Divorce Jurisdiction
Where should I file a divorce petition?
Can I transfer divorce petition from one court to another court?
There is lot of flexibility to file a divorce petition for both the parties to choose a family court from the any of the five locations mentioned below. So, parties are the liberty to decide on this aspect. However reasonable judgment should be applied to consider following aspects before choosing a location for filing so that the divorce petition can be adjudicated quickly;
- Ease of Travel: The location of the family court where the party filing divorce petition should be easier to travel for both the parties to attend the proceedings with short travel time.
- For working professionals, it is very difficult to get a leave from the company to attend the court proceedings as they will have to plan in advance, so care should be taken to choose family court location which is easy to attend and to handle job easily.
- Convenient for children: To produce a child before before court upon instructions or for a parent attending a legal proceeding, it is very difficult to take children along as some people prefer not to leave them alone in home, during those circumstances, the place convenient to travel with children with short travel time can be considered from the following places.
- Cost: If the petitioner is working at some place and files divorce case in family court all together at a different state, then the cost to attend the court proceedings will be huge, so consider the cost as well for both the parties.
The five locations available to choose for petitioner are as follows;
- Place where the marriage was solemnized: In this case, the place where the parties got married or where the marriage got registered. In case of a court marriage, a family court in such jurisdiction of such court will be the place.
- Place where the respondent party at the time of presentation of petition resides: On the date of presentation of the divorce petition, wherever the respondent is residing, a family court in such jurisdiction of such court will be the place.
- Place where the parties to the marriage last resided together: Whichever place, the parties to the divorce last resided together irrespective of where they are living now, a family court in such jurisdiction will be the place.
- In wife’s case, seeking for divorce, where she is residing on the date of presentation of petition: In case of wife, wherever she is residing at the time of presentation of the petition irrespective of the reasons, she is at the liberty to file in a family court in the that place.
- Place where petitioner is residing and the respondent is present in a foreign country: It is very common for one of the parties to the marriage to live in a different country for employment, in such cases, the petitioner is at the liberty to file a divorce petition in family court where she is residing.
- Place where petitioner is residing and the respondent is not known to be alive for more than seven years or more: There will be cases where one of the party to the marriage does not know the whereabouts of the other who would have normally heard, if such party was alive, will file a divorce. In those cases, the petitioner is at the liberty to file a divorce petition in a family court at the place of her residence.
Applicable laws for Jurisdiction of Family Courts to file divorce case in India:
The applicable are as follows;
1. Section 19 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955.
2. Section 31 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
3. Section 4 of the Divorce Act, 1869.
4. Section 29 of Parsi Marriage Act 1936.
Also, if you are interested, go through these sections