Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Simple Ways to get Divorce in India

There are different laws of divorce for different religion. Hindus(which includes Sikh, Jain, Budh) are governed by Hindu Marriage Act,1955.Christians are governed by Indian Divorce Act-1869 & The Indian Christian Marriage Act,1872.Muslims are governed by Personnel laws of Divorce and also the Dissolution of Marriage Act,1939 &The Muslim Women(Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act,1986. Similarly, Parsis are governed by The Parsi Marriage & Divorce Act-1936. And there is also a secular law called Special Marriage Act,1954.

A cursory reading of the entire gamut of Indian Laws regarding Divorce makes it clear broadly that the Divorce can be obtained by two ways:

Divorce by Mutual Consent
Contested Divorce

1. Mutual Consent Divorce is a simple way of coming out of the marriage and dissolves it legally. Important requirement is the mutual consent of the husband & wife. There are two aspects on which Husband & Wife have to reach to consensus. One is the alimony or maintenance issues. As per Law there is no minimum or maximum limit of maintenance. It could be any figure or no figure. Next important consideration is the Child Custody. This can also be worked out effectively between the parties. Child Custody in Mutual Consent Divorce can be shared or joint or exclusive depending upon the understanding of the spouses.

Duration of Divorce in Mutual Consent varies from one month to six months or more from States to States and as per the High Court directions.

2. Contested Divorce
As the name suggests, you will have to contest it. Indian laws in general recognizes cruelty (Physical & Mental), Desertion (Period varies from 2 to 3 years), Unsoundness of mind( of Incurable form), Impotency, renouncing the world, etc. Aggrieved party has to take one of the above grounds of divorce and will have to file the case in the Court of appropriate jurisdiction. Party which files the case has to prove the case with support of evidence and documents. On successfully proving the case, divorce will be granted and divorce decree will be drawn up accordingly.

ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGE:
Marriage in India can also be dissolved by means of Annulment. Procedure for annulment is same as that of Divorce except that the grounds for annulment are different than that of divorce. Grounds for annulment are fraud, pregnancy of wife by person other than the husband, impotency prior to the marriage and subsist even at the time of filing the case.

Once annulment is granted by the Indian Court, status of the parties remains as it was prior to the marriage.

VOID MARRIAGE:
There are certain form of marriages which are null and void despite the performance /solemnization of the same. Marriage is void under following circumstances:-

a) neither party has a spouse living at the time of the marriage

b) the parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship, unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two;

c) the parties are not sapindas of each other, unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two.

Time duration for obtaining divorce varies from case to case & place to place. Generally speaking, contested divorce proceedings take approximately 18 to 24 months. Mutual Consent Divorce varies from 4 weeks to 7 months and more. In Delhi, Mutual Consent Divorce is possible with in two to four weeks.

Generally speaking procedure for obtaining Divorce in all forms of law (based on religion) is same with only bit of variation.
For More Details Contact Daniel & Daniel @ 9884883318.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Foregin Divorce and Indian Validity

After three years of banging doors at each other, it was time for Prakash to end his marriage, or so he thought. Stationed at Chicago on a work permit, Prakash realised just how hassle free ending his marriage would be in a foreign court where all he had to do was cite "irretrievable breakdown of marriage'', a clause only being considered to be introduced in the Hindu Marriage Act. So while Prakash got the divorce decree, his shocked wife decided she wouldn't take away the Mrs from her name so easily. So, she came back home to Hyderabad and moved the local family court seeking that the Chicago court verdict be declared null and void. And she succeeded by virtue of the fact that foreign divorces are not considered valid in India unless the grounds and proceedings are in compliance with the Indian law. Also the verdict needs to be validated in India. However, it is not a tangible victory. For, while the wife got her Mrs tag back, Prakash continues to live in Chicago as a 'single, divorced male'. In legal speak, his marital status swings between married and separated, but socially he is back in the groom market looking at giving life a second chance. Hundreds of nautical miles from Chicago, another Indian couple settled in Singapore decided to call it quits just that the wife was not quite ready, like in the Chicago case. Unwilling to accept the verdict, the wife came to India to get her divorce declared null and void. With a judgment in her favour now, declaring them to be still married, she is currently awaiting the execution of the court order. "If both husband and wife agree for a divorce even in foreign land, they can get it by dissolving the marriage under the provisions of the concerned marriage act. But in cases where one of the partners does not want a divorce, a petition seeking to get it declared null and void can be filed here," said Anita Jain, family court advocate. And this has resulted in creating a rare marital status: legally divorced abroad but married in India. Lawyers say that when individuals get married in India as per any Indian form of marriage, then the dissolution of the same should also happen through the Indian family court which has jurisdiction over the place where the marriage was solemnised. It could also be resolved in the family court which has jurisdiction over where they last stayed together. Thus, it becomes possible for couples to seek separation even when they are abroad, just that it takes a wrong direction when one of them does not consent to the separation. But even a reversed separation decree has failed to yield much for the disgruntled women in both the mentioned cases. In case of the Singapore couple, for instance, the husband though still married to his wife as ruled by the local family court in Hyderabad, has gone ahead and tied the knot again. So whatever happens to the Mrs after she wins this court battle? The woman with a nullified foreign divorce decree in hand can claim a share in the husband's property and also slap charges of dowry harassment and similar sections on the man, one reason why women continue to demand that divorces be declared null and void. "It has happened in a few cases. The woman has refused to drop her married tag to be able to claim her husband's property and also ensure that he cannot visit India with pending cases against his name," says Anita Jain. In another case, however, the aggrieved wife who got the divorce declared null and void at the Secunderabad court is now trying that the orders be served to her husband in the US. She is also trying for bigamy charges to be pressed against her husband. Not only is the process long drawn, it is almost impractical to assume that a local court summons would be binding on a person settled or working abroad. To Have a legal Talk with Team Daniel & Daniel Helpline:- 9962999008.