[Divorce] How to get a divorce in Malaysia?
When you walked down the aisle holding your partner’s hand in few years back, you were imagining the future of you two: having a small family, raising the kids and getting old together; in simple words: live happily ever after.
But somehow at some point, you might find that your partner might not be the right one. There are fights and quarrels and things were just not they were used to be anymore. So, you have doubts, and then you decided to pursue another kind of life that you want it now.
But where do we start with?
In this article, we will briefly introduce the ways of getting a divorce in Malaysia and we will discuss other matters in details in our posts later.
In Malaysia, there are two types of divorce petition in Malaysia:
- Uncontested Divorce; and
- Contested Divorce.
1. Uncontested Divorce
Uncontested Divorce can be done by joint petition. This means that both parties agreed to get a divorce and also agreed on all the related matters, including spouse maintenance, child maintenance, child custody, the division of property so and so. Meaning, if you and your partner agreed to get a divorce but if you can’t agree on the terms, you can’t go by joint petition. To file a joint petition, both of you must agree on ALL terms.
Advantages:
a. Low cost. Around RM3000 to RM6000 (Source: The Star)
b. Time saving. It takes from 3 months to 6 months.*
2. Contested Divorce
Contested Divorce referring to the situation where there is no consent from either one of the parties. It happens when your spouse disagree to divorce; or agreed to divorce but couldn’t agree on the terms. So you still can proceed to file a petition to the court even without the consent of your spouse. Yes, you can.
Disadvantages:
a. Costly, but it depends on the facts of each case. If your partner also hired a lawyer to appear before judge, it may cost RM25,000 and above; but if you’re unable to contact your partner and there is no response to the divorce petition, then it might cost RM6,000 and above.
b. Time consuming. It can take 6 months and above, even years.
So, you might need to think twice before go for a divorce and decide on which path you are going to take. That is all for now. We will discuss more in the next post!