Court documents

Apostille for court documents

Registering a divorce in another country, enforcing a judgment or proving inheritance rights: court documents are apostilled by the authority responsible for the judiciary in the issuing country – and only certified copies with the court’s seal qualify.

130+ issuing countries Apostille on the public document

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Judgments, divorce decrees, custody and maintenance orders, grants of probate and certificates of inheritance are public documents of the court. For use abroad they need an apostille from the designated authority of the issuing country – a Secretary of State or federal court clerk in the US, the FCDO in the UK, the Landgericht in Germany, the Tribunal Superior in Spain, the procura in Italy, the judicial commission in Türkiye. The document must be a certified copy with the court’s seal; a simple copy or the lawyer’s copy is refused.

Divorce decrees are the most frequent case: Türkiye, India, the Philippines, the US and many other countries register a foreign divorce only against an apostilled decree with a certificate of legal force and a sworn translation. Inheritance documents follow for estates abroad, and judgments for cross-border enforcement.

We request the certified copy and the legal-force certificate from the court, submit it for the apostille and add the translation.

Between EU member states: Between EU member states, Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 (Brussels IIb) certificates usually replace the apostille for divorce and parental responsibility.

Also known as: Urteil / Scheidungsbeschluss / Erbschein (DE) · jugement / jugement de divorce (FR) · sentencia / sentencia de divorcio (ES) · sentenza / sentenza di divorzio (IT) · sentença / certidão de divórcio (PT) · mahkeme kararı / boşanma kararı (TR) · wyrok / wyrok rozwodowy (PL) · vonnis / echtscheidingsbeschikking (NL)

Who issues it, who apostilles it – by country

An apostille is always issued in the country that issued the document. The most frequent issuing countries for a court judgments & divorce decrees:

Issued in	Issued by	Apostille by
Germany	The German court (certified copy with legal-force certificate)	President of the Landgericht
United States	Clerk of the court (certified copy)	Secretary of State (state courts) or the federal court clerk (federal courts)
United Kingdom	Court (sealed decree absolute / order)	FCDO
France	Greffe du tribunal (copie exécutoire / expédition)	Chambers of notaries
Spain	Juzgado – testimonio de la sentencia	Tribunal Superior de Justicia
Italy	Tribunale – copia conforme	Procura della Repubblica
Netherlands	Rechtbank – grosse / afschrift	Rechtbank
Türkiye	Court – kesinleşme şerhli karar	Adli Yargı İlk Derece Mahkemesi Adalet Komisyonu Başkanlığı (judicial commission)
India	Court certified copy	MEA after state attestation
Philippines	Court certified true copy	DFA
Pakistan	Court certified copy	MOFA
Ukraine	Court	Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
Poland	Sąd – odpis prawomocnego wyroku	MSZ
Canada	Court registry certified copy	Provincial authority / Global Affairs Canada
Australia	Court sealed copy	DFAT
Brazil	Court (certidão)	Authorised cartório
Mexico	Juzgado – copia certificada	Tribunal Superior de Justicia of the state / state government
Colombia	Juzgado	Cancillería (e-apostille)
China	Court judgment, notarised	MFA / provincial FAO
Russia	Court	Ministry of Justice territorial bodies

Show all 20 countries

Other countries: see the issuing-country guides for all 130+ Contracting States.

Who needs it

Divorce abroad

Registering the divorce and updating civil status in the home country; remarriage abroad.

Inheritance

Certificates of inheritance, grants of probate and probate decisions for property, accounts and courts abroad.

Family matters

Custody, adoption and maintenance orders for foreign authorities and schools.

Enforcement

Judgments and payment orders enforced in another country.

What we need from you

Certified copy of the decision with seal (we can request it from the court with your authorisation)
Certificate of legal force where applicable
Destination country and purpose
Translation language

Who issues, who apostilles

Issued by: The court that issued the decision – certified copy with seal and, for judgments, a certificate of legal force.
Apostille by: The Article 6 authority for judicial documents in the issuing country – see the table below.
Translation: Sworn translation of the full decree or of the operative part, depending on the recipient. Some countries require the translation to be apostilled too.

Where this document usually goes

The route depends on the country pair. Popular destinations for a court judgments & divorce decrees – change the issuing country in the checker below:

Check your country pair for a court judgments & divorce decrees

Apostille, EU exemption or embassy legalisation – the answer per destination.

Issued inUsed inDocument

Choose the destination to see the exact route for a court judgments & divorce decrees issued in Germany.

Frequently asked: court judgments & divorce decrees apostille

Many registries accept a shortened decree covering the divorce itself; courts and pension authorities often want the full decision. We check what the recipient needs before the translation, which saves pages.

The court’s confirmation that the decision is final (decree absolute, Rechtskraftvermerk, certificado de firmeza, kesinleşme şerhi). Nearly every foreign authority requires it on a divorce decree. It is stamped by the court on the certified copy and covered by the apostille.

Recognition rules differ by country. Within the EU it is largely automatic; Türkiye, India and many other states require a registration or recognition procedure for which the apostilled, translated decree is the key document.

Your quote at a glance

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Notary and authority fees

Statutory fee of the issuing country’s competent authority

Fixed by that authority’s tariff; passed through 1:1 and shown as a separate line in your quote.

Turnaround: Obtaining the certified copy from the court one to three weeks; apostille days to three weeks. We run both in parallel where the court allows.
Competent authority: Designated authority of the issuing country (Art. 6) – see the country table
Route: Apostille on the public document

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