Court Says Yes, But Not Yet: The 3-Month Wait After Divorce

Court Says Yes, But Not Yet: The 3-Month Wait After Divorce

You may have heard that you need to wait for 3 months after a divorce hearing before you can get an official divorce in Malaysia.

You and your soon to be ex-spouse agreed to the divorce terms. The Court has reviewed the divorce terms and granted the divorce (known as decree nisi).

But why do you still need to wait for another 3 more months before your divorce is official (also known as decree nisi made absolute) under the law?

Under the divorce law for non-Muslims in Malaysia, specifically the Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976, it is stated under Section 61 as follows:

Decree nisi and proceedings thereafter  

61. (1) Every decree of divorce shall in the first instance be a decree nisi and shall not be made absolute before the expiration of three months from its grant unless the court by general or special order from time to time fixes a shorter period.

In simple terms, this means that after the Court has pronounced or granted a divorce order (known as decree nisi in this case), the divorce can only be official 3 months later. That said this 3-month period can be shorten and this is entirely up to the Court to decide.

Why 3-Month Wait?

You may be asking why there is such a law and why you can’t get your divorce official right away.

The rationale behind this law is simple. It is the intention of the law makers to ensure that parties can always think twice on their decision or to allow them to reverse their decision if they want to. This is also known as a ‘cooling-down’ period for couples.

Essentially, this is to encourage parties to reconcile and also an attempt to save marriages especially if children are involved.

How To Skip the 3-Month Wait?

What if you may want to expedite on the divorce process and get an official divorce as soon as possible. So, what can you do in this case?

In such event, you may need to provide a valid reason to the Court in order to skip the 3-month wait. Do take note that this is entirely up to the Court’s discretion based on the reason provided.

In practice, the Court will usually allow parties to skip the wait with valid reason, for example, if any party decides to remarry as soon as possible or if there are any other special circumstances.

Conclusion

If you have decided to get a divorce as soon as possible and wish to skip the 3-month period as mentioned, you are advised to inform your divorce lawyer accordingly in order to apply to the Court for the same.

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