Divorce by Mutual Consent
How-to Guide on Conditions, Procedure and Laws in India
Divorce by mutual consent in India, as given in the Section 13-B of the Hindu marriage Act, 1955, is considered to be the most direct, and simple procedure to end a marriage. It’s truly a win-win for both parties.
No more emotional arguments, hard feelings, or ugly fights in the court hall. Both spouses agree upon the desired outcome and draft agreement to share the financial and other settlements. Whether it is child custody, maintenance, alimony, or sharing of business earnings – the settlement is mutual.
The mutual consent divorce petition can be filed in the form of affidavit in any of the city court or district court depends on where the spouses lived last together.
Once the petition has been filed, the Court will record the hearing of both Husband and Wife and will be given 6 month duration for the second motion to see if there’s any possibility of reconciliation and that the parties agree for divorce.
If the spouses could not resolve their differences and there is no possibility of reconciliation, then the parties can reappear in the court at the end of 6 month and communicate their decision together.
It is then the Court shall grant the mutual consent decree – since there is no way to reinstate the broken marriage as the parties themselves have no interest in living together.
If either of the spouse i.e. husband or wife withdraws the petition, then the other party can go for a contested divorce. Re-marriage without a divorce decree from the court is a punishable offence under the Indian laws.
The cost of the mutual consent divorce proceedings vary from place to place and also the complexity of the case in terms of settlement agreement.
A mutual consent divorce, as per the Hindu Marriage Act, section 13B, can be filed if:
- The couple is staying apart for over a year.
- Can’t manage to stay together.
- Mutual agreement that the marriage has collapsed.
It’s a mature way to handle relationships than spitting at each other in public. The procedure is as follows:
- Filing Join Petition: both parties sign petition and file it in court.
- Recording of statements of both parties, signed on paper, all before Hon’ble Court.
- Reconciliation Period: Six months’ time to change mind (as marriage is considered a valuable institution)
- At the end of reconciliation: second motion if parties still want the divorce.
- Grant of the Divorce by Humble Court.
- We can help smoothen out your process for divorce by mediation and counselling for a quicker and less draining mutual consent divorce.