Lawyer for Divorce in Singapore

» What is a Divorce?

A Divorce is the legal process that officially ends a registered marriage.

You can only remarry after you’ve obtained the Final Judgment which issued by the Court when a Divorce is concluded.

Divorce proceedings are conducted in the Family Court if the marriage involved non-Muslim parties or you and your spouse were married under Civil Law.

Divorce proceedings are conducted in the Syariah Court if the marriage involved Muslim parties or you and your spouse were married under Muslim Law or Syariah Law.

» Who can get a Divorce?

You can apply to get a Divorce in the Family Court if you meet the following criteria:

• You or your spouse must be a Singapore Citizen
• Otherwise, you’ve either lived in Singapore for a minimum of 3 years before the Divorce or intend to live in Singapore indefinitely
• In addition, either 3 years must have passed since the date of the marriage or you must be able to show that your spouse has caused you to suffer exceptional hardship

» What do you need to get a Divorce?

A Court will only approve a Divorce application if you meet the following criteria:

You can prove that there’s been an “irretrievable breakdown” of the marriage by proving a minimum of one of the following facts:

1. Adultery: your spouse committed adultery and you find it intolerable to live with your spouse.

• You must have stopped living together with your spouse within 6 months after the adultery was discovered.
• You can’t rely on the adultery as a basis for Divorce if you continued to live with your spouse for more than 6 months after the adultery was discovered
• Adultery is difficult and expensive to prove – you must prove that your spouse had consensual sexual relations with the third party, and you can engage a Private Investigator to get supporting evidence of the adultery.
• Otherwise, you can prove that your spouse had an “improper association” with a third party (e.g. by proving that the relationship between them is so intimate that adultery can reasonably be assumed if there was an opportunity for it to occur).

2. Unreasonable behaviour: your spouse behaved in way that you can’t reasonably be expected to live with your spouse. For example:

• The spouse committed family violence by:
  – Putting a family-member in fear of hurt
  – Causing hurt to a family-member
  – Wrongfully confining or restraining a family-member against their will
  – Causing continual harassment with intent to cause anguish to a family-member, including verbal abuse, psychological or emotional abuse
• The spouse neglected the family (e.g. coming home very late, not giving financial support to the family, irresponsibly incurring debts that harm the family)
• The spouse committed adultery with or has improper associations with a third party
• The spouse committed domestic violence

You can’t rely on your spouse’s unreasonable behaviour as a basis for Divorce if you continued to live with your spouse for more than 6 months after the final incidence of unreasonable behaviour

3. Desertion: your spouse deserted you for a continuous period of a minimum of 2 years before the Divorce

• You must not have agreed to your spouse’s desertion
• The normal wear and tear (e.g. tension) of married life can’t be regarded as a sufficiently serious reason for the desertion
• There is “constructive desertion” when one party leaves the home due to the behaviour or mistreatment of the other party

4. 3 years’ separation with consent: you and spouse must have lived apart for a continuous period of a minimum of 3 years before the Divorce and your spouse must agree to the Divorce

• You and your spouse are considered as having been separated if you lived under the same roof but sleeping in separate bedrooms and keeping separate households (e.g. financially independent and separate expenses).

5. 4 years’ separation without consent: you and spouse lived apart for a continuous period of a minimum of 4 years before the Divorce

• Your spouse doesn’t need to agree to the Divorce if you and your spouse have been separated for a minimum of 4 years

» How do you apply for a Divorce?

You can apply for a Divorce at the Family Court on your own and without engaging a lawyer.

• You’ll need to understand and fulfil the formal requirements of conducting the case on your own (e.g. file / submit documents to Court the correct format, pay filing / administrative fees, speaking and providing information in Court)

As the Family Court won’t give you with any advice on what you should do, you’d need to consult a qualified lawyer if you want to get legal advice on the strengths and weaknesses of your case. The lawyer can also help by preparing the necessary documents on and appearing in Court on your behalf.

A Divorce is obtained by officially submitting documents and information to the Court to address the following issues:

• Showing that a Divorce should be given (e.g. proving the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage through adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion or separation)
• Dealing with all other key issues resulting from the Divorce (also known as Ancillary Matters) such as:
  • Maintenance of the Wife and Children (e.g. financial support)
  • Custody, care and control of as well as access (e.g. visitation rights) to the Children
  • Division of the matrimonial assets (e.g. matrimonial home)

» What are the 2 stages in a Divorce?

The Divorce process usually involves the following 2 stages:

• Stage 1 (Divorce Proceedings): you and your spouse submit documents and information to the Court to show that a Divorce should be given (e.g. proving the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage through adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion or separation)
• Stage 2 (Ancillary Proceedings): you and your spouse submit documents and information to the Court to handle all other key issues resulting from the Divorce (also known as Ancillary Matters):
  • Maintenance of the Wife and Children (e.g. financial support)
  • Custody, care and control of as well as access (e.g. visitation rights) to the Children
  • Division of the matrimonial assets (e.g. matrimonial home)

» What main issues decided in a Divorce?

• Maintenance of the Wife by the Husband (e.g. financial support)
• Maintenance of the Children by the parents (e.g. financial support)
• Division of the matrimonial assets (e.g. matrimonial home)
• Custody, care and control of as well as access (e.g. visitation rights) to the Children

» What’s the difference between a Contested Divorce and Uncontested Divorce?

Divorce proceedings can be Contested (i.e. challenged / disputed) or Uncontested (i.e. unchallenged / undisputed

Contested proceedings can take place in the following situations:

• A Contested Divorce takes place when your spouse doesn’t agree with and wants to oppose / defend the application for Divorce.
  For example, your spouse can want to remain married to your spouse or your spouse can disagree with your basis and reasons for the Divorce (e.g. your spouse doesn’t agree that there was adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion or separation)
• Contested Ancillary Proceedings occur when your spouse wants to oppose / challenge your requests or views on how to handle the Ancillary Matters (e.g. maintenance, division of matrimonial assets, Children).
  For example, you can disagree on how much maintenance to pay, how to divide the matrimonial assets or how to resolve the amount of access to the Children)

Uncontested proceedings can occur in the following situations:

• An Uncontested Divorce takes place when your spouse agrees with and doesn’t oppose the application for Divorce
• Occasionally, a Divorce is partly Contested and partly Uncontested, such as in the following situations:
  • Uncontested Divorce and Contested Ancillary Proceedings: your spouse doesn’t oppose the application for a Divorce (i.e. willing to end the marriage) but wants to oppose / challenge your requests or views on how to handle the Ancillary Matters (e.g. maintenance, division of matrimonial assets, Children)
  • Contested Divorce and Uncontested Ancillary Proceedings: your spouse wants to oppose / challenge the application for a Divorce (i.e. not willing to end marriage) but doesn’t oppose / challenge your requests or views on how to handle the Ancillary Matters (e.g. maintenance, division of matrimonial assets, Children)

» Why is it better to get an uncontested Divorce?

Contested Divorce proceedings are more challenging to conduct compared to Uncontested Divorce proceedings because they involve more time, effort, resources and costs (e.g. personal stress, legal fees)

That’s why many people feel that they (and their Children) benefit from saving time, effort, resources and costs involved in Contested Divorce proceedings if they can discuss and agree on how to resolve and handle the breakdown of the marriage and the Ancillary Matters (e.g. maintenance, division of matrimonial assets, Children)

» What is Maintenance?

Maintenance is financial support given to pay for reasonable costs of housing, clothing, food and living expenses needed by a Wife or Child.

Every Husband has a statutory (legal) duty to pay maintenance for his Wife and every parent has the same duty to pay maintenance for the parent’s Child.

A person can officially apply to the Court to get a Maintenance Order which will officially demand the Husband or parent to pay maintenance to his Wife or Children.

• The Wife has a right to claim maintenance from the Husband irrespective of her misconduct.
• However, a Wife’s misconduct can affect the amount of maintenance that she is awarded by the Court
• The duty to pay maintenance for the Wife and Child exists irrespective of whether Divorce proceedings are ongoing – the Husband / Father has a duty to maintain his Wife and Children during the marriage i.e. he must do this even when the marriage has not broken down and when the marriage has not been ended

Maintenance is paid by giving a monthly allowance or making a lump sum payment.

» How much maintenance must a Husband pay to the Wife?

The amount of maintenance is decided by the Court after considering the following factors:

• Financial needs of the Wife
• Income, earning power, property and other financial resources of both the Wife and Husband
• Any physical or mental disability of the Wife
• Age of each person and the duration of the marriage
• Contributions made by each of you and your spouse to the marriage to the welfare of the family, including any contribution made by looking after the home or caring for the family
• Standard of living enjoyed by the Wife before the Husband stopped giving reasonable maintenance for the Wife
• Any value / benefit which one party would stand to lose as a result of the Divorce (e.g. pension)
• Conduct of you and your spouse

The Husband’s duty of maintain the former Wife will usually end on his death or when the Wife remarries (whichever is earlier). Either you or your Husband or Ex-Husband can apply to the Court to vary or cancel the Order for maintenance at any time, if the circumstances under which the original order was given have changed.

The Court usually aims to put you and your spouse in the financial position in which they would’ve been if the marriage hadn’t broken down.

• The general aim of requiring a former Husband to maintain his former Wife is to even out any financial inequalities between your spouses, taking into account any economic prejudice suffered by the former Wife during the marriage (e.g. financial loss when the Wife sacrificed her career or lost out in her earning power in order to look after the family)

A Wife or Ex-Wife can apply for maintenance during marriage, separation or the course of Divorce proceedings. You need not have to file for a Divorce before you apply for maintenance for yourself. You can do so if your Husband neglects or refuses to give you with reasonable maintenance.

If you’re undergoing a Divorce and do not apply for maintenance during Divorce proceedings or your application for maintenance has been turned down by the Court at the conclusion of Divorce proceedings, you cannot subsequently apply for maintenance.

» How much maintenance must a parent pay for the Children?

Parents have a duty to maintain or contribute to the maintenance of their Children (e.g. reasonable cost of housing, clothing, food and education.

This duty exists irrespective of:

• Who the Children are in the custody of
• Whether the Children are legitimate or illegitimate

A parent must maintain a Stepchild if the Child was treated as a member of the parent’s family and if the Child’s biological parents do not give full maintenance.

Maintenance is paid by giving a monthly allowance or making a lump sum payment.

The amount of maintenance is decided by the Court after considering the following factors:

• Financial needs of the Child
• Income, earning power, property and other financial resources of both the Child and parents
  Ratio of total earning income of both parents (i.e. the financially stronger parent usually pays more)
• Any physical or mental disability of the Child
• Age of each parent and the duration of the marriage
• Contributions made by each of you and your spouse to the marriage to the welfare of the family, including any contribution made by looking after the home or caring for the family
• Standard of living enjoyed by the Wife or Child before the parent neglected or refused to give reasonable maintenance for the Child
• How the Child was already being schooled and how the parents expected him to continue to receive education
• Conduct of you and your spouse

The Court can modify any agreement made between the parents relating to the Child’s maintenance.

The decision of the Court on how much maintenance to give to your Child depends on several factors. The Court will consider the basic financial needs of your Child such as his education, food and lodging expenses. Any physical or mental disability of your Child will also affect the amount of maintenance.

Usually an order for custody or maintenance will automatically expire after your Child reaches his 21st birthday or your Child is financially independent. Sometimes the Court can order maintenance for a specific period, even after your Child reaches his 21st birthday e.g. as until the completion of his tertiary education.

However, if your Child suffers from any physical or mental disability, the custody and/or the care and control, access or maintenance order can continue until he recovers from that disability, even after he turns 21.

» What happens if the Husband doesn’t pay Maintenance?

If your Husband or Ex-Husband has not paid you maintenance as ordered by the Court, you can recover the arrears by filing an enforcement application to the Family Court.

Arrears of maintenance can only be recovered up to a period of 3 years before the filing of the enforcement application. Any arrears in excess of the 3 years therefore can’t be recovered under such application.

The Wife can officially apply to the Court to get a Maintenance Order which will officially order the Husband to pay maintenance to her and their Children.

Once a Court has ordered the Husband to pay maintenance, he can be prosecuted for an offence punishable by imprisonment if he fails to obey the Court’s order to make maintenance payments.

• The Husband must still pay maintenance even if he has already been prosecuted and punished for the non­compliance of the Court order.

The Court can also order that the maintenance payments be obtained from the Husband in the following ways:

• Garnishee Order: a bank or third party are ordered to pay monies from the Husband’s account or funds to pay for the maintenance
• Attachment of Earnings Order: the Husband’s employer is ordered to retain a portion of his salary to pay for the maintenance

» Can you change a Maintenance Order?

You or your Husband or Ex-Husband can apply to the Court to have the Maintenance Order rescinded (i.e. withdrawn / cancelled) or varied (i.e. revised / amended) if the party can prove that there’s been a material change in the circumstances of that party.

• For example, the Wife can apply for the maintenance amount to be increased if the material change in her circumstances are such that she now requires a greater amount of maintenance (e.g. unable to work due to a medical condition, having to pay for the treatment a Child’s medical condition)
• Likewise, the Husband can apply for the maintenance amount to be decreased if the material change in his circumstances are such that he is now unable to pay the same amount of maintenance (e.g. retrenchment, unemployment, unable to work due to a medical condition, having to pay for the treatment of a medical condition)
• The Court can also consider any change in the general cost of living

The effect of a rescission of the Maintenance Order is that the Husband / Father will subsequently not be needed continue to pay maintenance under the terms of the order.

The effect of a variation of the Maintenance Order is that the Husband / Father will subsequently be needed to pay a lower or greater amount of maintenance.

You can make an application in Court to vary or cancel the Order of custody or maintenance in the interest of your Child. You can do so if there is a material or important change in the circumstances since the Order was made e.g. there is a substantial increase in the salary of either parent, change in health conditions or the remarriage of one parent.

You can make an agreement for custody and/or the care and control/access or maintenance. However, the Court can vary the agreement if it’s in the interest for the welfare of your Child to do so.

» What is a “matrimonial asset”?

The following types of property are matrimonial assets:

• The matrimonial home
• Property that was acquired during the marriage
• Property that was acquired before marriage which was:
  • Ordinarily used by the family
  • Substantially improved by both or other party
• Gifts that have been substantially improved by both or other party

Property that was acquired before the marriage doesn’t otherwise constitute matrimonial assets

» How are matrimonial assets divided?

The Court is empowered to order the division of any matrimonial asset according to an apportionment that is just and fair by giving adequate and appropriate weight to each party’s direct and indirect contribution towards the marriage:

• Direct contributions include financial contributions made towards the acquisition or improvement of the matrimonial assets
• Indirect contributions include efforts to improve or maintain the well­being of the family
• The roles of you and your spouse as financial provider or homemaker are both equally recognised because both roles must have been performed equally for the marriage to continue or flourish

» What factors matter in the division of matrimonial assets?

The Court will decide on how to divide / apportion the matrimonial assets after considering the following factors:

• Contributions made by each party towards acquiring, improving or maintaining the matrimonial assets (e.g. income and capital investment)
  • The more contributions to the asset acquisition, the more the court is likely to award
  • At the very least, a party’s greater amount of contribution would justify a greater proportion being awarded to that party
• Debt owed or obligation incurred / undertaken by one party for the joint benefit of both parties and their Children
  • The Court can reduce the amount awarded to one party by the amount of the debt that was incurred by that party
• Needs of the Children
  • For example, the needs of the Children can require that the matrimonial property not be divided and that the Children be allowed to live in the property until the youngest Child is 21 years old ­ this takes place because the Court recognises that needs of the Children are paramount
• Contributions made by each party towards the welfare of the family (e.g. homemaker, caregiver for Children / dependents)
  • This accounts for the non­financial contributions of the homemaker who helped to create and maintain a positive home environment
• Agreement between you and your spouse relating to the ownership and division of the matrimonial assets made in contemplation of Divorce
  • Whether a prenuptial agreement is recognised by the Court will depend on the unique facts of each case
• Period of rent-free occupation (or other benefit) enjoyed by one party in the matrimonial home to the exclusion of the other party
• Assistance or support (financial and non-­financial) given by one party to the other party
  • This includes the assistance or support given by one party which has helped the other party carry on an occupation or business
• Amount of maintenance paid to the former Wife