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A divorce is the legal procedure
that ends a marriage.
When a Judge of the Family Court
grants your divorce, he or she will
hand down an Interim Judgment of
Divorce. This is the end of the
first stage of your divorce
proceedings.
The Interim Judgment does not settle
issues about the children, property
or maintenance. In legal language,
issues about the children, property
and maintenance are known as
‘ancillary matters.’
The ancillary matters are usually
dealt with after the Court has
granted the Interim Judgment. This
is the second stage of divorce
proceedings. |
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In Singapore, the law on divorce
is found in the Women’s Charter,
which you can access on the Internet
at
Singapore Statutes Online.
It is very important for you to
check that you are eligible to apply
for a divorce in the Family Court.
You cannot apply for a divorce in
the Family Court if you and your
spouse are Muslims, or were married
under the Muslim law.
You can get a divorce in the Family
Court here if you or your spouse
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are a Singapore Citizen
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have lived in Singapore
for at least three years
before you apply for a
divorce in the Family Court
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are domiciled in
Singapore. |
In addition, under section 94 of the
Women’s Charter, you cannot
apply for a divorce if you have been
married for less than three years
unless you have the Court’s
permission to do so. |
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You will be granted a divorce
only if a Judge of the Family Court
agrees that your marriage has ended.
In legal language, the Judge must
find that your marriage has
irretrievably broken down. This is
set out at section 95 of the
Women’s Charter.
To prove that your marriage has
ended, you must show the Court that
one or more of the following facts
is true:
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that your spouse has
committed adultery, and you
find it intolerable to live
with him or her |
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that your spouse has
behaved in such a way that
you cannot reasonably be
expected to live with him or
her |
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that your spouse has
deserted you for at least
two years |
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if your spouse agrees to
the divorce, that you and
your spouse have been
separated for at least three
years |
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if your spouse does not
agree to the divorce, that
you and your spouse have
been separated for at least
four years. |
These requirements are set out at
section 95(3) of the
Women’s Charter. |
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You may proceed with your
divorce application in the Family
Court, but the procedure may be more
expensive and complicated because
the Court will still require you to
serve the divorce papers on him or
her. |
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If you want to oppose your
spouse’s divorce application, it is
very important that you follow the
proper procedures. If you simply
ignore the Court case, the Court may
decide the case without you. You may
find that your marriage has been
legally ended, and that certain
orders have been made on the
children, property and maintenance.
These orders will still be binding
on you even if you were not at the
Court hearing.
You must be clear as to whether you
want to remain married to your
spouse, or if you simply want the
Court to hear you on the issues
relating to the children, property
and maintenance. These are the
ancillary matters.
If you wish to remain married to
your spouse, you must defend the
divorce. You must do this by filing
a
Memorandum of Appearance and a
Defence. A copy of the Memorandum of
Appearance will have been served on
you together with the divorce
papers.
If you just want the Court to hear
you on the ancillary matters, file
the Memorandum of Appearance
indicating which issues you wish to
be heard on. After the
Interim Judgment hearing is
over, the Court will call an
Ancillary Matters Pre-Trial
Conference, and ask you to file
an
Affidavit of Assets and Means. |
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Yes.
Contested divorce and ancillary
matters hearings take a long time,
are much more expensive, and come at
a great personal cost to everyone
involved. It is best for you, your
spouse and your children if you are
able to agree on how to move forward
with a divorce.
The
Family Resolution Chambers of
the Family Court is dedicated to
helping you and your spouse come to
an amicable arrangement on the
divorce and ancillary matters. You
can make a request for a
Resolution Conference with a
Judge of the Family Relations
Centre. You can make your request
through your lawyer if you have one,
or to the Deputy Registrar when you
attend Court at the
Status Conference or
Pre-Trial Conference stage of
your divorce proceedings.
You can also make a
request for counselling at the
Counselling And Psychological
Services (CAPS). |
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If you really want to, and if
you are able to do so, you can apply
for a divorce yourself. In legal
language, this is known as ‘acting
in person.’
But you will not be exempt from the
legal, procedural and formal
requirements of conducting Court
proceedings. For example, you must
ensure that the documents you file
in Court are in the correct
format, that you have paid the
correct
filing fees, and that you have
filed your documents through the
Electronic Filing System.
Most importantly, the Family Court
cannot give you any advice on what
you should say or do. Only a
qualified lawyer can give you
independent legal advice on the
merits of your case. |
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You can only remarry after you
have obtained Final Judgment—also
known as a
Certificate of Making Interim
Judgment Final (Form 26).
You must wait until the Court has
dealt with all the ancillary matters
in your divorce, or for three
months, whichever is later, before
you can apply for the Certificate of
Making Interim Judgment Final. |
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