribunale's president in the separation proceeding, and for six months in the case of a consensual separation, including where a contested case is later converted into a consensual one. The twelve months applies to a separazione giudiziale that remains contested; the six months applies to a consensual separation, including a contested case that is later transformed into a consensual one, whichever of the three procedural routes covered on our legal separation page the couple used to reach it.

How the clock is actually counted, by route

The starting date is not the same for every couple, and this is where competitor summaries tend to blur the detail. Art. 3 of L. 898/1970, as amended, sets out three distinct starting points, matched to the three ways a separation can be reached.

For a separation reached through the tribunale, the clock starts at the comparizione dei coniugi, the spouses' first appearance before the tribunale's president in the separation case, whether the case then proceeds as contested or consensual. For a separation reached through negoziazione assistita, the clock starts at the date certified in the negoziazione assistita agreement itself. For a separation reached before the Ufficiale di Stato Civile at the Comune, the clock starts at the date of the act containing the separation agreement signed there. All three are consensual by nature, so all three carry the six month period, not the twelve month one, which applies to a separation that remains giudiziale (contested) all the way to the divorce request; a contested separation later transformed into a consensual one moves to the six month period instead.

Two timelines, worked through

A couple who reach a consensual separation, for example through negoziazione assistita, with the agreement certified on 10 January 2026, complete their six month wait on 10 July 2026 and can file for divorce from that date. A couple in a contested separazione giudiziale whose comparizione dei coniugi takes place on the same date, 10 January 2026, do not reach the end of their wait until 10 January 2027, a full twelve months later, because their separation remains formally giudiziale, even if the underlying dispute is actually resolved well before then. Had the contested proceeding instead been formally transformed into a consensual separation, the six month period would apply from the same comparizione.

A separation that begins contested and is later formally transformed into a consensual one does move to the six month track. Art. 3 says so explicitly, covering that exact scenario: once the transformation takes effect, the six month period applies, still measured from the original comparizione. A couple whose comparizione dei coniugi takes place on 10 January 2026 and whose contested proceeding is later transformed into a consensual separation complete their wait on 10 July 2026, not 10 January 2027.

Filing separation and divorce together: art. 473-bis.49 c.p.c.

The 2022 Cartabia reform of civil procedure (D.Lgs. 149/2022, applicable to proceedings filed from 28 February 2023) added art. 473-bis.49 to the codice di procedura civile. It lets a spouse include a divorce request in the same introductory filing as a contested separation, rather than opening an entirely new case once the separation is over.

The article is precise about when that request can actually move forward: it is procedibile, capable of proceeding, only once the statutory waiting period discussed above has run, and only previo passaggio in giudicato della sentenza che pronuncia la separazione personale, meaning once the separation judgment has become final and is no longer open to appeal. A judgment being pronounced is an earlier, weaker milestone than a judgment becoming final; art. 473-bis.49 conditions the divorce request on the later, stronger one. Where the separation and divorce end up before different judges, art. 40 c.p.c. governs consolidation, with any minor children directing the case toward the judge identified under art. 473-bis.11; where they are already pending before the same judge, art. 274 c.p.c. applies instead. The eventual judgment carries a separate section for each request and fixes when any resulting payments start.

Whether the same combined filing was available for a joint, consensual separation and divorce was unsettled for a period after the reform, since the article written for joint proceedings did not say so in as many words as art. 473-bis.49 does for contested ones, and tribunali split on the question. The Corte di Cassazione (n. 28727/2023) resolved it, holding that spouses filing a joint, consensual separation and divorce application together may combine the two requests as well. Anyone relying on this in 2026 should still confirm their own tribunale's current administrative practice, since courts adjusted to the ruling at different speeds.

What divorzio breve did not change

The reform did not touch the grounds on which a divorce can be granted. Art. 3 of L. 898/1970 still lists a handful of fault-based grounds, certain serious criminal convictions, a foreign divorce obtained by a foreign spouse, non-consummation, among others, but the ground almost every Italian divorce actually relies on remains the same one it always was: that the couple's separation has run its required course. Divorzio breve shortened that course; it did not add a way to skip it.

It also did not shorten anything downstream of the divorce itself. Whether a spouse receives an assegno divorzile still depends on a full, separate assessment covered on our assegno divorzile page, and custody arrangements for any children still follow art. 337-ter c.c., explained in depth on our shared custody page, on their own timeline and their own standard.

A common misconception: the fast procedural routes do not skip the wait

Negoziazione assistita and the Comune declaration are often described as the quick way to separate or divorce in Italy, and procedurally they are: both can be completed in weeks rather than the months a contested tribunale case can take. Neither route, however, shortens the six month minimum itself. A couple who signs a negoziazione assistita separation agreement in January still cannot file for divorce before July of the same year; what the fast route buys is speed in reaching the separation and, later, the divorce filing, not a shorter clock in between. Our family law hub covers each of the three routes and how separation, divorce, maintenance and custody fit together.

Three situations

A couple who agree on everything and want the fastest lawful path from separation to divorce. Negoziazione assistita for the separation, with the agreement certified as early as possible, starts the shortest available clock: six months. Filing the divorce through negoziazione assistita again once that period has run, rather than starting a contested case, keeps every step of the process on the fastest track available.

A couple in a contested separation who already know a divorce will follow. Their lawyer can include the divorce request in the same petition under art. 473-bis.49 c.p.c. That request will not actually move forward until the separation judgment is final and the twelve month period has fully run, but the couple avoids opening a second case once that date arrives.

A couple whose separation began as a contested case two years ago and only recently settled by agreement. If that settlement takes the form of a formal transformation of the proceeding into a consensual separation, the six month clock applies from their original comparizione dei coniugi, not the longer twelve month period. Art. 3 of L. 898/1970 addresses this exact scenario and provides for the shorter period once the transformation takes effect.