Important Information You Need To Know About Joint Petition Divorce And Ending Your Marriage
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WHO WILL BE INVOLVED IN A JOINT PETITION DIVORCE?
In a Joint Petition Divorce, the parties who will be involved are both husband and wife who have mutually agreed to divorce and terminate their marriage. They can either appoint a divorce lawyer to represent both of them or to have their own separate lawyers. The lawyer will prepare all the relevant documents for the petition and submit to the High Court to fix for a hearing. On the day of hearing, both husband and wife are required to attend the Court unless there are valid reasons to exempt themselves from attending.
WHAT ARE THE APPLICABLE LAWS TO A JOINT PETITION DIVORCE?
Joint Petition Divorce or also known as Mutual Separation can be found under Section 52 of Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976 (Act 164) which states that if both husband and wife have mutually agreed to dissolve their marriage after two years from the date of their marriage, they can file a joint petition.
However, the Court must be satisfied that both parties are freely consented on the terms of the divorce such as the custody and control of the children, matrimonial assets as well as the spouse maintenance.
As for the issue of custody and control of the children, both parties must agree whether one of them should have sole custody on the children or both parties should have joint custody. If they choose to have a sole custody on the children, they must agree for the access period of non-custodial parent.
As per Section 95 of Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976 (Act 164) orders as to custody and access will expire once the children reach the age of eighteen or once the disability is ceased if the child is under disability.
A Joint Petition will also have the terms which provide for spouse maintenance where the husband will pay for the maintenance to his wife and also for the distribution of the matrimonial assets.
WHO DOES THE PROCEDURE AND LAWS APPLY TO?
Joint Petition Divorce is only applicable to Civil Marriage in which it is registered or deemed to be registered under Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976 (Act 164) and thus, it is inapplicable to Muslim couples.
The parties can apply for Joint Petition Divorce only after two years of their marriage unless there are any exceptional circumstances that can be proven by Petitioners.
At least one of them must also be domiciled in Malaysia or a citizen of Malaysia if they want to apply for Joint Petition Divorce.
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AKMAL SAUFI MOHAMED KHALED
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