6. Mutual agreement. Separation on this ground is not valid unless ratified by the court after an attempt at reconciliation has been made.
Limitations To Right of Action.—The right to obtain a separation is extinguished by condonation, express or tacit.
Procedure.—Actions for separations must be brought before the court under whose jurisdiction the defendant is resident or domiciled. Service is ordinarily personal, but if the residence of the defendant is unknown it may be made by a judicial edict giving notice of the action, of which one copy must be posted at the door of the building where the court holds its sessions, while a copy is published in the newspaper designated for the official notices of the court, and another copy is transmitted to the public prosecutor for the district in which the action is brought.
Before the case is tried the parties are obliged to appear in person and without attorneys before the President of the Court which has jurisdiction over the case, who hears each party separately and makes such representations as he considers calculated to effect a reconciliation. If a reconciliation is accomplished the fact is noted on the court records and the case dismissed; otherwise the case is sent back to the court for trial.
The trial is ordinarily in accordance with the rules of summary procedure.
Effects of Decree.—The party for whose fault the separation was pronounced incurs the loss of the marriage remainders; of all the uses which the other party had granted in the marriage contract, and also of the legal usufruct. The other party preserves the right to the remainders and to every other use dependent on the marriage contract, even if stipulated as reciprocal. In case both parties are equally at fault each incurs the losses above indicated, the right of support in case of necessity always being preserved.
Custody of Children.—The tribunal which pronounces the separation also orders which of the parties shall retain the children. For grave reasons it may commit the children to an educational institution or to the charge of a third party. Whatever the disposition of the children, however, both parents retain the right of supervising their education.
Foreign Divorces.—Decrees of divorce granted by foreign courts are not recognized in Italy so far as Italian subjects are concerned.