This article is about the non-Muslim divorce process in Singapore, written only in a broad outline, describing the sequence of events for most divorce cases. I must stress the words “broad outline” and “most” as every divorce is different. Further, annulment will not be discussed here although the process is fairly similar. Therefore, along with these steps you may have issues arising that pertain to your individual circumstances, some of which will not be covered in this article. So do remember to seek legal help. I believe all the lawyers will agree that no 2 cases are ever exactly alike.

Legal Separation:

In Singapore, you are married until a court decides otherwise. I have written about this before and I will stress it here again. There is no “automatic divorce” in Singapore. It is often misunderstood that once a married couple have been separated for 4 years, they are deemed divorce, especially if they have earlier signed a “Deed of Separation” or any separation agreements. This is not the case. You must apply to court to formalise your divorce or else you remain married, for all legal intent and purposes.

There are some cases, albeit, rare, where parties do not intend to proceed with divorce but only seek a legal separation, an application to the courts can be made for a Judicial Separation. The order protects the interests of both spouses and any children of the marriage by making sure that both parties meet their legal responsibilities to each other.

Divorce Writ:

There is also some confusion between a writ for divorce and a petition for divorce.

Prior to January 2006, the process for starting a divorce action is by way of an “Originating Petition”. This has been changed to “Writ”. I will not dwell too much into that in this article as it is really a technical difference. The legal effect and the process is the same for both.

If you wish to proceed with divorce, your first step will be to contact your lawyer or file a writ with the courts yourself. Please read the FAQs on this site to see if you are eligible to apply for a divorce in Singapore. Your application is in fact requests (“prayers” in legalese) made that the court grant a divorce and any relief the party filing for divorce feels they are due.

The writ will identify the parties to the divorce and any children they may have, amongst other fairly standard particulars. The party filing for divorce will have to state a reason in the writ. This will be one of the 5 factors listed in the Women’s Charter amounting to “irreconcilable differences”. These factors can be found on our FAQs as well.

The person filing for the divorce will be named the “plaintiff” by the courts while the other party to the divorce is referred to as the “defendant.”

The writ is then served on the defendant. If you are represented by a lawyer, this will be done by them. Once the defendant has been served, he / she has 8 days, if in Singapore and 21 days, if abroad, to respond to the writ for divorce. It is at this time that either party may ask, by way of summons applications, for interim maintenance or temporary orders pertaining to child support and the child’s maintenance.

Interim Orders:

The court can issue temporary orders that outline specific actions that must take place immediately and last until the final divorce hearing. Examples of things covered in temporary orders are child support, spousal support and child custody, care, control and access terms. These orders are legally binding and not following them will mean finding yourself in court for contempt. If you are found in contempt, you can be jailed according to the discretion of the judge.

Uncontested Divorce Hearing:

In Singapore, divorce process is split into 2 main aspects: the dissolution of the marriage and the resolution of the “ancillary issues”.

Ancillary issues are issues pertaining to children, matrimonial home, matrimonial assets, maintenance and legal cost.

If both parties want a divorce and the defendant consents to the reason and the particulars provided by the plaintiff to support this reason for the divorce, then the matter will be set down for a hearing on an uncontested basis. This is so even when parties cannot resolve the ancillary issues amicably.

At the hearing, an interim order to be made final (usually in 3 months) is granted by the court. The final order will be subject to the resolution of all ancillary issues and cannot be granted otherwise. If it takes you 3 years to resolve the issue, you remain temporarily divorce for that whole time. Until the final orders, you are considered married in certain aspects eg you cannot remarry and your spouse will be treated as being entitled to his/her rights under the Intestacy Act.

Divorce Mediation:

Where the divorce is contested, then a “divorce” mediation can be set up for you provided both parties agree to the mediation.

If you are lucky, this is as far as you will get in the process. During mediation, both parties to the divorce and their lawyers meet with a court appointed mediator to discuss any conflicts they may have and try to come to an agreement that meets the needs of both. The “mediator” is usually a Deputy Registrar with the Family Court and is there to negotiate a settlement between the parties.

Although this mediation is strictly for issues relating to the dissolution of the marriage only and not the ancillary matters, often, parties use this opportunity to come up with a “global settlement” that deals with both.

If a settlement is reached, then the matter will be set down for an uncontested hearing.

Ancillary Issues:

In the uncontested hearing, if ancillary issues are unresolved then those issues will be adjourned to be dealt with at a later stage.

At the hearing, if parties indicate to the court that they are amenable to a mediation on the ancillary issues, a date will be given by the Registry for parties to attend the mediation, a process similar to the dissolution of marriage mediation.

Pre-Trial Conferences:

Throughout the process, pre-trial conferences are fixed between the parties or their lawyers to regularly acquaint the court with the status of the matter.

This is how the court manage the cases to make sure that they do not get too protracted. The desired timeline for the settlement of any 1 case is 12 months at the longest.

Discovery Process

This is a common application made by parties to gather information about the other party to the divorce.

Due to the complexities involved, this subject will be covered in more detail in another article.

Trials:

If mediation didn’t work and there are unresolved issues a trial date will be set. During the trial, both parties have the chance to argue their case before a judge. The judge will then examine all the evidence and make a decision based on what he feels would be a proper settlement and outcome.

Evidence will be provided by the various documents prescribed by the rules. There are timeline within which each document must be filed and parties to respond.

This applies to both the dissolution of marriage and the ancillary issues but they will be held at different trials. The dissolution trial first and then the one relating to ancillary matters. This of course means that in very contentious cases, divorce proceedings can protract for years.

Where the assets of parties exceed S$1.5m, the ancillary matter will be transferred to the High Court. Otherwise, all the hearings will be conducted at the Family Court.

After Trials:

After the trial for ancillary issues is completed and once a judge has made a decision, final judgment can be extracted unless one party appeals against the decision. the parties to the divorce will sign the final decree of divorce. The final decree states who gets what, any orders pertaining to custody of the children, child support amounts and any spousal maintenance that is ordered and any other issues pertinent to the dissolution of the marriage.

Appealling a Divorce Court Order:

If you feel that the courts orders are unfair you may then file an application to appeal the order and request a new hearing.

Conclusion:

The entire process can last from a mere 5-6 months to years. I have heard of cases that lasted from when the child of the marriage was a toddler to just before he turn 18.