Matrimonial Petitions — Divorce Petitions, Mutual Consent Divorce Petitions

Go to the Bandra Family Court on a weekday morning and you will see couples sitting on opposite benches, each with a file and an advocate. Some are fighting over every allegation; others have already agreed on everything and have come only to be told the marriage is over. The law treats these two groups very differently, and so does the drafter. One needs a petition that proves a ground against the other spouse; the other needs a petition that records an agreement. Which petition do you draft, and what must each one contain?

In two minutes

A divorce petition is a verified civil pleading presented to the district (Family) Court: a contested petition pleads one statutory ground against the respondent under s.13 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, while a mutual consent petition under s.13B is signed by both spouses and pleads one year of separate living, inability to live together and agreement to dissolve.

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