How Does It Work to Engage a Divorce Lawyer in Malaysia?

August 11, 2025Filed under: Divorce & Family Law

Most of the time, people going through a divorce will be asking what it is like to engage a divorce lawyer in Malaysia and how does it work to engage a divorce lawyer in Malaysia. In this article, we will focus on what to expect working with a divorce lawyer in Malaysia if you’re going through a divorce for non-Muslim based on the situation that you are currently facing and type of divorce for your case.

Understanding Types of Divorce

The divorce process and procedure may be a little complicated especially if you’re going through it for the first time and if the divorce is not a mutual one (contested).

So, how does it work to engage a divorce lawyer in Malaysia based on the type of divorce for your case?

Mutual Divorce (Joint Petition for Divorce)

This is the most straightforward and direct process to get a divorce in Malaysia. In short, both husband and wife must agree to get a divorce and all divorce terms must be agreed between parties.

Firstly, you’ll need to submit all required documents to your divorce lawyer such as marriage certificate, birth certificate of your children (if any), property titles (matrimonial assets, if any) and other related documents required.
Parties must come to an agreement on all the divorce terms before divorce papers can be prepared (ie Joint Petition). You may refer to the essential terms that parties must come to an agreement here.
Next, your divorce lawyer will prepare the divorce papers for parties to sign before the commissioner for oath (Pesuruhjaya Sumpah) before the legal documents will be filed in the court of Malaysia.
Finally, parties are required to attend a court hearing in the presence/assisted by your divorce lawyer. This is a process where the court will seek to determine if the divorce is mutual/consensual before allowing the divorce terms to be finalized. Additionally, court hearing may be conducted online (via Zoom usually) if the court allows/direct accordingly in view of the advancement of technology.

Do take note that for this process, the marriage must be more than 2 years. If your marriage is less than 2 years, you may read here for more info on the process to get a divorce within 2 years.

After the court hearing, you can expect to get the divorce certificate after 3 months under the law. You may get advice from your divorce lawyer if you need to get the divorce certificate as soon as possible and this has to be applied to the court.

Non-Mutual Divorce (Single Petition for Divorce)

This is where the divorce process will get slightly more complicated than a mutual divorce in Malaysia.

Firstly, you must go through marriage counselling before you can file for a single petition for divorce. That said, you can still apply for exemption from the counselling required under the law with valid grounds.
Once the marriage counselling is completed, you may proceed to file for a single petition for divorce providing ground(s) for divorce. This has to be substantiated by some kind of proofs to show that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.
Your divorce lawyer will be getting statements from you before deciding on what’s the best course of action depending on the facts.
In single petition for divorce, the applicant may request for appropriate terms in his or her favour. These terms include custody, alimony, maintenance of children, division of matrimonial assets and other terms that is appropriate.
After the filing of the legal documents to the court, you can expect parties to be able to submit replies to each other before the court directs the divorce case to hearing/trial accordingly.
During the hearing/trial, the court will have the opportunity to examine the evidence and witnesses accordingly before deciding on the requests or claims. This is when the court will make decisions and will proceed to grant the divorce or not.

Do take note that the process will take between 6-12 months to complete. This may extend further if the divorce case is complicated and highly contested.

How To Find The Right Divorce Lawyer in Malaysia?

Expertise in Divorce & Family Law

Once you have identified the type of divorce of your case and prepared the necessary to start the divorce process, the next step is to find the right lawyer in Malaysia. Not just any lawyer, but a lawyer specializing in divorce & family law for non-Muslim in Malaysia.

This is important to ensure that your divorce lawyer can advice you what are the important terms that must be included into the divorce agreement as well as what steps to take to protect your interests.

Further, a good divorce lawyer will be able to assist with the divorce proceedings ensuring the right procedure is followed especially in a single petition for divorce (contested divorce).

Reputation and Review

Be sure to check for reviews online (make sure they are genuine reviews) of the divorce lawyer in Malaysia that you are about to engage. This will give you an idea of what to expect before you engage a divorce lawyer.

Better still, you may get recommendation from your friends of family if they have any specific divorce lawyer that they have personally engaged earlier on.

Cost for Divorce

Lastly, be sure to ask about the divorce fees upfront to avoid any shock later on. This is very common. A good divorce lawyer should be able to give an estimated range of the whole divorce proceedings based on the complexity of your divorce case to ensure that you can prepare and budget accordingly.

Conclusion

Essentially, getting a divorce is not a straightforward process. More so, if the divorce is contested. Hence, it’s always advisable to seek for divorce settlement, if possible, in order to save time and cost for divorce. Talk to our divorce lawyer in Malaysia now to know your options.