Singapore: On Monday (November 1), the option of divorce by mutual agreement was proposed as a proposed amendment to the Women’s Charter that may allow couples to “share joint responsibility” for the breakdown of their marriage.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said at a press conference that this can be cited if both spouses agree to divorce.
Currently, the only reason for approving a divorce is the “irretrievable breakdown” of the marriage. This must be proved by one or more of five facts-adultery, unreasonable behavior, abandonment, consent to separation for three years, or four years of separation without consent.
This is one of several proposed changes related to marriage and divorce procedures that were introduced in a bill in Parliament on Monday.
The “strong feedback” of divorced persons indicated that one of the facts based on fault—adultery, unreasonable behavior, and abandonment—has to be cited, which may “cause both parties to accuse each other and dig into the past to prove the facts,” said Doctors Without Borders in the announcement.
The ministry added that citing the fact of separation also means that the couple must put their lives on hold for three to four years, which may be detrimental to the children and the couple.
The Minister of Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said that the “starting point” for introducing the divorce agreement option is to reduce quarrels.
“The reason we say this helps us reduce the quarrels in the process is because the couple will carefully consider whether the marriage can continue,” she told reporters via Zoom last week.
“And when they see an irreconcilable breakdown in their marriage, they may feel that both parties need to take joint responsibility for the breakdown of the marriage.
“Introducing the sixth fact of divorce, the two parties agree to divorce. In the case of irretrievable marriage, this will be provided for them.”
Ms. Sun said that couples experiencing uncontested divorce or simplified divorce procedures are likely to consider this new option, which accounts for about 60% of couples applying for divorce.
“When they file an application based on the sixth fact, we recommend that they file the application as the applicant and the respondent. Compared with the current litigation procedure, the two parties even file the application as the plaintiff or the defendant. This makes this The process is very confrontational,” she added.
She said that these amendments stemmed from a year-long consultation conducted by Doctors Without Borders.
“At the same time, in our focus group discussions with stakeholders and divorces, we learned that for some divorces, they said that the current divorce process sometimes leads them to raise unpleasant situations in their marriage.”
Ms. Sun said that some couples may still have the responsibility of raising children together, and the quarrel during the divorce process “will not help them” to reconcile their differences and consider the next step.
MSF said in a press release that parties who file for a divorce on the grounds of mutual consent must submit to the court the reason for the breakdown of the marriage, the efforts to reconcile, and the consideration of children and finances.
The court may then order further mediation, consultation or planning.
If the settlement is a “reasonable possibility,” the court must also reject the agreement between the parties.
“The safeguards that will be retained at present are: the minimum marriage period before divorce can be filed is three years; the period before the divorce is three months; and the existing five facts are retained for parties who are more willing to rely on them, “none The border doctor said.
MSF said that another proposed amendment would require all divorced parents with minor children to participate in a mandatory parenting program before filing for divorce.
Currently, only parents who apply for divorce or disputed divorce under the standard track can participate in the program.
Proposed amendments to marriage procedures
Other proposed amendments to the Women’s Charter include changes to marriage procedures.
If accepted, the choice of having a wedding through the video link will become a permanent choice for couples whose at least one partner is a Singaporean citizen or permanent resident.
Ms. Sun said that the couple still need to be in Singapore in person.
As part of the COVID-19 law, a solemn oath via video link was introduced in May 2020.
Ms. Sun said that document verification or pre-ceremony steps can also be carried out online.
“In addition, if someone is worried that this might be a convenient marriage, the registrar can also ask the couple to be present in person so that the registrar can verify the documents,” she said.
“These safeguards still exist, even if we verify some documents online to facilitate couples.”
The proposed amendment also gives the registrar discretion to allow one party to apply for cancellation of the marriage notice “with good reason.”
At present, the marriage notice will expire after three months, and there is no requirement to cancel the notice.
MSF said, but in some cases it may be necessary to cancel the notice. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, couples cannot continue their marriage.
Under other proposed changes, religious ceremonies will also be allowed to be held before, during, and after the solemnity to allow couples to be “more flexible” in planning the ceremony.
