The divorce process

Dear Mrs Macaulay,

My spouse has filed a petition for nullity of marriage. Can you say what document is to be filed for the annulment to be granted? And how long will it take to get the final document so I can remarry if I choose to do so?

I note from your very sparse letter, that your husband has filed a petition for the Supreme Court to pronounce that his marriage to you is a nullity. I assume that he set out his grounds for making such an application, which are provided in Section 4 of the Matrimonial Causes Act and also in Section 3 of the Marriage Act as the Regulations require, for a properly prepared petition over which the court would correctly exercise its jurisdiction to hear and decide whether the grounds are sufficiently proved to the satisfaction of the judge for the decree nisi of nullity of marriage to be pronounced. Then six weeks thereafter, the application for the decree nisi of nullity of the marriage to be made absolute may be filed and if all the necessary requirements are met, then finally, the decree would be made absolute. Either you or your husband may make this latter application.

If you and your husband produced children during your marriage, then the court would not make the decree nisi absolute, unless the judge is satisfied that arrangements for their care and upbringing have been made and that they are satisfactory or are the best which can be devised in the circumstances, or a satisfactory undertaking is given by both or either party to deal with this issue before the court within a specified period of time, or it is necessary for the decree to be made absolute without delay, or finally, if it is impracticable for the parties to make such arrangements.

You have asked what documents are to be filed. But it is your husband who filed; he is the petitioner and not you. Apart from his petition, which must contain all that the Rules require, it also requires a Certificate of Truth. Believe me, the Registry of the Supreme Court would not have accepted your husband’s petition for filing, unless it is accompanied by the relevant supporting documents as provided in the Matrimonial Proceedings Rules, and that is to say, a certified copy of the marriage certificate, an acknowledgement of service in blank for the respondent’s (your) use to complete and file and serve, and an affidavit accompanying the petition which must contain the arrangements for the care, maintenance, education and upbringing of any relevant child or children. Then if your husband’s petition is to proceed in default of a hearing in person, then an affidavit containing his evidence relating to each matter in each of the paragraphs of his petition must be stated in sufficient detail, but as succinctly as possible for the true facts to be clearly understood by the judge, which must accompany his application for the proceeding to be heard in default of any personal appearance. The decree nisi of the nullity of marriage should also be filed in sufficient copies to be signed and sealed as are necessary for the court and for both of the parties, and the same applies when the application is made for the decree nisi to be made absolute.

Your husband is of course being represented by an attorney-at-law, and it is advisable for you to have your own attorney to advise you on the best course for you to take and prepare any documents, like the acknowledgement of service and any affidavit in reply to the petitioner’s affidavit accompanying his petition, relating to some of its contents.

Finally, you have asked how long it would take to obtain the decree absolute of nullity. This is a question I would not even attempt to answer, because I cannot predict what may happen with any of the documents filed, as requisitions may be made by the Registry for certain matters to be corrected, and/or refiling may become necessary, or there are many more petitions filed than was usually the case and so on, and these delay the progress.

You can call and ask the Registry, and I am sure that they will give you the hoped for time for completion of such applications, which may or may not be met.

Despite this, I hope that I have assisted you to have more clarity about petitions for a decree of nullity of marriage.

All the very best.

Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public, and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5. All responses are published. Mrs Macaulay cannot provide personal responses.