Misunderstandings in the Divorce Process that Must Be Known

Divorce is an unavoidable last resort to solve problems in a marital relationship. Often in the divorce process there are many misconceptions that are even considered right by many people, causing the divorce process to not run smoothly because of these obstacles. What are the mistakes? Let’s look at the following discussion.

1. A divorce suit can only be accepted if the required documents are completed with the husband and wife’s marriage book

Basically, completeness of documents in the form of husband and wife marriage books is not a condition for an acceptable divorce suit, but only as a condition for administrative completeness. In accordance with Marriage, the main requirement for divorce is that there is sufficient reason that the husband and wife will not be able to live in harmony as husband and wife.
In many cases, sometimes the husband, wife, or other party keeps the husband and / or wife’s marriage book to avoid a divorce suit filed by one of the couples. However, in practice, you can publish duplicate marriage books if asked for clear reasons by one of the couples by stating the date, month, or year of marriage of the couple so that they can find the marriage data in the archive.

2. A divorce suit for a married couple who is Muslim can only be filed at the Religious Court

Many people argue that a married couple who is Muslim can only file a divorce suit at the Religious Court. However, we need to know that those who can file a divorce suit at the Religious Court are not limited to Muslim couples who register their marriage.

This, the marriage between the two is carried out according to the rules of Islamic law. Marriage registration for couples who are Muslim is not an obligation. The couple can register their marriage at the Dukcapil Office if the marriage is to be carried out under the rules of Western Civil Law. If the couple wants to sue for divorce, the lawsuit is filed at the District Court.

3. Claim for divorce and claim for joint property are the same lawsuit

One thing we need to remember is that if a marriage is based on Western Civil Law, divorce lawsuit and joint property lawsuit are not the same lawsuit. In the divorce suit, what was decided was stating that the marriage between the couple had broken up because of divorce. Therefore, divorce lawsuit and joint lawsuit cannot be combined in the same trial.

However, it should be noted that if the marriage is carried out according to the Religious Court, it provides an option for couples to be able to apply for divorce or divorce with joint property lawsuit, so that the trial process is carried out simultaneously.

4. The divorce suit must be represented by a lawyer as a legal attorney

The existence of a lawyer as a legal representative representing the husband and wife who are going to divorce is not an obligation required by the prevailing laws and regulations, but is an option to facilitate the divorce process.

The duty of lawyers, apart from representing the parties in the trial process, is also to assist the negotiation process for the divorcing parties in discussing matters to be achieved after the divorce, such as living support, child custody and other matters.

5. Divorce is the same as annulment of marriage

Divorce and annulment of marriage are different things. Although the results of the two processes will look the same, there are differences in the results of divorce and annulment of marriage.

In divorce, the marriage is still considered to have existed, but has been terminated. Meanwhile, in the case of a marriage annulment, marriage and the consequences of marriage are considered to have never existed. However, the consequences of a marriage cancellation are not retroactive to children born from marriage, the legal actions of the husband or wife who act in good faith, and other third parties who commit legal acts in good faith before the decision to cancel the marriage has permanent legal force