What Should You Do If You Receive a Divorce Petition in Malaysia?
What Should You Do If You Receive a Divorce Petition in Malaysia?
If you are reading this, it is likely that you may have received a legal notice or documents indicating that the documents to be divorce papers. You may be thinking what should you do if you receive a divorce petition in Malaysia and wish to know what are your options. In this article, you will learn to determine what kind of divorce documents that you are receiving and how to respond to it.
Types of Divorce Procedure in Malaysia (Non Muslim)
Before we proceed to answer this question, it is important to note that there are essentially 2 types of divorce procedure in Malaysia for non-Muslim divorce. This is commonly known as:
- Joint Petition for Divorce (Mutual Divorce)
- Single Petition for Divorce (Non-Mutual Divorce)
So, what should you do if you receive a divorce petition in Malaysia and when should you appoint a lawyer to protect your rights and interest?
To answer this question, it is important to first determine what legal documents you have received from the lawyer appointed by your spouse.
Joint Petition for Divorce
In the event if you receive a joint petition for divorce, the heading of the documents shall state ‘Petisyen Perceraian Bersama’ (Joint Petition for Divorce in Bahasa Malaysia). This is basically a proposal from your spouse to seek for divorce settlement.
What You Can Do
In such circumstance, there is usually no need for you to appoint a divorce lawyer yet since you may communicate with the lawyer or law firm directly to negotiate on the divorce terms. Consent from both parties is required before the lawyer can proceed to file the divorce papers in the court.
On the other hand, if you are not comfortable communicating with the lawyer appointed by your spouse or you wish to understand your rights better in order to negotiate a better term for yourself, it is advisable to engage a divorce lawyer to propose your terms in order to protect your rights better.
Timeline to Respond
There is no timeline or any time limit to respond to a joint petition divorce proposal in Malaysia although most of the time you will be given 7 or 14 days to respond. That said, it is highly advisable to respond to the divorce proposal in order to seek for divorce settlement.
Duration of Joint Petition
Generally, it is advisable to seek for divorce settlement and file for joint petition for divorce in order to save time and cost for divorce. If parties can come to an agreement, the joint petition for divorce process will take less than 6 months usually.
Single Petition for Divorce
In the event if you receive a single petition for divorce, the heading of the documents shall state ‘Petisyen Perceraian’ (Divorce Petition in Bahasa Malaysia). This is usually accompanied by other legal documents and generally there are more documents received compared to a joint petition for divorce.
Other than that, you will also realise that you are required to attend or present yourself in the court (or appoint a divorce lawyer to represent yourself) for the first case management in the court or hearing (depending on the status of your case). This will be stated in the divorce papers/cover letter prepared by the opposing lawyer.
What You Can Do
In this scenario, it is important to find and engage a divorce lawyer in order to understand your case and rights better. Since time is already running and there is a deadline for you to find a lawyer to represent/defend you in the court, it is advisable to seek and engage a divorce lawyer soonest possible in order for your divorce lawyer to have sufficient time to understand and prepare reply/defence for your case accordingly.
In the event if you do not wish to get a divorce, you will still have to take action to defend the petition.
Timeline to Respond
You will have 21 days to reply to the single petition that you have received. It is extremely important to take note that you should not ignore these divorce papers or documents completely (single petition for divorce).
Failing to appear in the court or appointing a lawyer to represent you may result in the court granting orders in favour of your spouse against you.
Duration of Single Petition
In single petition for divorce, this will usually take 6-12 months (or more if it is complicated) to complete the divorce process since this process is procedurally lengthier and more complex.
Summary
In essence, it is highly advisable to engage a divorce lawyer in the event if you receive any legal documents from your spouse and/or lawyer of your spouse. This is to ensure that your rights are protected and in order for you to know your stand better especially if you are not comfortable communicating with the lawyer of your spouse.
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