A prisoner's family: divorce, child support, power of attorney, property

• First, get a power of attorney from your relative for whoever will handle their affairs outside. Without it the family cannot manage their accounts or car or file documents for them. In a penal colony the power of attorney is certified by the head of the colony or their deputy, and by law it counts as notarised (Civil Code art. 185.1; colony internal rules, para 281). Check in advance with the bank or notary what wording they need.
• If the person is in pre-trial detention (SIZO), a power of attorney for transactions (selling, buying, managing money) needs permission from the investigator or court handling the case (art. 29, Act 103-FZ). No such permission is needed for representation in court and before state bodies (Supreme Court, 2022). An accused person may meet a notary without limits to issue a power of attorney for business activity (art. 47 CPC). Who certifies it in a SIZO, the head or a visiting notary, varies in practice: ask the lawyer.
• Divorce when the sentence is over 3 years. Once a spouse is sentenced to more than three years in prison, the other spouse can divorce at the registry office (ZAGS) on their own application, even with children and without consent (Family Code art. 19). You need the application, a copy of the sentence, your passport and marriage certificate, and a 350-rouble fee (Tax Code art. 333.26). The registry office notifies the imprisoned spouse within 3 days; the marriage is dissolved after a month. Disputes over children and property are decided only by a court, but that does not block the divorce (art. 20).
• Divorce when the sentence is 3 years or less, or there is no verdict yet: only through a court. If there is no dispute over children, a justice of the peace hears it (Civil Procedure Code art. 23); the fee is 5,000 roubles. The imprisoned spouse can take part by video link from the facility (art. 155.1).
• Child support. With a court decision or court order, child support is deducted from colony wages ahead of other claims (art. 111, Act 229-FZ), up to 70% of earnings for children (art. 99). Whatever is deducted, at least 25% of earnings goes to the prisoner's personal account (Penal Code art. 107).
• If they do not work in the colony, the child support debt still builds up. It is calculated from the average Russian wage, and if they failed to pay through their own fault it is recovered for the whole period (Family Code art. 113).
• Loans. Relatives are not liable for a prisoner's personal loan unless they were guarantors or co-borrowers (Civil Code art. 361, Family Code art. 45). For joint marital debts, or if the money was spent on the family, joint property can be claimed, and a creditor may demand the debtor's share be separated (Civil Code art. 255). Joint property can be divided without divorcing; the agreement is certified by a notary (Family Code art. 38).
• Home and car. A conviction is not among the grounds for removing someone's residence registration (para 31 of the registration rules, resolution 713). Temporary absence does not change rights under a social tenancy (Housing Code art. 71). You can drive their car without a power of attorney if you have its registration certificate and you are named on its OSAGO insurance policy or the policy has no driver limit (traffic rules para 2.1.1); otherwise there is a fine (Administrative Code art. 12.37). You cannot sell the car without a power of attorney. Property owned jointly with a spouse can be sold only with the other spouse's notarised consent (Family Code art. 35). Property frozen in a criminal case cannot be sold or given away (CPC art. 115).
• If you are abroad. A power of attorney can be issued by a Russian consul (Consular Charter art. 26), but First Department warns that passports may be seized at consulates and suggests a local notary with an apostille. A Russian notary accepts foreign documents with an apostille or legalisation (Fundamentals of Notarial Law art. 106). A consulate can also register a divorce under Family Code art. 19 (art. 4, Act 143-FZ), usually in person.
• Where to turn: Prison Lawyer, Solidarity Zone, First Department; for women in prison and their families: Women's Term. Make decisions on divorce and property after talking to a lawyer: no one can guarantee the outcome or how a court will rule.

current as of 26 September 2026. More: Civil Code, art. 185.1: power of attorney certified by the prison head (in Russian); Internal rules of correctional colonies (Justice Ministry order 110), paras 279, 281 (in Russian); Internal rules of pre-trial detention centres (order 110), paras 229, 232-233 (in Russian); Pre-trial Detention Act (103-FZ), art. 29: transactions with the investigator's permission (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 47: meetings with a notary (in Russian); Advokatskaya Gazeta: Supreme Court on powers of attorney from pre-trial detention (in Russian); Family Code, art. 19: divorce at the registry office (in Russian); Family Code, art. 20: disputes over children and property go to court (in Russian); Civil Status Acts Act (143-FZ), art. 34 (in Russian); Tax Code, art. 333.26: divorce fees (in Russian); Civil Procedure Code, art. 23: divorce before a justice of the peace (in Russian); Civil Procedure Code, art. 155.1: taking part by video link (in Russian); Penal Code, art. 107: deductions from prisoners' wages (in Russian); Enforcement Proceedings Act (229-FZ), art. 99: up to 70% for child support (in Russian); Enforcement Proceedings Act (229-FZ), art. 111: child support comes first (in Russian); Family Code, art. 113: child support arrears (in Russian); Civil Code, art. 361: guarantee (in Russian); Family Code, art. 45: spouses' debts (in Russian); Civil Code, art. 255: separating the debtor's share (in Russian); Family Code, art. 38: dividing joint property (in Russian); Family Code, art. 35: spouse's consent to transactions (in Russian); Registration rules (Government resolution 713), para 31: grounds for deregistration (in Russian); Housing Code, art. 71: temporary absence of a tenant (in Russian); Traffic rules, para 2.1.1: documents a driver must carry (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 115: freezing of property (in Russian); Consular Charter, art. 26: notarial acts by consuls (in Russian); Fundamentals of Notarial Law, art. 106: foreign documents (in Russian); Civil Status Acts Act (143-FZ), art. 4: registration at consulates (in Russian); Russian consulate in Warsaw: registering a divorce (in Russian); First Department: safety abroad (in Russian) (foreign agent)