After the reform of 2014 relating to filiation and parental responsibility, the Italian Parliament has just spoken to change again the family law, but this time in order to expedite the process leading to the dissolution of a marriage.

On April 22^nd, in fact, the Chamber of Deputies, with 398 yes, 28 no and 6 abstentions, gave the final approval to the so-called "quick divorce".

Following the entry into force of the legislative news, which is currently waiting to be promulgated by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and subsequently to be published in the Official Journal, it will be possible to obtain a decision of divorce after a period of continuous separation of a year if the separation wasn’t reach by consensus, and of six months if the separation was reached by consensus. So, pursuant to this reform the over fifty thousand couples who each year decide to put a permanent end to the marriage bond, no longer have to wait for "three years as from the appearance of the couple before the President of the Court". Article 4 of the approved draft law expressly states that the applicability of such reduced terms is extended to cases of separation which are still pending on the date of entry into force of legislative news. It is clear that Parliament, whit this clarification, wanted to enlarge as much as possible the applicability of the new rules.

To fully understand the effectiveness of this reform, must certainly consider that as of the end of 2014 the Italian legislator had already started to introduce remedies to simplify, even from a strictly procedural point of view, the process of separation and divorce.

Decree Law no. 132 of 12 September 2014, converted into law on November 10^th, 2014 (law no. 162/2014), in fact, ruled that the processes of consensual separation and divorce can be conducted thorough the process of assisted negotiation.

This procedure, as noted, replaces the ordinary judicial procedure allowing spouses to apply directly to the lawyers to end the marriage bond. After the signing of the assisted negotiation, the parties’ lawyers shall transmit a copy to the Public Prosecutor having territorial jurisdiction to get its blessing and then to deposit all documents at the offices of the Civil State.

Moreover, the above-mentioned law no. 162/2014 introduced an additional way to reach the consensual separation or divorce agreement: the spouses who have no minor, incompetent or disabled children or who do not intend to carry out the transfer of assets, may apply directly to the Mayor (in as an Officer of the Civil Status) of the municipality of residence of one of the two or to the municipality where the marriage was recorded or transcribed, to sign the separation or divorce agreement. This application opportunity is also extended with reference to the events in which the minor, incompetent or disabled children, is the child of only one of the spouses.

It would be interesting to look at the transfer of asset’s agreements, defined by the Legislator of Reform as all those agreements that “carry-over effects related to property rights”, thereby excluding the cases in which the payment of the maintenance allowance is involved.

Consequently, the procedure will be available even in cases where the spouses without children wish to require an amount as divorce cheque.

This procedure, as well as being totally free, does not require the assistance of a lawyer: the parties, in fact, can individually contact the competent municipal offices to get an agreement that has the same effect of a judicial proceeding; then, after 30 days from the filing of the agreement, they will reappear before the municipal office in order to confirm their will and the agreed conditions.

All the foregoing shows that the Italian legislator is trying to simplify as much as possible all those legal procedures due to which the foreigners have always considered Italy as a backward and too bureaucratic country.