What documents must you file to start the Divorce?

by | Feb 1, 2024 | Media

What documents must you file to start the Divorce process in Court?

To start your divorce case, you must file these documents in Court and pay the applicable filing fees:

  1. Writ for Divorce, Statement of Claim and Statement of Particulars- The Statement of Claim must specify on which reasons (adultery, unreasonable behaviour, 3 years’ separation with consent or 4 years’ separation) you are relying on to ask the Court to grant you a divorce. In the Statement of Particulars, give details of the fact that you are relying on.
  2. Proposed Parenting Plan if you’ve children below 21 – File an Agreed Parenting Plan if you and your spouse (the Defendant) have managed to agree on the care arrangements for your children after the divorce.
  3. Proposed Matrimonial Property Plan -If there is a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat to be divided between you and the Defendant. File an Agreed Matrimonial Property Plan if you’ve managed to agree on what to do with the HDB flat after the divorce.
  4. Acknowledgment of Service
  5. Memorandum of Appearance

After filing these documents, you’ll need to serve them on your spouse (who will be the Defendant in the case). This is to notify him that you’ve started the divorce case in Court.

You must serve the sealed copies in one of these ways:

  • By personal service, meaning that the documents must be given to your spouse directly by someone authorised to do so, such as a Court process server;
  • By registered post to the Defendant’s address, but only if your spouse signs and returns the Acknowledgment of Service to you;
  • By the Integrated Electronic Litigation System (eLitigation) on your spouse’s lawyer, if he or she has one, but only if your spouse’s lawyer indicates on the documents that he or she accepts service on behalf of your spouse.

So, there you have it, some basic information on: What documents must you file to start the Divorce process in Court? If you need a Divorce lawyer in Singapore, I’m offering a free 30-minute consultation to help you figure out if I’m the right fit for your case. Learn more about what’s involved in Divorce consultation fees.

Additionally, if you’d like to find out what to prepare for your first divorce mediation session, you can check out Divorce Reality’s article here.

About the author

About the author

Jonathan Wong

Jonathan is the Founder and Managing Director of Tembusu Law. He is also the founder of LawGuide Singapore, a prominent legaltech startup which successfully created and launched Singapore’s first legal chatbot in 2017.