Does UK Law Acknowledge Religious Divorces?

People of various faiths and religions reside in the UK. They follow their customs and observe their festivals within the confines of law. However, for some ethnicities, religion also plays a part in marital issues including divorce regulations. It needs to be understood by all citizens and expats in the UK that divorces given purely through religious norms have no value and are not recognised by law even if they were initialised or partially concluded in another country.

When someone wants to free himself/herself from an unpleasant marital relationship and its responsibilities, they must consult a family lawyer in Aberdeen or their city of residence in the UK and attend the court proceedings as required. In terms of examples, the Jews who plan to end their marriage through law of ‘get’ or Muslims who want to get divorced by uttering ‘talaq’ thrice cannot legalise their divorce by simply using these customary norms.

According to lawyer aberdeen, there are some rare instances when a religious divorce given outside the political boundaries of the UK may get recognised by its law. Let’s look into these two:

Acknowledging ‘Get’ made outside the UK

If a get is completed abroad, it may be recognised as a legal divorce by UK laws if it is already effective and recognised under the law of the country where it was completed. Moreover, the divorce applicants should have attained their get on a date, and its proceedings should have begun when they both were:

• habitual residents" of the same country;
• domicile" of the country;
• nationals of the country.

This simply means that when the couple enters UK they should have a copy of their recognised divorce (obtained from their country of residence/birth/nationality) and all proceedings related to the get should have happened in the same country. If the courts of that country require them to travel back for signatures or any other formality, they must do so till the divorce is finally accepted.

Acknowledging ‘Talaq’ made outside the UK

If a muslim couple wants their talaq to be considered as a legal divorce in the UK then it should have been made in another country and must be fully recognised under its current divorce laws.

The next point to check is – did the talaq proceedings actually happen in the same country? Proceedings involve laws and participation of jury members in a case. A simple talaq where one of the married partners utters "talaq –talaq-talaq" implying "I divorce you" (known as triple-talaq in Islam) does not translate into ‘legal proceedings’ for the UK. The divorced couple should have a legal document signifying that they were actually divorced in the presence of a legal/administrative authority.

As in the case of get, while getting the divorce, the couple must have been:

• habitual residents" of the country;
• domicile" of the country;
• nationals of that country.

If the talaq was not attained with regulations as mentioned above, the separating couple has two more alternatives conditions before their divorce is recognised in the UK:

For the complete year preceding the talaq, neither of them should have been a habitual resident of the UK, or

Unless both were domiciled in the country where they acquired talaq, whoever was not a domicile of the country (where talaq was acquired) should have been the domicile of a similar country that recognises their talaq as legally valid.

It is always advisable to consult aberdeen lawyers in such complex matters instead of living in a delusion that you are divorced when you actually may be not.

Author bio: DJP Solicitors is a team of family solicitors in Aberdeen. This is where you will find qualified and experienced lawyers who can represent you and help you turn the outcome in your favour. For details and to get an appointment, please call on 01224 590053.