With e-divorce, Estonia finally digitalises 100 per cent of government services

“By bringing this [divorce] service online, Estonia has demonstrated its ability to innovate even in areas requiring nuance and care,” stated an official release by e-Estonia.

Launched last December, its e-divorce service has now processed 53 per cent of divorce applications in the country.

The service can be accessed through the population registry’s self-service portal. Only one partner needs to fill out the application which is pre-filled with data from the registry. This then prompts the other partner to do so as well.

After a 30-day cooling-off period, the couple only needs to physically meet with a government official once before finalising their divorce.

The portal also provides guidance and tools for families to navigate child custody and marital property agreements.

100 per cent digital & zero per cent “bureaucrazy”

E-Estonia announced that the country has digitalised 100 per cent of its government services – with e-divorce as the final step.

Its official statement also states that 100 per cent digital government goes together with zero per cent bureaucracy.

“100 per cent digitalisation is about efficiency and maximising resources, not technology for its own sake,” said its Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications’ Deputy Secretary General for Economy and Innovation, Sandra Särav.

The government has used the catchy phrase “bureaucrazy” as it launched its ‘100% Digital & 0% Bureaucrazy’ campaign which runs from January 27, 2025, to March 27, 2025.

The campaign has invited global audiences to explore the country’s digital achievements through the e-Estonia Briefing Centre in Tallin.

Old red tape would give way to transparent, easy-to-use systems focusing on convenience and accessibility, the statement wrote.

Särav highlighted that Estonia’s ability to improve services “even for life’s most challenging moments like divorce” underlined the digital state’s priority on trust, transparency and convenience when developing such systems.

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Proactive services next, but too paternalistic?

Given most services in the country are already digitalised, e-Estonia's journey does not just stop there.

“Developers are now exploring how to push boundaries further – mainly through automation and proactive services,” its statement added.

Previously talking to GovInsider, Director-General of Estonia’s Information System Authority (RIA), Joonas Heiter, said that proactive services are necessary to make the state more transparent.

“Our main goal is that citizens and entrepreneurs don’t think they have to declare something or inquire about something. If they have some need, the state should be proactive,” he explains.

However, the Ministry of Interior’s Head of the Population Operations Department, Enel Pungas, highlighted concerns around state overreach and tech sustainability.

While several areas have been identified to deliver proactive services, the government needs to strike a balance between convenience and overreach, she said.

She cited the example of a proactive service that may be perceived as an “intrusive intervention” by many.

People may sometimes add places like “home” and “work” to their map apps. If GPS data shows that they frequent a different address, they might receive a notification prompting them to register their residence.

The environmental impact of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) - used to power personalised services – is also another concern that governments have to manage as they also consider the efficiency gains from digitalisation.

Estonia’s innovation: Not as a tech powerhouse, but citizen-centric governance

Recently, the former President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, noted that “neither Estonia nor Europe, I’m afraid as a whole will ever become the AI powerhouse that China and the US are... simply because not enough money has been invested in it."

With the advent of new technologies like AI, he highlighted the key role played by digital governments, including Estonia, to implement the new governance and public services developments.

"And that's where our creativity comes in,” he said, citing the creation of X-Road, the secure data exchange layer that serves as the backbone for the country's ecosystem of digital services.

Even if all services are now available digitally, the focus should continue to be making governance easier for citizens.

He shared an example of automated and proactive services in Estonia which allows citizens to focus on what that truly matters.

When a child is born in Estonia, the hospital automatically notifies the Population Registry, which then the parents would complete the registration online by just confirming the child’s name and other details.

Once registered, the child is then assigned a government-issued personal identification number. This information is then automatically shared with the Estonian Health Insurance Fund and the municipality where the parents are registered.

Prior to these digital services, parents had to visit multiple offices separately to register the birth of their child. Now, the process is streamlined and can be done conveniently from home.

"Estonia's greatest achievement as a digital nation is not that one can get divorced online or that Estonians can vote in elections from anywhere in the world," said Ilves.

“The most outstanding achievement is the change in how people think and relate to each other."

To read more about GovInsider's coverage of Estonia's digital development, click here.