Family Law
Divorce, custody, and child support - what you can do and what to watch for.
Area overview
Family law governs relationships within marriage and the family - entering into and ending a marriage, the exercise of parental rights, child support (alimentacija), and protection from domestic violence. The core statute is the Family Act (Porodični zakon, Sl. glasnik RS, no. 18/2005, 72/2011 - other law, 6/2015 and 109/2025 - other law), and court proceedings follow the Civil Procedure Act (Zakon o parničnom postupku), together with the special rules the Family Act sets out for marital disputes and disputes over parental rights (Art. 201 et seq.). Proceedings concerning a child are urgent, and a support dispute is especially urgent: the first hearing is scheduled within eight days of the claim being received (Arts. 204 and 280).
The most common situations in this area are the ending of a marriage - by agreement or by claim - arranging and enforcing a child's contact with the parent they do not live with, and establishing or collecting child support. These issues often overlap: in divorce proceedings, the court must decide on the exercise of parental rights (Art. 226 of the Family Act) and, as a rule, also on the amount of child support, regardless of whether the parties expressly asked for it. Collecting awarded support is governed by the Law on Enforcement and Security (Zakon o izvršenju i obezbeđenju).
The pages that follow describe the general course of these proceedings, the required documentation, and indicative costs. The actual outcome depends on the facts of each individual case, so the content of this page does not replace the assessment of a lawyer familiar with the details of the matter.
Sources
- Family Act (Porodični zakon, Sl. glasnik RS, no. 18/2005, 72/2011 - other law, 6/2015 and 109/2025 - other law), Art. 164 and Art. 201 et seq.
- Civil Procedure Act (Zakon o parničnom postupku, Sl. glasnik RS, no. 72/2011 ... 18/2020 and 10/2023 - other law)
- Law on Enforcement and Security (Zakon o izvršenju i obezbeđenju, Sl. glasnik RS, no. 106/2015 ... 91/2025)
FAQ
Do I need a lawyer for any family law matter?
Not always. For an uncontested divorce or an undisputed issue between parents, the procedure can be handled without one. Hiring a lawyer becomes useful once there is a dispute over children, property, or child support, or when a claim, an enforcement motion, or an agreement that the court must review needs to be drafted.
Are divorce, child support, and contact with the child decided in the same proceeding?
In a divorce, as a rule yes - the court must decide in its judgment on the exercise of parental rights even when the parties do not expressly ask for it (Art. 226 of the Family Act), and where the parents have no agreement that is in the best interests of the child, it also decides on child support and on contact with the other parent (Art. 272(2)). The amount of support can later be changed if circumstances change (Art. 164), and decisions on contact and support can be enforced if they are not complied with.
What if the parents were never married?
The Family Act's (Porodični zakon) rules on the exercise of parental rights and on child support apply regardless of whether the parents were married. The difference is that these matters are then regulated by a separate agreement or claim, not through divorce proceedings.