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Muslim Divorce

THE DISSOLUTION OF A MARRIAGE SOLEMNISED IN ACCORDANCE WITH MUSLIM LAW

The dissolution of a Muslim marriage can be divided under the following categories: Talak, Khuluk, Taklik, and Fasakh.

Before commencing divorce proceedings and filing an originating summons for divorce, an applicant has to complete a registration form and file it at the Syariah Court located at 8 Lengkok Bahru, Singapore 159052. During the registration process, the applicant also has to submit the following documents:

A copy of their marriage certificate;
A copy of their identification card (front and bank) or passport;
A copy of their children’s birth certificate, if any;
A copy of any personal protection order and/or maintenance order and/or conversion letter to Islam, if any.

The registration form will take 4 – 6 weeks to be processed and the Syariah Court will thereafter fix a date for parties to attend marriage counselling. If counselling fails and if the applicant is minded to proceed, that applicant will need to file his Originating Summons and Case Statement (annexing his latest CPF documents and standard query from HDB) as well as his Proposed / Agreed Parenting Plan. The duly completed Case Statement must explain the grounds for divorce. The Applicant will then be known as the Plaintiff and the spouse, the Defendant.

The Syariah Court will serve the Plaintiff’s Case Statement on the Defendant and will fix a date for mediation. The Defendant will be required to complete his/her Memorandum of Defence by the mediation date.

Before mediation, the Plaintiff must consider the following:-

plans to solve the disagreement;
claim(s) against the Defendant and an idea of the Defendant’s reactions to these claims;
the probability of winning his/her court case.

Before mediation, the parties may exchange the following documents:

Estimation of the value of their property
Most recent CPF statement about Public Housing information
Most recent CPF statement displaying the balances of each party’s Ordinary, Special, Medisave, Retirement and investment accounts
Most recent HDB/Bank Statement on Mortgage loan
Housing Loan Eligibility

The mediation is handled by an impartial mediator whose goal is to reach an amicable settlement for both spouses. If parties can settle the matter amicably, the Court will finalize the termination of the marriage in accordance with the terms as agreed by the parties.

If parties cannot settle the matter, the Court will fix the matter for pre-trial conferences and give directions for parties to file their respective affidavits leading to a hearing.

After the affidavits have been filed, the Court will fix a hearing, where the attendance of both parties and their lawyers, if any, are mandatory. At the end of the hearing, the President of the Court will make the necessary orders. In the case that a spouse is dissatisfied with the court decision, they may file an appeal.

The Syariah Court will then issue a date for parties to collect their Divorce Certificate and Decree.

Muslim Divorce

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