MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY IN THE USSR

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A001600750004-8
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• Document Page Count: 34
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 7, 2008
• Sequence Number: 4
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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GRIGORY SVERDLOV
MARRIAGE
AND THE FASVIILY
IN THE U.S.S.R.
FOREIGN LANGUAGES PUBLISHING HOUSE
Moscow 1956
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9
Translated from the Russian
Page
SOVIET FAMILY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
THE EVOLUTION OF SOVIET MARRIAGE AND
FAMILY LAWS . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
THE CONDITIONS AND MANNER OF CONTRACTING
MARRIAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MEMBERS OF
FAMILY . _ . . . . . . . . 22
DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE . . . . . . . . 35
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The family as an institution has distinguishing features
depending on time, social structure, nation and class.
The family in pre-class (primitive) society differed
materially from that in class society with its exploitation
of man by man. The family in slave, feudal and capitalist
societies, too, presents essential differences. And in
capitalist society, 'bourgeois and working-class families
differ from one another in principle, since each of the
antagonistic classes in a society based on exploitation has
its own moral and ethical standards.
The Soviet family, the latest type of family in history
of humanity, is based on entirely new principles compared
with all other types.
Like any other type of family, the Soviet family, too,
is the fundamental unit of society based on marriage and
blood relationship, a social institution in which the vital
process of procreation takes place. It is not the family as
such that is transient, but its various forms and types.
If the family ceased to exist, the human race would cease
to exist too.
The function of the family as the procreative unit is
common to it under all social structures. But the manner
in which the family performs this function depends
primarily on the social system and economic conditions.
As Lenin wrote in his work "The Economic Content of
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Narodism," "The conditions of procreation are directly
influenced by the structure of the various social
organisms."
In a society based on exploitation, all the natural and
necessary human relationships, including family rela-
tionships, are wholly subordinated to the laws of private
ownership. In a society with antagonistic classes love
and the interests of preserving private property contradict
each other to a large extent. One can even establish an
interdependence between the two: the greater the promi-
nence gained by the interests of private ownership, the
more is suppressed love as the natural foundation of
family. Marx says that the world of private ownership
lacks precisely the foundation of family life, love as the
real, motivating and determining factor. This is soulless
fiamily life, an illusion of family life. Developed to the
full, the principle of private ownership contradicts the
principle of family. Here we see the barbarity of private
ownership versus family life.
The family in socialist society is of an entirely differ-
ent nature.
The abolition of private ownership of the means and
instruments of production has freed the fiamily from the
evil influence of the cash nexus.
Socialist society has brought about conditions for a
really free marriage. Consolidation of the socialist system,
the growing well-being of the people and the emancipa-
tion of woman mean that the overwhelming majority of
marriages in the U.S.S.R. have nothing to do with the
considerations of gain. Mutual love of man and woman
and affection for children is the guiding force of marriage
in the Soviet Union. Here, as Marx put it, family life for
the first time becomes the life of the family, the living
love.
Procreation as the function of the family reaches its
most complete realization under socialism thanks to
the freeing of family relationships from property
considerations, to the improved standard of living, and
other factors. This is evident in the steady growth of
population in the U.S.S.R.: the annual net increase in
population exceeds 3,000,000. Mothers of large families
are awarded medals, Orders and the title of "Mother
Heroine." By 1955 over 4,500,000 mothers had been
honoured for bringing up five and more children.
The healthy and close-knit Soviet family with many
children guarantees the steady increase of the population.
There is another aspect to the life of the family-
the mutual aid on the part of its members. The house-
hold economy and the care for members unable to work-
children, old people and invalids-is the concern of the
family as a whole.
This aspect of family life in the U.S.S.R. is very
important, although extension of social services, growth
of social insurance funds and development of the collec-
tive-farm economy will introduce certain changes: the
necessity of conducting petty household economy (in
which mostly women are occupied today), of providing for
invalid members of the family will become less pressing.
As Lenin said: "The real emancipation of women,
real communism, will begin only where and when a mass
struggle begins (led by the proletariat wielding the power
of state) against this petty domestic economy, or rather
when its wholesale transformation into large-scale
socialist economy begins."*
Growing mechanization of domestic economy in the
U.S.S.R., expansion of the public-catering network,
increase in the production and sales of semi-prepared
food-stuffs, of preserves, of all kinds of household objects,
the increase in the number of dress-making establish-
V. I. Lenin, "A Great Beginning," Selected Works, Vol. II,
Part 2, Moscow 1952, pp. 23.3.34.
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ments and in the sales of ready-made clothes-all this will
lead to a reorganization of the family household economy.
The Soviet family plays an extremely important part in
the communist upbringing of the younger generation. As
is the case with all social relations in socialist society,
the family is based on the principle of comradely co-
operation and socialist mutual aid.
The economic foundation of Soviet society is the social-
ist system of economy and the socialist ownership of the
instruments and means of production.*
There is,' consequently, no contradiction between the
interests of members within a family, between families,
or between the family and society as a whole. This fosters
consciousness of the unity of interests of family and so-
ciety, frees the family from exclusiveness, egoism and
* Socialist property in the U.S.S.R. exists either in the form of
state property (belonging to the whole people) or in the form of
co-operative and collective-farm property (property of collective
farms, property of co-operative societies). The land, its mineral
wealth, waters, forests, mills, factories, mines, rail, water and air
transport, banks, communications, large state-organized agricultural
enterprises (state farms, machine-and-tractor stations and the like),
as well as municipal enterprises and the bulk of the dwelling-
houses in the cities and industrial localities, are state property,
that is, belong to the whole people. The common enterprises of
collective farms and co-operative organizations, with their live-
stock and implements, the products of the collective farms and co-
operative organizations, as well as their common buildings, consti-
tute the common, socialist property of the collective farms and
co-operative organizations. The personal property right of citizens
in their incomes and savings from work, in their dwelling-houses
.and subsidiary husbandries, in articles of domestic economy and
use and articles of personal use and convenience, as well as the
right of citizens to inherit personal property, is protected by law.
Every household in a collective farm, in addition to its basic
income from the common collective-farm enterprise, has for its
personal use a small plot of household land and, as-its personal
property, a subsidiary husbandry on the plot, a dwelling-house, live-
stock, poultry and minor agriculturalimplements. Ed._
narrow-mindedness, and enables it to fulfil its mission of
communist upbringing.
Communist ideology does not oppose the family and
its interests to the interests of society, it does not regard
the behaviour of a person in the family as separate from
his behaviour in society and at work. On the contrary,
the Communist Party and the Soviet State hold the prin-
ciples and standards of behaviour in personal and social
life to be the same. Mikhail Kalinin has given an excellent
formulation of the tasks of the Soviet family as the
primary cell of communist upbringing. He said: "The
family must not limit one's outlook but broaden it, it must
live not isolated from socialist society but be closely
linked with it."*
It is the family that brings up the young patriots who
work selflessly in all fields of socialist construction. It is
the family that brings up young men and women as fight-
ers for peace, for friendship among nations.
There is another vital aspect to the Soviet family.
It is a fact that the interests of private property de-
termined the inequality of the sexes, which has typified
exploiter societies throughout history. But the socialist
system of economy and socialist property determine the
unity of the interests of man and woman in each and
every sphere of life. This brings about equality of man
and woman-a very important feature that distinguishes
the Soviet family from all other types of family. Women
in the U.S.S.R. are guaranteed equal rights with men in
all spheres of economic, government, cultural, political
and other public activity.
The Soviet family can be defined as the fundamental
unit of socialist society based on marriage and kinship,
characterized by the mutual love of its members, equality
of man and woman, identity of interests of the individual
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and society, and performing the functions of procreation,
communist upbringing and mutual aid.
The family, consequently, is a form of communion, en-
suring favourable conditions for the satisfaction of both
individual inclinations and desires and society's vital
needs. By supporting and encouraging the family in every
way, the socialist State solves a two-fold problem: it
ensures conditions for the fullest satisfaction of the in-
terests of the individual and for the development of society
as a whole.
The Soviet State's solicitude for the family is not limit-
ed to the many-sided material aid through the vast
network of mother-and-child welfare institutions, grants
to mothers, and other measures for which thousands of
millions of rubles are allocated. Its solicitude for the
family also takes the form of establishing laws relating
to marriage and the family, combating the hang-overs of
private-property morality and psychology that are some-
times encountered in family relationships. New, socialist
human relationships do not spring up ready-made. There
is no impenetrable wall fencing off the working people
from the habits and ideas left over from the capitalist
past, although they have been freed from capitalist op-
pression.
The overwhelming majority of Soviet families are the
embodiment of truly human relationships based on the
lofty principles of socialist morality. At the same time
it is exactly in the sphere of family relationships, family
life, that the survivals of the past in the minds of people
are fairly strong.
One of the survivals of capitalism is the idea that
woman is destined by nature to' submit to man, that
she is unworthy of equal standing with him, the idea
inculcated for centuries by the exploiters' state, law,
religion and art. Another old-world idea is that the fam-
ily is a stronghold isolated from society.
These survivals still manifest themselves in promis-
cuous sex relations, in violations of monogamous mar-
riage and in looking on woman as a slave. In some cases
these survivals are evident in marriages of interest, in
parents trying to evade responsibility for children and
vice versa, in bringing up children in the petty-bour-
geois spirit of gain, egoism and laziness, and in treating
lightly one's family and family obligations.
Ancient customs affecting human dignity such as
abduction of the bride, buying brides, and polygamy still
sometimes occur in the Eastern regions (for instance,
in Uzbekistan). Not all families are free from religious
prejudice. Now that the conditions for a stable family
based on socialist principles have been established, and
the demands on the individual as regards his moral con-
duct are becoming more strict, these and similar facts
can no longer be tolerated.
In My Recollections of Lenin, Klara Zetkin cites some
of Lenin's highly valuable observations concerning mo-
rality, behaviour and relations between man and woman.
"Communism," Lenin said, "ought to bring with it not
asceticism but joy of life and good cheer called 'forth,
among other things, by a life replete with love."* Lenin
denounced dissipation, promiscuous relations between
man and woman, all kinds of "orgiastic behaviour," as he
termed it. "Laxity in sexual matters is bourgeois; it is a
sign of degeneration. The proletariat is an ascending
class. It requires no intoxicant to stun or excite it. It has
no need of intoxication either by sexual looseness or by
means of alcohol. It derives its strongest stimulants to
struggle from the position of its class, from the com-
munist ideal. What it needs is clarity, clarity and once
more-clarity. Therefore, I repeat: there must be no
weakness, no waste or destruction of energy. Self-pos-
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session, self-discipline are not slavery; they are necessary
also in love."* Love between man and woman being a
source of new life, Lenin pointed out that it gives rise to
social interests and a sense of duty towards the com-
munity.
The Soviet State is guided by Lenin's ideas when it
effects measures to strengthen in each citizen the sense of
duty to his family and to consolidate the family. It is
building new, socialist family relationships. The laws
regulating marriage and the family pursue the same Haim.
THE EVOLUTION OF SOVIET MARRIAGE
AND FAMILY LAWS
Marriage and family laws have been the concern of the
Soviet State since its inception. In December 1917 Lenin
signed two decrees on marriage and divorce. The code of
laws governing the acts of civil status, marriage, the
family and guardianship relationships appeared in 1918.
Thus the Soviet State at an early stage of its existence
enacted the marriage and family laws of the world's first
socialist state, together with important decrees determin-
ing the nature of the new social relationships and abol-
ishing social estates, landed property, national inequality
and the judicial system of an exploiter society.
The legislation that immediately followed the October
Revolution abolished everything which deprived indi-
viduals of their freedom upon concluding marriage. Mar-
riage was exempted from the influence of the church and
the jurisdiction of canon law, i.e., the acts of civil status
were secularized. The various restrictions of the rights of
the individual at contracting marriage such as difference
of religion, nationality, the consent of parents, guardians
and superiors were abolished; woman-wife and mother-
was freed from her state of slavery and granted personal
independence and property rights. Tsarist laws established
an exceptionally wide-ranging paternal authority. The
laws were based on humiliation of children born out of
wedlock and of unmarried mothers; the consistory system
of granting divorces (through ecclesiastical courts) ac-
tually meant indissoluble marriage and involved a pro-
.cedure shameful to the parties, and to woman in the first
place; the system of guardianship was based on a class
principle. This was drastically changed by the very first
decrees of the Soviet power.
Lenin said of these decrees: "The Soviet power is the
first and the only one in the world to have abolished all
the old bourgeois iand base laws placing woman in an
unequal position with man and granting man privileges,
as for example in the sphere of marriage laws or in his
authority over the children. The Soviet power, the power
of the working people, is the first and the only one in
the world to have abolished all the privileges in the
sphere of property relations which mean preserves in all,
even the most democratic, bourgeois republics."*
Under the New Economic Policy, in 1925-26, it was
felt that some of the laws enacted immediately after the
Revolution were in need of revision. The livening up of
exploiter classes which had not yet been abolished and the
economic difficulties of the N.E.P. period made further
protection of the rights of woman imperative. In 1926 a
nation-wide discussion of the draft of a new code on mar-
riage, the family and guardianship, was followed by pub-
lication of the new code in the R.S.F.S.R., and later in the
other Union Republics.
The subsequent ten years brought the country decisive
success in the building of socialism. By 1936 the capitalist
elements had been completely suppressed in the U.S.S.R.
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and the socialist system had gained the upper hand in all
branches of national economy. The exploitation of man
by man had been abolished for ever; crises, poverty,
unemployment and ruin became things of the past.
All this brought to the foreground the problem of fur-
ther strengthening the family as the fundamental social
unit which under socialism fulfils highly important social
functions. The idea of the impermissibility of petty-bour-
geois loose morals and of neglect of family duties had
penetrated deeply in the minds of people. On June
27, 1936, the Central Executive Committee and the
Council of People's Commissars of the U.S.S.R. intro-
duced further measures for mother-and-child care and
amendments into the laws regulating marriage and
family relationships, aimed at heightening the respon-
sibility to one's children and iat putting an end to divorce
without serious grounds. The new law made it necessary
for the parties seeking a divorce to appear at the Regis-
trar's Office, to have a special entry of divorce made in
their passports; besides, the law raised the fee for divorce,
the sum increasing with the number of divorces granted
to one and the same individual. This was the first law
fixing the alimony to be paid for the maintenance of
children; it also provided for strict penalties against those
refusing to pay alimony as adjudicated by the court, and
for charging to the delinquents the costs incurred in
locating them.
The treacherous invasion of the Soviet Union by the
fascists interrupted the work of peaceful construction
and brought untold sorrow to millions of families. But
even during the war, while guns were thundering on the
battlefields, the Soviet people turned their attention to
problems of peaceful construction, one of which was
further consolidation of the family.
The interests of mothers and children, and of the fami-
ly as a whole, necessitated considerable changes in the
family laws as well as a vast increase in material aid to
families and in allocations for mother-and-child care.
Accordingly, the Decree of July 8, 1944, enacted by the
Presidium of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet introduced
changes into the procedure of concluding and dissolving
marriage and made provisions for the support of single
mothers and their children.
As noted previously, beginning with 1936 Soviet legis-
lation pursued the course of regulating the marriage and
family relationships for the whole of the Soviet Union,
whereas in the past matters affecting marriage and the
family had been dealt with by the laws of the individual
republics.
The tendency to establish a unified legislation valid
for the entire Soviet Union and doing away with multi-
formity in regulating family relationships, a very im-
portant aspect of life of the community, is perfectly under-
standable. It was pointed out at the Third Session of the
U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet in 1947 that the unified social,
economic and political foundation in all the republics of
the Soviet Union ensured and demanded unified legis-
lation based on this foundation.
Citing the legislative practice of the Soviet Union in
the matter of fundamental laws concerning marriage and
the family, used as the prototype for all Union Republics,
the Editorial Commission handling Addenda and Amend-
ments to the U.S.S.R. Constitution proposed that the basic
legislation concerning marriage and the family should
come under the jurisdiction of the Union of Soviet Social-
ist Republics. The U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet accepted the
proposal and at present Article 14 of the Constitution
contains a paragraph to this effect.
The inclusion of the regulation of marriage and the
family in the Constitution is further proof of the impor-
tance which the Soviet State attaches to this sphere of
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social relationships. All-Union legislation on marriage and
the family must be the legal expression of the great Lenin
ideas which have inspired Soviet family laws ever
since their inception.
The evolution of marriage and family laws shows that
this problem has always been a concern of the Gom-
munist Party and the Soviet Government. The idea of
consolidating the family is a guiding principle of Soviet
legislation to be found in the regulation of all aspects of
family laws.
The Laws now in force in the Soviet Union are the
Decrees of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. dated
July 8, 1944, and March 14, 1945, and also some other
all-Union acts and codes of laws concerning marriage,
the family and guardianship, issued by individual re-
publics and amended to conform with all-Union law. Some
very important elucidations can be found in the rulings of
the Plenum of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Court.
In the following chapters we shall see how the concrete
problems of marriage and the family are solved on the
basis of these laws.
THE CONDITIONS AND MANNER OF CONTRACTING
MARRIAGE
Only a marriage that has been duly registered is
acknowledged in the U.S.S.R. and only such marriage im-
poses the rights and obligations of husband and wife.
This is very important, because by means of registra-
tion the State makes sure that the parties enter into mar-
riage of their free will and that there are no legal obsta-
cles to marriage. By registering the marriage the State
takes it under its protection. A registered marriage
entitles husband and wife to mutual aid, to a part of the
property acquired by them in the married state, to inher-
itance, etc.
The ceremony of marriage registration is performed
with the solemnity becoming the event, important both
for the parties and society as a whole. The State thereby
not only legalizes the fact of marriage but lends to it its
prestige, manifests its approval of the act and undertakes
to protect it. A marriage that has not been registered,
so-called marriage de facto is, on the contrary, not
acknowledged by the State and involves no rights or
obligations for the parties concerned.
The State supports the system of registered marriages
because this enables it to regulate marriage relationships
in the interests of society and the individual, to prevent
marriages that are undesirable or harmful, as, for in-
stance, too early marriages, marriages harmful to the
health of the offspring, etc.
Another reason why the State recognizes only regis-
tered marriage is that it helps to realize the monogamous
principle. The law helps man and woman to establish their
relations on the basis of a strong and well-regulated
union.
The question of marriage de facto and registered
marriage is of major importance. Thus, the 1918 code
did not recognize marriages de facto, but a few years
later such marriages were granted protection by law:
if the marriage de facto could be proved in court, it in-
volved the same rights and duties as a duly registered
marriage.
This was done because at that stage in the development
of socialist society it would have been premature to
refuse protection to marriages de facto, since this would
have seriously affected the interests of women and
children. The exploiting classes had not yet been fully
suppressed and the young Soviet State was experiencing
grave difficulties at the time. The standard of liv-
ing was low, there was unemployment and, as often
as not,. women had no choice but to enter into unregis-
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tered marital relations with men who were economically
better off. There were numerous cases when exploitation
of women assumed the form of marriage de facto: a kulak
or a trader of the N.E.P. period, or some other non-
labouring elements would often pass their servants for
their wives.
In these conditions the State's refusal to render legal
assistance to marriages de facto, or the refusal to recog-
nize the rights of wives and children to support and in-
heritance, would have placed them at further dis-
advantage.
Later years brought radical changes in the status of
woman. During the early five-year plans the remnants
of the capitalist classes were eliminated and the exploita-
tion of man by man and unemployment abolished. Mil-
lions of Soviet women are employed in the national
economy, education, etc., and are active social workers.
This has greatly contributed to the emancipation of
woman, the raising of her cultural level and establishing
her complete equality with man., At the same e time state
aid to'mothers has increased several times over, and the
network of nurseries, kindergartens, playgrounds, schools
and other welfare institutions has been expanded.
The advent of the new stage of socialist development
suggested a new approach to the problem of marriage de
facto. By the Decree dated July 8, 1944, the Government
introduced throughout the U.S.S.R. the principle whereby
marital rights and duties accrue only from registered
marriage.
Soviet law attaches no juridical import to marriage
contracted according to religious, rites. The church has
been deprived of all jurisdiction over marriage, which is
held to be a purely secular institution. The transfer of
marriage and family acts from the church to State is
the result of the separation of church from state effected
in'the U.S.S.R.
There was no civil marriage in pre-revolutionary
Russia; marriage was contracted in accordance with re-
ligious rites and entered in church registers. When, how-
ever, the first Soviet decrees on civil marriage were
issued, the question arose as to the validity of church
marriage contracted before the Revolution. The law set-
tled this question by recognizing all church marriages
contracted before the enactment of the Soviet laws.
Recognizing a church marriage as juridically valid,
means, among other things, that its existence can be
established legally. By way of illustration we shall cite
the case of Citizeness Provkova who applied to the court
to be recognized as an heiress to her late husband. The
file contained documents stating that in 1917 she had
been married in church to Provkov and that the marriage
had not been dissolved. In October 1946 the court ruled
that the plaintiff was the widow of the deceased and,
consequently, entitled to his property.
Soviet laws require the parties about to contract mar-
riage to comply with certain conditions, and at the same
time guarantee complete personal freedom in marriage.
The conditions requisite for marriage reflect, as do all
Soviet laws relating to marriage and the family, the idea
of socialist humanism and solicitude for human beings
and, particularly, children. Their purpose is to ensure
every man and woman freedom of family life in harmony
with the interests of society as a whole.
Here are the conditions necessary. for contracting
marriage in all Soviet Republics.
Marriage is a voluntary act and the laws of all Union
Republics provide for the free consent of the parties.
Soviet law "emphatically refutes any pressure on the
parties, including the ancient custom (practised in some
parts of the U.S.S.R.) of parents pledging their word for
their children; persons guilty of such practices commit
a criminal offence.
2* 19
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The economic, social and legal conditions created by
the Socialist State are such that the principle of free
consent in marriage can be fully exercised.
A person guilty of violating this principle by coercion,
threats or deceit is liable to prosecution.
There used to be cases in the Eastern regions of the
U.S.S.R. when women were forced into marriage or made
to continue living in the married state against their will;
this was often done in obedience to ancient customs, sur-
vivals of the tribal system, as for instance, when a wid-
owed woman was made to marry a relative of her
-husband's. All such practices are considered criminal and
punishable by law.
The Soviet State has freed the individual from the
class, national, religious and other restrictions in the
sphere of relationships between man and woman which
were in force before the Revolution (e.g., Greek-Catholics,
Roman-Catholics and United Greeks were prohibited to
marry non-Christians, etc.).
Soviet laws demand that persons about to contract a
marriage should have reached a certain age. For most
Union Republics the statutory age, both for men and
women, is 18, the age of civil majority; in exceptional
cases the executive committees of local Soviets may lower
this age-in accordance with special applications-to
17 for women. In the Byelorussian S.S.R. the age at
which a person can marry can be lowered to 16 for both
male and female. In some Union Republics, for instance,
in the Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldavia and Azer-
baijan, women can marry at the age of 16.
In pre-revolutionary Russia marriages were allowed
at a very early age: in the Transcaucasus males could get
married at 15 and females at 13; males of the nomad
peoples of Eastern Siberia could marry at 16, females
at 14. Force of habit led to cases of very early marriages
in some of the Eastern republics even after the October
Revolution. The Soviet State took a strong attitude in this
question. It launched extensive educational work and
issued decrees providing for criminal prosecution of
persons guilty of forcing minors into marriage.
Another prerequisite of Soviet marriage law is the
principle of monogamy. If one of the parties is already
married the law forbids the registration of marriage. This
is a very important principle of Soviet legislature and of
socialist morality, and it is strictly in keeping with the
existing state of things. The Soviet family is monogamous
in the fullest sense of the term, justifying the words of
Engels who said thalt, far from disappearing in socialist
society, the monogamous family would, on the contrary,
find its fullest realization.
We must own, however, that there still are cases when
this important principle of socialist life is violated. This
can be seen from the following example. A man concealed
from his future wife and from the registrar the fact that
he was already married. When his second wife learned
about this, she applied to the court to have her marriage
dissolved. "I do not want a bigamist for a husband," she
said. The court, naturally, 'dissolved the marriage and
brought a criminal -case against the offender.
Soviet laws prohibit marriages between blood rela-
tions in a direct ascending or descending line and also
between brothers and sisters. The codes of the Byelorus-
sian and Georgian republics prohibit marriages between
guardians and wards, between adoptive parents and
adopted children until the guardianship or adoption is
discontinued. There are no other 'obstacles to marriage in
the Soviet Union.
Violation of the legal provisions for contracting mar-
riage involves its annulment.
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THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MEMBERS
OF FAMILY
Having entered into marriage, people have families.
The children grow up, marry in their turn and have their
own families. This brings about legal relationships
between man and wife, parents and children, brothers and
sisters, between grandparents and grandchildren, etc.
What are the laws regulating these relationships?
In settling all issues between man and wife Soviet
law holds that marriage is a free and voluntary union
between them. Soviet law in no way detracts from the
personalities of marriage partners, but, on the contrary,
ensures their personal rights and upholds the dignity of
each and also the absolute equality of man and wife.
This principle holds good for all legal relationships
affecting man and wife. Take, for instance, the matter
of the family name. The usual practice is for the wife
to take the husband's family name, but Soviet law does
not insist on this as was the case before the Revolution.
According to Soviet law husband and wife can have a
common family name which may be the husband's or the
wife's, or each may preserve his and her own family name.
Nor does Soviet law set any limits regarding the
married couple's domicile: if one changes domicile the
other is not obliged to follow. Free choice of domicile
does away with the coercive principle of old family laws
which stated that "wife must follow her husband to his
place,of abode." Since marriage in the U.S.S.R. is a per-
fectly free and voluntary union, no such condition is en-
forced.
Husband and wife enjoy full equality in all other legal
respects. Soviet _law sets no limits to the social status
of the married woman, she is not subservient to her hus,
band's will. Soviet family laws hold that both husband
and wife are free to choose their professions and occupa-
tions. The manner of conducting their household is the
concern of the married couple. Property owned by
husband and wife before marriage ranks as personal
property, but property acquired in the married state is
common property. When a dispute arises regarding its
division the share of each is decided by the court, the
work of the wife in keeping house and bringing up the
children being considered equal to the work of the husband
in providing the means of sustenance. In dividing the
common property between husband and wife the Soviet
court takes into account which of the parents will have
the custody of the children. To provide the necessary
conditions for the upbringing of children the court has
full powers to decide what share shall go to the parent
who has charge of the children.
When a husband or a wife dies, the surviving spouse
has, together with the children and aged parents of the
deceased, precedence over all other heirs. Soviet law
admits of no curtailment of women's right to inheritance.
Members of families are in duty bound to aid one an-
other. This duty has nothing in common with charity and
cannot be abused by idle members of the family. Soviet
laws entitle to maintenance by gable-bodied members of the
family only those whose age or state of health prevents
them from working, i.e., children, aged people and in-
valids. A proviso says that a husband or a wife can de-
mand support from his or her marriage partner only in
case of lack of means and inability to work.
The laws regulating relationships between man and
wife reflect the great changes introduced into these rela-
tionships by the socialist system. In Lenin's words, the
proletarian revolution creates conditions for an effective
renovation of marriage and relations between the sexes.
An interesting incident occurred ia few years ago at
the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee of the
U.N. Organization during the debate on the draft
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Declaration of the Rights of Man. The initial draft
all but ignored the important problem of equality of mean
and woman in the family. Objections were raised when
the Soviet delegation suggested that a clause should be
included reading "Man and woman shall enjoy equal
rights both during marriage and upon its dissolution."
However the suggestion was accepted by a rOajority vote.
The Soviet State sets great store by the friendship,
mutual iaH and mutual understanding between parents
and children, and fosters a sense of duty in both parents
and children. The State allocates considerable sums to
help parents to bring up their children, to enable mothers
of large families to participate in social production and
to broaden their horizons. In this way the State consoli-
dates the family.
Socialist society which extends year by year the sphere
of social upbringing does not use it as a counterweight
to the family, it biases its activity in this respect on
combining the two. A feature of the Soviet approach to
children and the family is that, while extending state
educational facilities (pre-school institutions, schools,
etc.), it attachesno small importance to family upbringing
and to the role of parents in it. This point is stressed in
a number of directives of the Party and the Government,
as, for instance, in the important Decision of the Central
Executive Committee and the Council of People's Com-
missars of the U.S.S.R. of June 27, 1936, in which
upbringing of children was proclaimed a civil duty of
parents. According to the Decree of the Presidium of the
U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet of July 8, 1944, maternity
medals and Orders are granted to women not just for
giving birth to several children but for bringing them up.
On presenting orders to a group of Mother Heroines
in 1945, Mikhail Kalinin said: "Under the tsarist regime
a large family was a great burden to working folk, for
the state was not interested in the number of children a
man had and showed no solicitude for them. The Soviet
State, whose prime concern is the well-being of the
working people, naturally is very solicitous of those who
bring children into the world and work hard. to bring them
up as Soviet citizens."
Soviet law protects the rights of parents in every way.
But while standing guard over parental rights, Soviet
laws dealing with the family demand, in conformity with
the constitutional principle of State protection of the
interests of children (Article 122 of the Constitution of
the U.S.S.R.), that these rights should be exetcised in the
interests of children.
Soviet society guarantees parental rights-the right to
bring up children and to protect their interests. Like all
other rights and freedoms enjoyed by citizens of the
U.S.S.R., parental rights are not merely proclaimed, they
are fully guaranteed, and the State does everything to
enable parents to enjoy their rights.
A very important duty of parents is to bring up their
children in the spirit of love and devotion to their country,
to inculcate an honest attitude to civic duties and respect
for the rules of -socialist behaviour.
Care for their children's health and physical develop-
ment is another important duty of parents. It is at the
same time their natural desire in the fulfilment of which-
they are aided by the State through the network of insti-
tutions protecting the health and seeing to 'physical
development of the younger generation.
Parents are obliged to see to the education of their
children and to prepare them for socially useful activities.
The State takes upon itself the bulk of the responsibility
for and expenditure on education. But the parents must
send their children to school, supervise their progress
and help the school in giving the children a communist
upbringing. Parents refusing to send their children to
school are liable to punishment.
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Parents have the duty of looking after their children,
and failure to do so involves certain, penalties. Thus,
parents are held materially responsible for any damages
done by minors under 14 years. of age; responsibility for
damages done by juveniles of 14 years and upwards is
shared by delinquent and parents. The militia are empow-
ered to fine parents for the disorderly behaviour of their
children in public places. The militia and the offices of
the Ministry of Education report to Party and trade-union
organizations at the parents' place of work any failure to
look after their children.
When the failure of parents to perform their duties
as regards their children leads to grave consequences or
when parents abuse their rights, harsher measures are
taken.
Parents are the natural guardians and custodians of
the rights and interests of minors, and no legal proce-
dure is required to constitute them as guardians. But if
parents abuse their rights, they can be deprived of them
by decision of the court. True, instances of this nature
are extremely rare in the Soviet courts. If, however,
a parent fails to perform his duty or abuses his rights,
the court takes his children from him and places them
under the care. of ward and guardianship authorities,
making the parent pay for the maintenance of the
children, - since deprivation of parental rights does not
abo:ish the duty of maintenance.
Maintenance of their children until they are of age
is one of the fundamental duties of parents. Soviet law
holds this duty to be very important. In the case of
parents failing,, to per-form this duty voluntarily the court
makes them pay one quarter of their earnings to support
one child, one-third for two children and half for three
and more children.
According to Soviet law wilful non-payment of alimony
for the maintenance of children and failure to support
them until they are of age is a grave offence punishable
by imprisonment.
Disputes are apt to arise during the hearing of alimony
cases. In settling them the court is always guided by the
interests of children. The following examples will serve
as illustration.
A mother of two children applied to court to -fix a
sum for the maintenance of the children, the said sum to
be deducted from her husband's wages. "He has not made
any contribution to the house for a long time," she wrote,
"he spends all he earns away from home." The defendant
objected to having to pay alimony on the plea that he was
living with his wife. But seeing that he would not give
anything for the maintenance of his children unless forced
to do so, the court ruled that a definite sum should be
deducted from his wages for his children.
In another case a father would not give anything for
the support of his six-year-old child. When the mother
sued him the father refused to pay on the plea of three
years' "prescription" of which he had heard somebody
say something. His arguments were as follows: "The child
was born more than three years ago, therefore, my former
wife has lost the right to alimony." The court, naturally,
disregarded his plea, explaining that the alimony rela-
tionship is a durable one, continuing until the child's
coming of age, and that alimony must be paid throughout
that period.
Parents must support not only children who are under
age but also their children who, although of age, are for
some reason or other unable to work and in need of aid.
The monthly amount of alimony in such cases is deter-
mined by the court, depending on the income of the
parents.
Grown-up children must in turn support their parents,
and if parents who are in need of aid are denied- it
by their children they can apply to the court, which
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determines the sum to be paid, also depending on the
material standard of the parties.
Sometimes the press reports cases when grown-up
children neglect their parents who need material aid. The
indignation with which the public react to facts of this
sort showshow alien such conduct is to Soviet morality.
And indeed courts are seldom called upon to deal with
cases of this nature. Whenever they come up, the courts
oblige the children to maintain their parents.
When parents have several grown-up children the
amount to be paid by each is fixed in accordance with his
means. There are instances, however, when for some
reason or other, parents do not demand aid from all their
children but only from one or two. In one case the father
of three sons refused to take anything from two of them
and wanted his youngest son alone to support him. The
court considered this unjust as regards the youngest son
and ruled that he should pay only a part of the sum
claimed.
Inheritance rights of parents and children are also
mutual, children inheriting their parents' property and
vice versa. The law places old people and children under
speciial protection as regards inheritance rights: no
testator can deprive his invalid parents and children
under age of their share of inheritance.
The Decree of July 8, 1944, repealed the earlier right
of a child's mother to go to court to establish paternity
and obtain an order for alimony from the person named
as the father but who is not her registered husband. The
practice now is for the child to take the mother's name
and a patronymic chosen by the mother.
Along with the annulment of this right the State
granted the right to receive a State allowance for the
child or to place the child in an infants' home or kinder-
garten at State expense. The home cannot refuse to receive
a single mother's child and she reserves the right to
take the child back whenever she so desires.
If a single mother marries the father of her child and
if he admits parentage the child enjoys all the rights
and privileges of children born in wedlock.
A single mother is a member in full standing of Soviet
society, an active participant in socialist construction,
like any other woman. The State grants her an allowance
for the child and the laws provide for penalties against
anyone insulting the dignity of motherhood.
The thesis of parents being their children's natural
guardians applies equally both to father and mother,
neither enjoying any privileges or suffering from any
restrictions in this respect.
Take, for instance, the question of the child's surname.
Since Soviet law is based on the principle of the absolute
social equality of man and woman, children may bear
either the father's or the mother's surname. In the event
of the parents being divorced, the children retain the
name given at the registration of birth. But sometimes
the parents' separation involves changing the children's
surname. Here is an instance: a married couple, the Ser-
geyevs, gave their child the family surname. Upon divorce
the mother, who retained custody of the child, resumed
her maiden surname of Voronova. It might have been
awkward for the child to have a surname different from
the mother. In such cases if the mother's wish does not
interfere with the interests of the child, she can have the
child's surname changed to hers, with permission of the
ward and trusteeship authorities.
When parents separate the difficult problem arises as
to which of them shall keep the children. Under Soviet
haws this matter is settled by the parents themselves,
but if they disagree it is decided by the court. Disputes by
divorced parents over their children are among the most
complicated of all the issues of family law.
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The judge must decide a dispute between two equally
rightful claims of the parents, between two feelings
equally protected by law. One cannot fail to perceive in
the dry words of the record the dramatism of a dispute
of this kind: "The plaintiff admits that the children
diving with their father 'are well cared for, but wants to
take one of them, because she cannot live without her
children." The judge has before him two human beings, a
father and a mother, whose conduct towards their child is
beyond reproach. The only thing they can be reproached
for is that, by their dissent, they find themselves in court
and their child the object of a dispute.
However, affection for the children and solicitude for
their well-being are not always the only motives of such
disputes. Sometimes survivals of the past manifest them-
selves in the motives actuating the behaviour of parents:
one tries to keep the child in order to evade the unpleas-
ant duty of paying alimony, another would keep the child
at all costs without stopping to think of the child's
interest, and so on.
Here are some examples illustrative of the courts' atti-
tude in settling disputes of this nature.
Citizen E. applied to a procurator to have his child
given to him, alleging that his former wife had refused
to keep the child. The procurator sent the case to the
people's court which ruled that E. should have the child,
since the mother had sent it to live with her father. The
case was appealed to the Judicial College for Civil Cases
of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Court. It was established that
the child had been living with the mother and that the
grandfather had taken charge of it for the period of its
mother':s illness. There was nothing to back up the plain-
tiff's allegation that the mother had refused to bring up
the child. Moreover, it became clear that the plaintiff
had deserted his family six months after the birth of the
child and the mother had to bring it up herself, under
difficult wartime conditions. Since E. had not contributed
to the,child's upkeep the mother had applied to the court
for a maintenance order, and instead of paying the ali-
mony, he in turn had applied to the procurator for custody
of the child. In deciding to give the child to the father the
people's court was guided by the desire to provide it with
better conditions-the ,father being better off than the
mother. But the, Supreme Court repealed, the decision as
erroneous and pointed out that in deciding the question
the court should have taken cognizance of all the circum-
stances, i.e., which of the parents was better qualified to
bring up the child, which of them the child loved best, etc.
In the above instance the court decided in favour of
the mother, but here is another case when the child's
interests called fora different decision.
The G.'s divorced, the wife taking her newly-born baby
with her. When if was 11 months old she brought, it to
her former husband and left it there. Two years later she
applied to the court to have her child back. The court
decided in her favour on the grounds that "in such
disputes the decision should be in favour of the mother."
The Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R., however, found
this argument incorrect and pointed out that "such
disputes should be decided for the good of the child and
not on the erroneous assumption that one of the parents
has a better right to bring up' the child." It stated
further: "In taking care of the 'child the father showed
a stronger parental affection for it than the mother. Citi-
zeness G. brought the sick child to its father in winter,
at a time it needed a mother's care most of all. For two
subsequent years she showed no interest in the child,
while the father surrounded it with every care,, the child
recovered and is now in perfect health."
As can be seen from the above, the decisive factor in
disputes about children is the children's interests, and
the decision is prompted by the circumstances in each
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particular case. The court takes into account the combi-
nation of many factors, such as the material standard of
the parents, their characters, moral fibre, the conditions
each parent can provide for the child, and the inclinations
of the child itself.
In granting parents' pleas for removing their chil-
dren from strangers or relatives the court follows the
principle that parents, provided their attitude to the
children is not harmful, have priority in bringing up their
children.
To treat in full of the legal relationships within the
family, mention should be made of the relations between
other members of the family. Until children are of age
they are under the guardianship of their parents who
are obliged to support and educate them. But if for some
reason (the death of the parents or lack of means) the
parents are unable to support the children, the duty
devolves on the grown-up brothers or sisters. The amount
of alimony to be paid depends on means of the defendant.
Brothers and sisters are considered lawful heirs. If a
deceased person had no husband or wife, no children,
parents or dependents, his property goes to his brothers
and sisters.
The law establishes reciprocal maintenance rights and
duties between grandparents and grandchildren. Grand-
children under age or unable to work who have no means
of their own but have grandparents of means are entitled
to material aid from the latter. The question as to whether
a maternal or a paternal grandparent must render this
aid is decided in accordance with concrete circumstances
(the whereabouts of the grandparent, his material stand-
ard, etc.). The court establishes the amount to be paid by
the grandparent, not a percentage of earnings, but fixes
is sum, depending on his means.
Grandchildren inherit grandparents' property in case
one of the testator's children dies before him, when the
deceased's share falls to his children (the testator's
grandchildren).
Grandparents with no means of their own and unable
to work, in their turn, are entitled to maintenance by
grandchildren possessing means. But grandchildren are
made to provide for the grandparent only when the latter
has no husband or wife capable of supporting him and no
children. In this case, too, the court fixes the sum to be
paid to the grandparent, and not a percentage of the
grandchild's earnings.
A stepchild's status in the family depends on whether
the child has been adopted by the stepparent. In case
of adoption, which is fairly frequent in Soviet society,
stepchildren have equal rights with own children. But
where a child has not been adopted its interests are,
nevertheless, carefully protected by Soviet law. The laws
of the R.S.F.S.R. and of most of the other Union Republics
stipulate that under certain conditions a stepparent must
support his stepchild (or children). If a stepchild has
been the stepparent's dependent for not less than ten
years, he, in turn, is obliged to support the stepparent
in case of illness or want.
Many Soviet families adopt and bring up children that
are nottheir own.
Under Soviet law only infants and young people under
age can be adopted. Any person who is 18 years old can
adopt a child. Persons deprived of parental rights and
those with interests opposed to the interests of the child
cannot become adoptive parents. A person who has chil-
dren of his (or her) own can adopt other children, and
Soviet life knows many instances of people with children
adopting orphans.
Adopted children enjoy the same rights as children
by blood (the right to maintenance, to inheritance, pen-
sions, etc.). Adoptive parents, in their turn, are in every
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respect equal to own parents and are entitled to support
from the adopted child, to inheritance, etc.
Families in the U.S.S.R. often bring up children who
are either wards or over whom they exercise "patronage."
Guardianship is exercised over every child who does
not live with its parents or in a children's institution.
Guardians are appointed at the death of a child's parents,
but in certain cases guardians are appointed when the
parents may be alive, when they have been deprived of
parental rights or when they are unable to attend to the
child's upbringing for a long period of time. Guardians
are appointed to fulfil the duties of parents. A guardian
is the child's representative, in whose name and inter-
ests he fulfils his duties and exercises his rights: he
must maintain his ward, look after his health, care for
his physical upbringing, and see that he gets an
education. A guardian controls his ward's property.
Under "patronage," a contract is drawn up between
the person who undertakes the upbringing of a child
(usually, an orphan), and the organization responsible
for the child's welfare-a Public Education or a Public
Health institution. The person exercising "patronage"
over a child must supply it with food and clothing, send
it to school, supervise its progress, teach it discipline and
train. it for work-just as his- own children. "Patrons"
of infants must submit them to medical examinations at
definite intervals. The State grants "patrons" a monthly
allowance.
Taking children into the family and bringing them up
as one's own children-a noble act aimed at providing
family life for parentless children-became widespread
during the war years. Altogether, hundreds of thousands
of children were welcomed into Soviet families in those
years.
We should like to mention the example of Shaakhmed
Shamakhmudov, an Uzbek blacksmith in the city of
Tashkent, who adopted 14 children. Among his adopted
children are Uzbeks, Russians, a Ukrainian boy, a Jew-
ish boy, a Moldavian girl, a Tatar boy and a Kazakh
girl. For this patriotic act Shamiakhmudov and his wife,
Bakhri Akramova, won public acclaim.
Soon after the October Revolution, on December 18,
1917, the Soviet Government issued a decree proclaiming
freedom of divorce. During the first years of socialist
construction the Soviet State was not faced with the
problem of taking measures against thoughtless approach
to divorce, because the new, Soviet family was yet in the
making. When, however, conditions were created for
a stable family, it became necessary to regulate divorce
procedure.
The questions of marriage and the family are not pure-
ly personal, and socialist society and the State cannot
display indifference to them. The social significance
present in every marriage makes the State interfere in
these relationships and take measures to prevent wanton
attitude to divorce.
Prior to the publication of the Decree of July 8, 1944,
it was enough for a person desirous of obtaining a divorce
to give an unsubstantiated application to the Registrar's
Office and to pay a small fee at the registration of the
divorce. In order to heighten the responsibility of the
parties the Government introduced certain changes in this
procedure already in 1936. But those changes were not
sufficient and were not in keeping with 'the demands every
Soviet citizen must meet in contemplating such a serious
step.
Accordingly, by its Decree of July 8, 1944, the Pre-
si,dium of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet introduced further
changes into divorce procedure. The Decree did not make
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marriage indissoluble but allowed divorce on serious
grounds and acted as a check on wanton divorce.
The law demands that divorce be effected publicly by
the judgment of a court of law upon the filing of an
application by one or both of the parties. The applica-
tion must state the grounds for divorce. When the appli-
cation is made the applicant pays 100 rubles stamp duty.
Before the court tries the case the other party is sum-
moned to the court to be informed of the contents of the
application, to express his attitude in the matter and to
name witnesses. Announcement of the divorce case is
made in the local newspaper at the expense of the party
bringing the action.
During the hearing the people's court establishes the
reasons that caused the application for divorce and takes
measures to reconcile the parties.
If reconciliation is not brought about by the people's
court the plaintiff can appeal to a higher court. Divorce
is granted by the Territorial, Regional, District and City
courts and by the Supreme Court of an Autonomous
Republic. These courts grant divorce in cases where they
deem it necessary; if they see no legal causes for divorce
they refuse the suit. When divorce is granted the court
makes a decree relative to the custody of the children,
decides which of the parents is to support the children
and how the property between the parties should be
divided. Each of the parties may assume the name he
(or she) bore prior to marriage. The court also rules the
sum one or both of the parties are to pay at the registra-
tion of the divorce. The Registrar's Office registers the
divorce upon the court's decision coming into force. From
the moment the entry of divorce is made in the register
the marriage is dissolved.
In some cases (when one of the parties is insane, or
cannot be located, or has been condemned to a long term
of imprisonment) procedure is simplified, requiring no
preliminary application to a lower court, no high stamp
duty at the registration, etc.
This procedure of obtaining divorce was established
for the purpose mentioned in the Decision of the Central
Executive Committee and the Council of People's Com-
missars of 1936, namely, for combating thoughtlessness
in treating one's family and family duties.
What are the legal grounds for divorce under the pres-
ent law? In what cases does the court grant a divorce
and when does it refuse the suit?
- Soviet law does not follow the formal principle of giv-
ing an exhaustive list of legal causes for divorce and of
refusing all suits which do not contain these causes.
Such a principle would militate against the best decision
in each particular case. Life is highly complex and varied,
and judicial practice shows that causes which are valid
in one case may be invalid in others.
The law provides for one criterion in the dissolution
of marriage-the criterion of necessity. The Decision of
the Plenum of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Court of Septem-
ber 16, 1949,-entitled Judicial Practice in Dissolution of
Marriage formulates this criterion as follows: "A court
may dissolve a marriage only when, upon studying the
concrete circumstances of the case, it arrives at the con-
clusion that the action has been brought on well thought-
out and thoroughly substantiated grounds and that con-
tinuation of the married state would be contrary to the
principles of communist morality and interfere with the
creation of normal conditions for living together and
bringing up children."
Here are some concrete cases where the court did not
deem it necessary to dissolve the marriage. The S.'s had
their marriage registered in 1948 after living together
for a year. In March 1954 the husband applied for divorce
on the grounds that his wife was suffering from a chronic
nervous ailment and was unfit for marital relations. The
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court made a wrong decision and the case was appealed
to the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R. The Judicial College
for Civil Cases refused the divorce, because "the plaintiff
has been unable to furnish proof of his wife being ill of
an incurable nervous disease." It added that the plaintiff's
appeal for divorce "was not substantiated by any serious
argument and was prompted solely by his desire to free
himself from rendering his wife moral and material aid
and helping her to recover. Far from constituting grounds
for divorce, the plaintiff's wish to get rid of an invalid
wife should be condemned, since such an attitude to one's
marriage partner who is in difficult circumstances its
contrary to the principles of socialist morality."
In another instance a wife brought a suit for divorce
after ten years of married life. The couple had two chil-
dren and the wife had a 12-year-old son by her first
husband. She was 37 years old and worked as a shop
assistant. The husband was a war invalid. In her appli-
cation the wife complained of her husband's treatment of
the children and particularly of her eldest son. Witnesses,
however, refuted the charge. The defendant objected to
divorce, he asserted he was fond of the children and
wanted to bring them up himself. Plaintiff's allegation
that the husband was a bad father was disproved by the
testimony of witnesses and the court refused to grant a
divorce. In making its decision the court pointed out
that "the couple have children whom they must bring up,
and this task is best performed by the joint effort of both
parents."
Citizen O. brought an action for divorce against his
wife and when the regional court refused the suit he
appealed to the Supreme Court of the R.S.F.S.R. The
latter changed the previous decision on the following
grounds: "The family has been broken up, since the
husband and wife are living separately, each has taken
his share of property and the wife receives alimony from
the husband." The Chairman of the U.S.S.R. Supreme
Court disagreed with this decision and submitted the
case to the Judicial College for Civil Cases. Here is the
decision of the College: "The couple have two children.
A few years after the marriage O. was transferred to
Sakhalin, his new place of work. He took his family with
him. Then he deserted his family taking with him the
proceeds from the sale of the property acquired after the
marriage. The reason for the suit was the division of
property and support of the children. The case contains
no proof of circumstances having arisen of late that would
preclude renewal of marital relations, provided the wife
does not object. By refusing to grant a divorce the
regional court expressed its disapprobation of the plain-
tiff's attitude to his family. The court insisted that the
parties should re-establish normal relations for stable
family life and for bringing up the children."
The Judicial College of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Court
corrected the decision of the Supreme Court of the
R.S.F.S.R. in repealing the correct decision of the region-
al court directed at consolidating the family and passed
in conformity with the Decree of the U.S.S.R. Supreme
Soviet of July 8, 1944. Thus, the Supreme Court of the
U.S.S.R. upheld the decision of the regional court.
On the other hand, when there are serious grounds for
divorce, when divorce is desired because it is impossible
for the pasties to live in the married state, the court
grants divorce. Here are some examples.
The K.'s were married in 1946 and had a daughter born
in that year. By decision of a court K. had been paying
alimony to his wife since 1949. In November 1953 the
wife applied for divorce because of the husband's habitual
drunkenness and ill-treatment of the family. The plaintiff
stated that the father's conduct had a harmful influence
on their little daughter. At first the regional court refused
to grant divorce on the ground that there was no proof of
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the defendant's habitual use of intoxicating liquor,
that quarrels in the family had been provoked by the
plaintiff's relatives and that to preserve the marriage was
in the child's interests. But the Supreme Court of the
U.S.S.R., trying the case in July 1954, found the regional
court's decision erroneous and stated that: "the circum-
stances of the case clearly suggest that the marital rela-
tionships cannot be established in the family, they are in
contradiction to it. It is clear from this case that the
defendant, despite his denial of the charges, was not
disposed to establish normal relations with his wife.
Moreover, during the hearing in the people's court he had
to -admit that it was impossible to continue living in
the married state. Witnesses testified that the defendant
was a habitual drunkard, that he systematically ill-treated
members of the family and that prior to applying to court
the plaintiff had repeatedly complained of her husband's
behaviour to social and Party bodies.
"The plaintiff's allegation of non-support was borne
out by the fact that in 1949 a maintenance order was
made against the defendant.
"The regional court's statement that the parties could
re-establish normal marital relations provided the plain-
tiff consented to live apart from her parents is wrong on
principle.
"It can be seen from the materials of the case and
from additional materials that the plaintiff is the only
daughter of her aged mother whom she supports.
"The court's statement that the plaintiff's mother is to
blame for the defendant's ill-treatment of his family is
groundless and contradicts the circumstances of the
case." All these considerations guided the Supreme Court
of the U.S.S.R. in granting the plaintiff a divorce.
Here is another instance when a lower court refused
a divorce case brought by the husband and when the
U.S.S.R. Supreme Court granted a divorce. The evidence
showed that the plaintiff was a good husband and father.
His wife had left him, taking with her the children and
property and established a new domicile. The husband
had made several attempts to keep the family intact; the
wife promised to come back but failed to keep her promise,
and was now living with another man. The Supreme
Court of the U.S.S.R. stated that "the circumstances being
what they are, the refusal to grant divorce to the plaintiff
is groundless, and the court's decision to maintain the
family would be mere form devoid of content." The
U.S.S.R. Supreme Court ruled that the lower court revise
its original decision.
A few years ago a divorce case was heard in Lenina-
bad, in the Tajik S.S.R. The plaintiff applied for divorce
on grounds that her husband adhering to old-time
prejudices did not allow her, a graduate of a Pedagogical
Institute, to work as teacher and wanted her to devote
herself to house-work. The local court did not attach due
importance to the plea and the case came before the
Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R. which recognized the
validity of the plaintiff's grounds. The Supreme Court
noted that the husband's attitude towards the wife's
status in the family had brought about a separation and
instructed the local court to "go deeper into the Factual
relations between the parties and to establish valid
grounds for divorce."
Citizeness T. brought the action and the court which
tried it refused to grant a divorce. The Supreme Court
of the U.S.S.R. reviewed the case and found the decision
erroneous. It stated that: "T. alleged in her application
that during her stay in hospital her husband had brought
into their home another woman with whom he lived as
man and wife. She stated that the husband's unfaithful-
ness and ill-treatment of the plaintiff made it impossible
for her to re-establish the former marital relationship,
although they had been married for a long time. The
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court, however, did not verify the correctness of the plain-
tiff's statement, it did not seek the true reasons for
divorce, but merely refused the suit." The Supreme Court
of the U.S.S.R. ruled that the court revise its decision.
In another case a wife ill-treated her husband's
children by the first marriage and his aged mother to such
an extent as to make the children leave home. She insisted
on her thusband removing his mother from their home
because, as she asserted, he did not earn enough to sup-
port her. At the same time the wife neglected her house-
hold duties, although she did not work anywhere. The
court decided to grant a divorce.
And one last example. Citizen K. brought an action
for divorce against his wife to whom he had been married
for over two years, on the plea that she refused to bring
up his two children by previous marriage and often
insulted them. The Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R. held
that the lower court's refusal to grant a divorce was
groundless. It instructed the court "to establish the
actual relationship of the parties and whether the family
can be maintained without infringing the interests of the
children." It noted also that "the defendant had not
objected to divorce" and suggested that all these circum-
stances be taken into account in reviewing the case.
Judicial practice offers numerous examples showing
that the mutual consent of the parties is of considerable
importance in obtaining divorce. But the idea entertained
by mis-informed persons that refusal of one of the parties
is an obstacle to divorce, is erroneous. The court's duty
is to hear the arguments of both husband and wife, go
deep into the circumstances and grant a divorce whenever
necessary.
The Decision of the Plenum of the U.S.S.R. Supreme
Court of September 16, 1949, states that: "Court decisions
on divorce cases are of great social and educational
importance, because they must facilitate a correct under-
standing of the significance of marriage and the family
in the Soviet State and inculcate upon the population
respect for the family and marriage based on the lofty
principles of communist morality and protected by
Soviet law."
Soviet marriage and family law is in keeping with
socialist ethics and morality, because, like other measures
implemented by the Communist Party and the Soviet
Government, it is directed towards consolidating the
moral principles of socialist society, towards solving
an important task of the Soviet State-consolidation of
the family.
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Appendix
Hereunder are excerpts from the R.S.F.S.R. Code of
Laws governing Marriage, the Family and Guardianship
adopted by the All-Russia Central Executive Committee
at its Third Session (XII Convocation) on November
19, 1926, and put into effect on January 1, 1927.
Each of the sixteen Union Soviet Republics has its Code
of Laws on Marriage, the Family and Guardianship.
Although there are certain differences in these Codes, the
legal regulation of these relationships in all the Union
Republics is, in the main, similar to the following articles
of the R.S.F.S.R. Code.
Since 1936 the basic problems affecting marriage and
the family have been regulated by all-Union legislation,
such as the Decree of the Central' Executive Committee
and the Council of People's Commissars of the U.S.S.R.
of June 27, 1936, the Decree of the Presidium of the
U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet of July 8, 1944, the Decree of the
Presidium of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet of March 14,
1945, and others.
The Codes in the Union Republics have been changed
to correspond with these all-Union laws.
The following excerpts from the R.S.F.S.R. Code of
Laws governing Marriage, the Family and Guardianship
are presented in the form amended to correspond with
the all-Union laws.
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Excerpt from the Decision of the All-Russia Central
Executive Committee adopted by the Third Session (XII
Convocation) On the Code of Laws governing Marriage,
the Family and Guardianship.
For the purpose of regulating legal relationships
deriving from marriage, the family and guardianship
based on the new, revolutionary principles, of safeguard-
ing the interests of mothers and especially children, and
of establishing equal rights of husbands and wives in
property relations and in bringing up children, the All-
Russia Central Executive Committee resolves:
1. To endorse and introduce as from January 1, 1927,
the Code of Laws governing Marriage, the Family and
Guardianship.
Excerpts from the Code of Laws governing Marriage,
the Family and Guardianship.
Chapter 1
General Principles
From Article 1. Registration of marriage is established
both in the interests of the state and society and of
safeguarding the personal and property rights and
interests of husbands, wives and children.
On:y a duly registered marriage imposes the rights and
duties of the parties provided for in this Code.
Article 2. Registration of a marriage in the Registrar's
Office is incontestable proof of the fact of marriage.
Documents certifying the performance of the marriage
ceremony in keeping with religious rites have no legal
validity.
Note: Marriages concluded in keeping with religious
rites prior to December 20, 1917, and in enemy-occupied
localities prior to the establishment of Registrar's
Offices, have the same status as registered marriages.
Chapter 2
Conditions of Marriage Registration
Article 4. The conditions enumerated hereunder must
be complied with for registration of a marriage: a. mutual
consent of the parties to have the marriage registered;
b. the parties must have reached the statutory age; c. the
parties must produce documents enumerated in Article 132
of this Code.
Article 5. The minimum age for marriage is established
at eighteen.
Note: The presidiums of the Central Executive Com-
mittees of the autonomous republics, the presidiums of
regional executive committees of autonomous regions,
the presidiums of district executive committees, and of
town and district Soviets in towns can, in exceptional
cases, lower the minimum age (on special application)
for women, by not more than one year.
Article 6. Marriages cannot be registered: a. between
parties of which at least one is already married; b. be-
tween parties of which at least one has been legally cer-
tified feeble-minded or insane; c. between relatives in
a direct ascending or descending line, and between full
and half-brothers and sisters.*
* Relatives in a direct ascending or descending line are:
grandfather and grandmother, son, daughter, grandson, grand-
daughter; full brothers and sisters are the children of one father
and mother, half-brothers and half-sisters are the children of one
father and different mothers or of one mother and different fathers.
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Chapter 3
Rights and Duties of Husband and Wife
Article 7. Upon registering marriage the parties express
the wish either to bear one common family name (assum-
ing either the husband's or the wife's name) or to preserve
their original surnames.
Article 9. Both husband and wife are perfectly free in
their choice of profession or occupation. Which is to be
housema!ker is decided by mutual consent of the parties.
Change of domicile by one party involves no obligation
for the other to follow.
From Article 10. The property of the parties before mar-
riage is the separate property of each. Property acquired
by husband and wife in the married state is common
property. In case of dispute the share of each is deter-
mined by a court of law.
Article 13. Husbands and wives can conclude between
themselves all legal property contracts. Agreements
between a husband and wife infringing upon the property
rights of one of the parties are invalid and are not binding
either for them or for any third party; parties to such an
agreement can repudiate it at any moment.
Article 14. A husband or wife unable to work and in
need of support has the right to support from his (or her)
marriage partner in the event of the court establishing the
latter's ability to do so.
Article 15. A husband or wife unable to work preserves
the right to support from the marriage partner even upon
dissolution of the marriage until there occurs a change
in the conditions which, according to Article 14 of this
Code, provide grounds for support, but not longer than
one year after dissolution of the marriage.
Article 16. The sum for the support of a husband or wife
unable to work is determined by the court through usual
legal procedure.
Chapter 4
Dissolution of Marriage
Article 17. A marriage ceases with the death of the hus-
band or wife or when a notary or a court of law estab-
lishes the fact of death.
Article 18. During the lifetime of husband and wife the
marriage can be dissolved only through divorce granted
by a court of law upon the application of one or both
parties. The divorce is effected publicly. Upon the appli-
cation of the parties the court can conduct a divorce case
in camera, when this is necessary.
Article 19. The following procedure must be adhered to
in bringing a divorce suit.
a. Application for divorce is submitted to the people's
court, stating the grounds for divorce and giving the
family name, first name and patronymic of the other
party, his.(or her) date of birth and whereabouts. A sum
of 100 rubles is paid by the applicant when submitting
the application.
b. The other party shall be summoned to the court to
be informed of the application filed against him, to ex-
press his attitude in the matter, and also to name wit-
nesses.
c. Notice shall be inserted in the local newspaper
announcing the suit for divorce, at the expense of the
party bringing the action.
Article 20. The people's court must establish the
grounds for divorce and take measures to reconcile the
parties, for which purpose the court summons the parties
and, if the need arises, witnesses.
If no reconciliation takes place at the people's court
the plaintiff can appeal to a higher court.
Article 21. The territorial, regional, area, town courts
and the Supreme Court of an autonomous republic have
the right to pass decisions of divorce.
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Article 22. In the event of a territorial, regional, area,
town court or the Supreme Court of an autonomous
republic deeming it necessary to dissolve a marriage, the
court must:
a. Decide which of the parents is to have the custody
of the children and to support them;
b. Establish the division of the property between the
parties (determine the share or name articles that go to
each party).
c. Grant each of the parties the family name borne
previous to the marriage-if the party so wishes;
d. Determine the sum one of the parties (or both) must
pay when the divorce is registered.
SECTION II
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PARENTS, CHILDREN
AND OTHER RELATIVES
Article 29. A woman cannot apply to court for establish-
ing the paternity of her child and for alimony from a man
with whom she had not entered into a duly registered
manage.
Note: Claims for alimony by mothers of children born
prior to the publication of the Decree of the Presidium
of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet of July 8, 1944, from
persons to whom the mothers are not married can be
heard, provided the defendant is entered in the register
as the child's father.
Article 30. Children born prior to the publication of the
Decree of the Presidium of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet
of July 8, 1944, of parents whose marriage had not been
registered are entitled upon his death to inherit from the
father (.if entered as such in the register), and to receive
pensions and state benefits for military men's families
equally with children born of a registered marriage.
Chapter 1
General Principles
Article 25. The entry of a birth in the register at the
Registrar's Office is proof of a child being born of the
parents mentioned in the register and can be challenged
only in a court of law.
Article 26. Father and mother of the child are entered
in the birth register.
Article 27. Upon registering a child born out of wedlock
the child receives the mother's family name and a patro-
nymic of the mother's choice.
Article 28. If an unmarried mother enters into a regis-
tered marriage with the father of the child and if the
father acknowledges himself as such, the child acquires
all the rights of children born in duly registered marriage,
receives the patronymic derived from the father's name
and, if both parents wish it, the father's family name.
Chapter 2
Rights and Duties of Relatives
Article 33. Parental rights are exercised exclusively in
the interests of children; in cases of abuse of parental
rights the court can deprive parents of these rights.
Article 34. Where the parents have a common family
name the children, too, must bear this name. If parents
have different family names they can agree as to the
family name of the children. If no agreement is reached
on this point, the children's family name is established 6y
ward and trusteeship authorities.
Upon dissolution of the parents' marriage children
bear the name they received at birth.
Where a parent has the custody of a child and wants
it to bear his family name, the ward and trusteeship
authorities settle the matter in the interests of the child.
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Article 35. A child of parents who are citizens of
different countries, but one of whom was at the time of
the child's birth a citizen of the R.S.F.S.R. (provided at
least one of the parents resided in the U.S.S.R. at the
child's birth), becomes a citizen of the R.S.F.S.R. If,
however, one of the parents was a citizen of the R.S.F.S.R.
but at the birth of the child both parents lived outside
the U.S.S.R., the child's citizenship is determined by the
will of the parents.
Article 36. Change of citizenship by one of the parents,
citizens of the R.S.F.S.R. residing in the U.S.S.R., does
not affect the citizenship of their children. In the event
of one of the parents, citizens of the R.S.F.S.R. living
outside the U.S.S.R., changing his citizenship, the
citizenship of the children is 'decided by the parents.
Article 37. The parents' agreement as to their children's
religion has no juridical significance.
Article 38. All measures in respect of their children are
taken jointly by the parents.
Article 39. In cases of disagreement all disputes
between parents are settled by ward and trusteeship
authorities together with the parents.
Article 40. In case of separate domicile the parents
agree as to the custody of their children under age.
Where no agreement is reached the question is settled
through court procedure upon application to a court of
law.
Article 41. Parents are obliged to take care of their
children under age, in particular to see to their upbring-
ing and to prepare them for socially useful activities.
Article 42. Parents are obliged to maintain their chil-
dren under age as well as grown children who are in need
of aid and unable to work.
Article 42 (1). Stepparents are obliged to maintain
children under age and also grown children in need of
aid and unable to work in the following cases: a. if the
children's parents are dead; b. if the parents are unable
to maintain the children.
This duty is enforced on a stepparent, provided the
child was the stepparent's dependent before the death of
its father or mother, or before the existence of the condi-
tions mentioned in clause "b" of the present article.
Stepchildren are obliged to support their needy or
invalid stepparents provided they have been the latter's
dependents for not less than 10 years.
Article 42 (2). A person inheriting the property of one
who had supported children or who had been obliged by
law to support them, must maintain the children under
age, in need of sustenance, and those unable to work,
within the limits of the property inherited.
Where an inheritance goes to several persons, the ob-
ligation foreseen in the present article is borne by them
proportionally to the share of the inheritance.
Note: This duty devolves in the following cases: a. if
the children's parents are dead; b. if the parents lack
the means to maintain the children.
Article 42 (3). Where persons who have undertaken to
bring up and maintain children cease to do so, they must
pay alimony for the maintenance of children under age,
and those unable to work, in the following cases: a. if the
children's parents are dead; b. if the parents lack means
for maintaining the children.
The obligation foreseen in the present article does not
apply to guardians and trustees or to persons who under-
take to bring up a child under a contract with the Public
Education, Public Health or other state bodies.
Article 43. Parents must safeguard their children's
personal and property rights and represent the children
at courts and other institutions.
Article 44. Parents can demand through court that their
children be returned to them by any person who keeps the
children not on the strength of law or a court decision.
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The court is not bound by the parents' right and acts
in each given case entirely in the interests of the children.
Article 46. Where parents fail to perform their duties
or iabuse their rights as regards their children, and also
in case of cruelty, the court can take the children from
the parents and place them under the protection of ward
and trusteeship authorities making both parents pay
alimony when necessary.
Note: In cases when it is dangerous for children to
continue living with the parents or persons entrusted
with their custody, ward and trusteeship authorifies
can take the children from them, pending decision of
the court.
Article 47. Where parents are deprived of their parental
rights by a judicial decision the ward iand trusteeship
authorities are obliged to let the parents see the children,
except in cases when such meetings may be harmful to
the children.
Article 48. The obligation to maintain children devolves
on both parents, the sum being determined in accordance
with their means.
Article 49. Sons and daughters are obliged to maintain
their parents who are in need of aid or who cannot work.
Article 50. Where parents refuse to maintain children
and children refuse to maintain parents under the provi-
sion of Articles 42 and 49 of this Code, the persons enti-
tled to maintenance can apply to court for redress.
Where -a marriage has been registered or where a
defendant has been entered in the register as the child's
parent, the court dealing with cases of alimony from
parents, simultaneously with filing the application fixes
a provisional sum which the defendant must 'pay for the
upkeep of the children pending a final decision.
Note: In the event of a change in the material status
of the parents or children the court's decision can be
altered through usual legal procedure.
Article 51. Deprivation of parental rights does not ab-
solve the parents from the duty of supporting the children.
From Article 51-a. Where palimony is paid for one child
it amounts to one quarter, for two children a third, and
for three or more children, half the defendant's earnings.
Alimony paid by a collective farmer is calculated in ac-
cordance with his work-day units, the percentage remain-
ing as above.
Article 52. Persons with the obligation of joint support
pay alimony on a parity basis, with the exception of cases
when, owing to a difference in their material standards, or
the absence of one of them, or some other grave reason,
the court deems it necessary otherwise to define their share
in the discharge of this obligation.
Article 54. Brothers and sisters under age in need of
maintenance are entitled to such from brothers and sisters
possessing sufficient means in cases when the former can-
not be supported by their parents owing to 'the Batter's ab-
sence or lack of means.
Article 55. Grandparents unable to work and in need of
support are -entitled to it from grandchildren possessing
sufficient means, if they cannot receive such from their
husbands (or wives), or children. Equally, minor or in-
valid grandchildren in need of support are entitled to
receive it from grandparents with sufficient means, if they
cannot receive it from their parents.
Article 56. Children born to members of a peasant
household are considered members of the household to
which their parents belong.
In the case of the 'parents belonging to different
peasant households their children can be registered as
members of one of the households, according to the choice
of the parent who has the custody of the children.
Disputes as to a child's affiliation to this or that house-
hold are settled by the court in the interests of the child,
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Article 56 (1). In addition to rights as members of a
household, children born to a member of a peasant house-
hold (see Article 56) are entitled to support from their
father's or mother's personal incomes as per Articles 48
and 50 of this Code.
Chapter 3
Adoption
Article 57. Adoption is allowed only in relation to young
children and minors and solely in the children's interests.
Article 59. Adoption is effected by ward and trusteeship
authorities and is subject to registration at the Regis-
trar's Office.
Note: Adoption of children of Soviet citizens by citi-
zens (subjects) of other countries resident in the
U.S.S.R. is allowed, provided the rules set out in this
Chapter are complied with and, in addition, the sanc-
tion of the Presidium of the gubernia, area,* or some
other executive committee is obtained in each individ-
ual case.
Article 60. At the request of the adoptive parent the
adopted child can be given the adoptive parent's family
name and the patronymic derived from the name of-the
adoptive father.
At the request of the adoptive parents they can be
entered in the register as the child's parents.
Article 61. If an adopted child has parents or a guar-
dian, or a trustee, the consent of his-parents- (not deprived
of their parental rights), or guardian, or trustee is nec-
essary for the child's adoption.
* Regional (territory) or district-depending on the administra-
tive division of the territory.
Article 62. If the person who wishes to adopt a child is
married, the consent of the wife (or husband) is necessary.
Article 63. If the child has reached the age of ten, the
adoption, taking the adoptive parent's family name and
patronymic derived from the adoptive father's name, and
the registration of the adoptive parents as the child's
parents can be done only with the child's consent.
Article 64. Adopted children and their progeny enjoy
the same rights and have the same obligations (in per-
sonal and property relations) as regards their adoptive
parents, and vice versa, as parents and children related
by blood.
Article 65. Adoption effected in the absence of the
child's parents or without their consent, can be declared
null and void by ward and trusteeship authorities if it is
in the child's interests to be returned to his parents. In
annulling adoption the child's consent, if he has reached
the gage of ten, is required.
Article 66. Any person or institution can bring a suit
for annulling adoption if this is in the child's interests.
Article 67. In the event of adoption being annulled, the
court can take the child from his adoptive parents and
place him in the hands of ward and trusteeship authori-
ties; besides, the court has the right to make the adoptive
parent contribute-to the child's support.
. SECTION III
GUARDIANSHIP AND TRUSTEESHIP
Chapter 1
General Principles of Guardianship and Trusteeship
Article 68. Guardianship and trusteeship are established
for the purpose of safeguarding persons incapable of pro-
tecting themselves, their legal rights and interests, and
also their property in cases provided for by the law.
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Article 69. Guardianship is established for children up
to the age of fourteen and for persons legally certified as
feeble-minded or insane. In addition, guardianship is es-
tablished in cases foreseen by the law for the property
of persons whose whereabouts are unknown, or of de-
ceased persons. Guardians exercise their rights and
discharge their duties in the name and interests of the
wards.
Article 70. Trusteeship is established for minors
between 14 and 18 and adults whose state of health
prevents them from safeguarding their own rights. Trus-
tees assist these persons in all cases when exercising
their rights and fulfilling duties, and protect them against
abuses by third parties.
Article 71. Parents and adoptive parents are acknowl-
edged guardians and trustees without being appointed as
such.
Article 74. Ward and trusteeship authorities appoint
guardians or trustees from among persons related to the
ward or persons named for this office by any public or-
ganization, such as a trade union, the peasants' mutual
aid committee,* or by some individuals, for want of an
organization.
Article 76. In selecting a guardian or a trustee, his
personal character, fitness to fulfil his duties and the re-
lations between him and the ward, and also the latter's
wishes (whenever possible) must be taken into account.
Article 78. Apart from the exceptions listed hereunder,
no one is excused from the office of guardian or trustee.
The exceptions are: a. persons who have reached the age
of 60; b. persons prevented by illness, physical defect,
material status or occupation from exercising the duties;
c. persons engaged in bringing up two or more children;
d. nursing mothers or mothers with a child under 8;
e. persons who are already guardians or trustees.
Article 79. The guardian of a minor must bring him up,
educate and prepare him for socially useful functions.
The guardian of a feeble-minded or insane person must
take measures to cure his ward and keep him in the con-
dition required by the state of his health.
Article 80. When a guardian or a trustee is appointed
after nomination by a public organization (gas per Article
74 of this Code) the public organization supervises his
activity and the correct fulfilment of his duties as guard-
ian or trustee, assists him in the performance of his
duties and, on the instruction of ward and trusteeship
authorities, assesses his activity.
Article 81. The duties of guardian and trustee are
performed gratis. If is ward has property yielding an in-
come and placed under the control of the ward and
trusteeship authorities, the latter can pay the guardian
or trustee ia remuneration of not more than 10% of the
income accruing from the property.
Article 82. Expenditure on upkeep of the ward which
the ward and trusteeship authorities deem necessary and
beneficent, is deducted from the income accruing from
the ward's property, and in case the income is insuf-
ficient or when there is no income, from property itself,
the deduction being made with the permission of the ward
and trusteeship authorities.
Note: Where a ward has no property, the ward and
.trusteeship authorities apply to a social insurance body
with the request that the guardian be allotted means
with which to support the ward.
Article 83. The guardian can demand that any person
detaining his ward without legal grounds shall return him
to the guardian.
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Article 84. Ward and trusteeship authorities inform the
corresponding Public Health bodies of all cases when
guardianship is established for insane persons, for taking
such persons under medical supervision as per instruction
of the Commissariat for Public Health.
Article 85. Guardianship and trusteeship for citizens of
the R.S.F.S.R. residing or possessing property outside
the U.S.S.R., come under the jurisdiction of U.S.S.R. ~em-
bassies, legations and consulates abroad.
Establishment of guardianship for the property of citi-
zens of the R.S.F.S.R. dying iabroad is covered by special
laws.
REGISTRATION OF ACTS OF CIVIL STATUS
Chapter 1
General Principles
From Article 111. Registration of acts of civil status
(birth, death, marriage, divorce and adoption) is effected
in cities and district centres by the city and district
Registrar's Offices, and in rural localities and industrial
settlements by village or settlement Soviets.
Registration of Marriages and Divorces
Article 131. Those desirous of having their marriage
registered submit an application to this effect to the
Registrar's Office in the area where one of the applicants
resides.
Article 132. The parties must produce the documents of
identification, a signed statement that none of the obsta-
cles listed in Chapter 2, Section I of this Code, applies, that
they have informed each other of the state of their health
(particularly as regards venereal diseases, tuberculosis
and insanity); each must say how many times he (she)
has been married before and how many children he (she)
has, if any.
Article 133. The official registering the marriage shall
read to the parties Articles 4, 5 and 6 of this Code and
warn them of criminal liability for false statements. When
this has been done, the entry is read aloud, signed by
the parties and endorsed by the official.
Article 133 (1). An entry is made in the parties' pass-
ports, stating the name, first name, patronymic and the
date of birth of the husband (wife) ; date and place of the
registration of the marriage.
Article 134. Marriage can be registered in the presence
of witnesses if the parties so desire.
Article 135. If before signing the entry of marriage a
statement is made by anyone testifying to legal obstacles
to registration, the official must interrupt the procedure
and demand that that person produce necessary proof
within a time prescribed by the chief of the Registrar's
Office.
Article 136. Marriages between aliens on the one hand
and Soviet citizens on the other, ias well as between aliens
contracted on the territory of the U.S.S.R. are registered
with the observance of the usual procedure.
Note: On a reciprocity basis marriages between aliens
can be registered at corresponding embassies and
,consulates functioning in the U.S.S.R., provided the
conditions set out in Chapter 2, Section I of this Code
are complied with.
Article 137. Marriages between aliens contracted out-
side the U.S.S.R. in accordance with the laws of the
corresponding countries, are recognized in the U.S.S.R.
as duly registered in keeping with Chapter 1, Section I
of this code.
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Article 138. The Registrar's Offices, acting on the
decision of the law courts, register the dissolution of
marriage and issue divorce certificates, the procedure
being accompanied by making a corresponding entry in
the passports of the parties and by withholding from one
or both parties a sum varying from 500 to 2,000 rubles,
in accordance with the decision of the court.
Article 141. Documents issued to aliens and certifying
divorce granted in accordance with the laws of the cor-
responding countries have equal validity as the entries in
the register at the Registrar's Offices.
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P. CBEP,gnos
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Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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