What to do if Your Spouse is Uncooperative during a Divorce Case?

Matrimonial disputes are an unavoidable reality of family life. However, sometimes, these disagreements can lead to divorce among couples. While divorce is still a touchy subject in India, it is not the unspeakable thing it was a few decades ago.

Still, due to the almost taboo status of divorce, especially in middle-class society, many people are unaware of a lot of things regarding the procedure for divorce in our country. In this blog, we try to address one common question people have – what to do if your partner doesn’t want to file for divorce.

Types of Divorce in India

The various India divorce law mandates that there are two types of divorce – uncontested divorce and contested divorce. An uncontested or mutual divorce is where both partners agree to the divorce. This type of divorce is usually faster and less stressful.

An uncontested divorce, on the other hand, is when one partner wants a divorce and the other objects. If your partner is uncooperative during a divorce case, your divorce case then likely falls into this category. This type of divorce is very resource intensive, both in terms of time and money. Not to mention the mental toll it takes on people who go through them.

How to File a Contested Divorce

While we are still going to explain the whole process to you as clearly as possible, it is imperative you hire a divorce lawyer to represent you from reputed firms like lex solution. That way, they’ll be able to guide you through the various legalities that surround a contested divorce case. They can also take care of filing the paperwork while you and your family can focus on dealing with the emotions that might arise.

The procedure for filing a contested divorce petition is like this:

1. Preparing the petition

Your divorce lawyer will prepare a divorce petition to submit to the court after understanding the facts about your case.

2. Filing

The spouse seeking the divorce is required to file the divorce petition in court as per the divorce rules in India. Your lawyer can do this for you, along with attaching all relevant and required documents. These include documents like proof of marriage, reason and proof of the valid ground for divorce, financials of both spouses, an affidavit, and a vakalatnama that bears your signature.

3. Scrutiny and Notice to Defendant

After the petition is filed, a date is fixed by the court to do their due diligence, and a date is fixed for the hearing. After hearing the opening arguments of the petitioner, the court issues a notice to the uncooperative party if it is satisfied with the validity of the documents and grounds for filing the divorce.

4. Reply to Petition

The defendant (uncooperative partner) has to file a reply to the divorce petition as they could face more legal troubles if they don’t abide by the divorce law in India.

5. Settlement Stage and Court-Mandated Mediation

The courts usually direct the spouses involved then to go for mediation and try to solve their issues. If that doesn’t work then the divorce proceedings continue.

6. Evidence cross-examination

After the court-mandated mediation fails, both parties are required to submit all the evidence that the court examines. Both parties, or rather their lawyers are also allowed to cross-examine each other’s witnesses and evidence.

7. Final Hearing

After all the evidence is recorded and witnesses cross-examined, both parties are required to submit their final arguments to the court which would then fix a date for the final hearing. On this day, the court announces its verdict. However, there exist plenty of safeguards in the rules for divorce in India, and either party can appeal against the decision within three months from the date of the judgment if they are unsatisfied with the verdict.

What are the Grounds for Filing a Contested Divorce?

There are certain grounds on reasons that have to be met for a person to file a contested divorce in India, irrespective of whether they arise out of matrimonial disputes, or just two people growing apart. This use of the fault theory – that one person has to be at fault for the other to be right is now being criticized by many forward-thinking people, but for now, it is what it is.

So, the common grounds for filing a contents divorce as per the various divorce laws India include:

1. Cruelty: This applies to both mental and physical torture or abuse.
2. Adultery
3. Conversion
4. Mental Disorder
5. Venereal Disease: This includes both transmittable sexual diseases and other communicable diseases like leprosy
6. Renouncement: In case the partner has left worldly matters and gone off on a spiritual pursuit
7. Presumption of Death: If the whereabouts of the partner are not known for a period of 7 years or more.

Conclusion

Despite all these procedures in place to make the process of resolving divorce cases arising out of matrimonial disputes easier, there are still ways an uncooperative partner might delay the final hearing. They can miss hearings, be late and get hearings postponed, and much more.

That is why we always recommend hiring the services of a reputable law firm like Lexsolution. A lawyer can take care of all these issues that might arise and help you go through the process without having to take all of the stress on yourself alone.

FAQs

1. Which is the best law firm in Chandigarh for divorce cases?

Lex Solutions is the best law firm in Chandigarh for divorce cases.

2. What happens if the husband beats the wife instead of giving a divorce?

If that happens, the wife can file an FIR with the police and get a medical report to establish the physical torture. The husband will be charged under the IPC and Domestic violence act. Then the grounds for cruelty can also be added if it’s not there already.

3. Are there many Indian divorce laws?

Yes. There are quite a few divorce laws in India to cater to people from different religious communities. There is the Hindu Marriage Act, the Muslim Personal Laws, the Special Marriage Act, and a lot more.

4. How long does it take to get a contested divorce in India?

While the general time taken for a contested divorce to be granted is 18 months, it can even take up to 5 years in India.

5. How much alimony can I get as a wife out of a contested divorce?

As a wife or otherwise, maintenance, alimony, and child support are decided on a case-by-case basis by the court alone. To get the best deal out of your contested divorce on alimony, you can take the advice of a divorce lawyer from the top law firm in Chandigarh.

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