Judicial Separation

A couple may consider filing for Judicial Separation under section 101(1) of the Women’s Charter if they still wish to remain married for certain reasons, but are not limited to: –

1. Parties or their families have strong cultural or religious beliefs that are strongly against divorce as a social stigma
2. Retains the prospects for any reconciliation
3. The Court is more inclined to uphold the terms in the Order of Court in future proceedings
4. To ensure parties comply with the court order relating to ancillary terms. An Order of Court will protect your rights and is more effective in compelling the other Party to obey, such as by filing for an application for contempt of Court against the other Party for ignoring or breaching the terms in the Order of Court
5. The couple proceeds with the application for Judicial Separation under the grounds of irretrievable breakdown of marriage:-

• Unreasonable behaviour
• Adultery
• Three (3) years’ separation with consent
• Four (4) years’ separation
• Two (2) years’ desertion

What is Judicial separation?

When the Family Justice grants an Order for Judicial Separation, it is an official court order granting a married couple to live separately. The Parties will still be considered legally married while the Family Justice Courts address ancillary matters such as  division of matrimonial assets, division of HDB flat or other properties, custody care and control of the child(ren), spousal and child(ren) maintenance and other issues, just like in a divorce proceedings.

2-stage Process for Singapore Judicial Separation

In Singapore Judicial Separation process, there are two (2) components to complete before the Family Justice Courts issues a Judgment/Order for Judicial Separation: –

1. Judicial Separation to grant Parties to live separately
2. Ancillary Matters arising out of a marriage- The issues of custody, care and control, access and maintenance of Child(ren) of the marriage; division of matrimonial assets and HDB or private properties, spousal maintenance, costs etc must have final conclusion. To record the concluded terms reached by Parties’ settlement by way of private negotiation or court mediation, a draft consent order or draft interim judgment; if terms concluded by judge’s decision after hearing the case at the Ancillary Matters Hearing, an Ancillary Matters Order or an Order of Court will be issued. 

Eligibility

To apply for judicial irretrievably, the couple must be married for at least three (3) years and that the marriage has irretrievably broken down due to at least one of the following reasons:

1. The other party has committed adultery and the applicant finds it intolerable to live with him/her
2. The other party has behaved in such a way that the applicant cannot reasonably be expected to live with him/her
3. The parties to the marriage have lived apart for at least 3 years before filing for judicial separation and the other party consents to it
4. The parties to the marriage have lived apart for at least 4 years before filing for judicial separation
5. The other party has deserted the applicant for a continuous period of at least two (2) years immediately preceding the filing of the writ for judicial separation. (You may seek an expert Family lawyer’s advice if you wish to file your Judicial Separation application based on your spouse’s desertion as the Court may find it practically unable to grant you a separation when your spouse cannot even be found. For instance, if a husband deserted his wife for a number of years, the Court may not think it is a separation to grant a judicial separation order)

Steps for Uncontested Judicial Separation

If the parties agree on the reasons to use to file for a judicial separation and also agree on all the ancillary matters, the court will grant the uncontested Judicial Separation.

Step 1– The Parties will discuss and come to a full agreement on who should be the Plaintiff and who should be the Defendant. They will discuss on which reason to use for the Statement of Particulars from one of the five (5) reasons stated above.

The Parties may concurrently discuss on the ancillary issues at this stage. The terms of settlement for custody, care and control, access and maintenance of Child(ren) of the marriage; division of matrimonial assets and HDB or private properties, spousal maintenance etc is depend entirely on the Parties’ own discussion and opinions. They may discuss on sharing the costs for Uncontested Judicial Separation.

The Parties will mutually research and agree on which Divorce Lawyer to engage for their Uncontested Judicial Separation, parties need not incur additional legal fees to engage another divorce lawyer.

Step 2– the Defendant would most probably know the settlement terms at this stage and will not dispute the Statement of Particulars and Draft Consent Order. The lawyer will draft the Judicial Separation documents accordingly to the agreed terms, unless Parties request for legal consultation which is chargeable, or that the agreed terms are illogical and not according to law.

The lawyer will guide the Parties to sign their respective portions of the Judicial Separation documents and e-file the whole set of the Judicial Separation documents consisting of:

1. Writ for Judicial Separation
2. Statement of Claim
3. Marriage Certificate
4. Copy of the search result on information relation to bankruptcy proceedings of the Parties
5. Draft Consent Order with Agreed Ancillary Issues duly signed by both parties
6. Duly Signed CPF Checklists for the Plaintiff and the Defendant

How much does it cost for a Uncontested Judicial Separation?

For uncontested Judicial Separation, Yeo & Associates LLC charges a flat rate of S$2000 to $2500 (with ancillary issues). This includes: –

1. drafting of court documents
2. filing of documents to the courts
3. extracting Interim Judgment and Final Judgment for Divorce

What sets Yeolaw Family Lawyers’ Uncontested Judicial Separation Package is that it includes not just drafting of court documents and filing of documents to the courts. The full list of services is as follows: –

1. Professional legal advice on client’s legal entitlement under the current family law, legislation and on the Family Justice Courts’ procedures
2. Information gathering and analysis of documents for the purpose of recommending best solution and terms to client’s unique situation
3. Negotiation, discussion, or friendly talk to other spouse to work on the terms to ensure higher possibility of settlement
4. Drafting full set of court documents
5. Filing the signed Judicial Separation court documents in the Family Justice Courts of Singapore
6. Monitoring the timeline and extracting the Interim Judgment and Order for Judicial Separation

After the grant of Judgment of Judicial Separation

If Ancillary matters are NOT Settled

After the granting of the Order for Judicial Separation, the court will proceed to make orders for the ancillary issues that have not been agreed upon.

Ancillary Matters arising out of a marriage- The issues of custody, care and control, access and maintenance of Child(ren) of the marriage; division of matrimonial assets and HDB or private properties, spousal maintenance, costs etc must have final conclusion. To record the concluded terms reached by Parties’ settlement by way of private negotiation or court mediation, a draft consent order; if terms concluded by judge’s decision after hearing the case at the Ancillary Matters Hearing, an Ancillary Matters Order or Order of Court will be issued.

Reconciliation after Grant of Judicial Separation Order

Parties are required to file for a Rescission of Judgment of Judicial Separation should they decide to reconcile after the grant of the Order. The effect of filing this Recission is that the marriage is back to normal and the parties cannot rely on the Order of Court for Ancillary Matters or Consent Orders to enforce against each other had the Ancillary Matters or Consent Orders not been performed earlier.

However, if parts of the Ancillary Matters or Consent Orders or all of it have been performed, the Court Order cannot be reversed in that the parties need not put the monies that they have divided earlier back into the reconciled family.

Divorce

If the judicially separated Parties cannot reconcile or for other reasons wish to proceed with Divorce to terminate their legal marriage, they will have to commence Divorce Proceedings. During the Divorce Proceedings, parties chose not to relitigate on the ancillary matters stated in the Ancillary Court Order that has been obtained during the Judicial Separation Court Proceedings earlier, unless there has been material changes of circumstances or other issues that have arisen to call for a change of the terms.

Judicial Separation is not common in Singapore and may be complex area of law. Call us on 62203400 to discuss your options further and on the necessary steps to be taken to better protect your interest.