• Divorce from a marriage that is not registered

I am married since 2014. However, I have been unhappy with my husband on account of mental cruelty and I wish to separate. Would the process be easy as our marriage is not registered yet? Also, if not divorce, I atleast want him evicted out of the house which is company provided and is allotted to me.
Asked 4 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu

2 answers received in 10 minutes.

Lawyers are available now to answer your questions.

26 Answers

if you want to remain in the matrimonial relationship, then, try to settle the matter amicably with your husband involving elders/relatives/friends etc and start afresh, 

and,

if you want to terminate the matrimonial knot, then,

try to settle the matter amicably with your husband involving elders/relatives/friends etc and go for Mutual Consent Divorce which will be decided in 6-18 months, and you both will be free to live life with your wish,

don't forget to draft an MOU before approaching Mutual Divorce, which is the most essential and important part of a Divorce case,

some basic points to keep in mind and put in writing through an MOU before filing the petition for mutual consent divorce are custody of kids, distribution of assets (movable/immovable), quash/withdraw of pending litigation if any, Maintenance (present/future), Alimony, mode and time of making the payment, streedhan, future litigation, etc.

if failed, you are advised to file/claim

498a complaint (for causing mental, emotional, physical and monetary abuse, etc)

Domestic Violence case (for causing mental, emotional, physical and monetary abuse, etc)

you have rights to claim residence, protection, compensation, maintenance, 

if you do not want to opt the divorce presently, you can ask for judicial separation also, 

 

Suneel Moudgil
Advocate, Panipat
2381 Answers
6 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

Dear Madam,

A couple can file for Divorce even if the marriage is not registered.

Documents supporting the solemnization of marriage have to be filed along with the Divorce Petition.Marriage Card and Marriage Photographs are sufficient proof of marriage.

Though there exist provisions in Indian laws for registration of marriage, yet non-registration of marriage does not render them invalid or in simpler terms any different from a registered marriage except for the existence of an additional legal document in their support.

Law regarding divorce are same, whether the marriage is registered or not.

Netravathi Kalaskar
Advocate, Bengaluru
4952 Answers
27 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

Madam,

There was a notification from govt for registration of all marriages but the same has not been followed yet by many people. But non-registration of a marriage is not a bar on the matrimonial litigation and you may very well file the divorce case in the family court/district court (where family court does not there) giving the proof of marriage, identity proof, address proof and citing the details of cruelty committed against you. You petition will be entertained and you will be heard as per law. 

Ganesh Singh
Advocate, New Delhi
6757 Answers
16 Consultations

4.5 on 5.0

- Marriage registration is not mandatory for getting divorce legally.

- The easiest & shortest way to get decree of divorce from the court is Mutual divorce , i.e you should take the consent of your husband to file a mutual divorce petition . 

- If, your husband not ready for mutual divorce then you should file a Divorce petition on the ground of cruelty.

However, before filing of divorce you should know your right , which are :-

 1.As per law, A wife has the right to claim decent living standards and basic comforts of life from her husband. Hence for claiming the maintenance , you can file a petition under section 125 CrPc.

- Your husband is under legal obligation to provide the same to you at any cost, even he is working or not. 

2.Law entitles wives a basic right to reside in the matrimonial/ home, whether the house owned by her husband or his parents, a rented property or officially provided to him. 

- Hence, for claiming your residential right, medical expenses etc, and also for teaching a lesson to the family members of your husband, who subjected you torture & harassment, you can file a petition under the provisions of Domestic Violence Act.

3. As per the Supreme Court, A wife has complete ownership rights over all her Streedhan, the gifts and money given to her before and after marriage. The denial of Streedhan to the wife makes the husband and in-laws liable for criminal charges. 

- And further, if the husband or his family members subjected a woman to cruelty for the dowry demand, then they can be booked under Section 498-A.

- You can lodge a written complaint against your husband & his family members, in the Women cell/Mahila Police, after mentioning all the details of torture & harassment. 

- The women cell firstly will try to reconcile the dispute , otherwise, they will lodge an FIR against all the person, who subjected your sister cruelty. 

Mohammed Shahzad
Advocate, Delhi
13214 Answers
198 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Non registration does not affect validity of your marriage 

 

2) you can file for divorce on grounds of mental cruelty 

 

3) contested divorce cases take 5 years to be disposed of 

 

4) you can file DV case seek orders restraining your husband from entering house in your possession 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94712 Answers
7530 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Divorce should only be used as a last resort when you feel that marriage has broken down irretrievably and in spite of your best efforts there is no chance of survival of marriage. In Indian legal system it is very difficult to get divorce. If you go to court and ask for divorce against your spouse then the onus of proving the facts will be on you. You can ask court to grant divorce if you feel that you have been subjected to .

  • Mental cruelty
  • Harassment
  • false 498a case
  • marriage non-consummated
  • Mutual consent

The courts can grant you divorce if they satisfied with one or more of the above conditions. The courts can also grant you divorce in case they feel that marriage between husband and wife has broken down irretrievably and no pint will be served by keeping the marriage alive in the eyes of law.

Non registration of marriage does not affect validity of your marriage. You can with draw the company of your husband by way of filing divorce under the ground of cruelty. After filing of the case, normally he will vacate the house; if he is note vacate from the house then file complaint against him before police.

 

Please note that Divorce by Mutual Consent is the easiest way to get a divorce, in this both parties work out their terms on which they agree to part ways- file petition in the court, which is finalised in 6 months. However there may be cases where the decision to part may not be a mutual one, and it is only one party who considers the union to be troublesome and worth getting rid off. Such situations lead to Divorce being contested.

Ajay N S
Advocate, Ernakulam
4073 Answers
111 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Non registration dose not impact validity of marriage.

You can apply for divorce on the ground of mental cruelty. Contested divorce takes time.

Well, husband has no right to stay in wife property whether provided by company or self acquired. Ask him move otherwise complain to police that he forcefully living in the property. Police will evict him.

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
22633 Answers
31 Consultations

4.4 on 5.0

You can seek his eviction order as well as restraining him through domestic Violence complaint

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
31946 Answers
179 Consultations

4.1 on 5.0

Registration or non registration of marriage has no effect in case the marriage is conducted it is valid and you have to file for divorce before court on ground of cruelty if husband is not ready for mutual divorce.

Further a police complaint for cruelty can be filed and you can seek protection order against him from court and injunction on entering the house.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The divorce petition has to be filed in the family court irrespective of whether the marriage is registered or not.

He can be evicted once you file a domestic violence complaint against him. 

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14088 Answers
65 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Let you convince your spouse to agree for Mutual Consent Divorce. Better to  opt Mutual consent divorce route and mutually the husband and wife can take decisions in the matter of child custody, finance, assets, maintenance or alimony, returning the jewellery given by  your parents and relatives etc.

  t2..In the joint petition to be filed by both husband and wife for dissolution of their marriage U/S. 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act (Mutual consent divorce) , the custody of child, maintenance, finances, property matters, visitation rights will be mentioned.

 r3.The reason can be mentioned as due to irreconcilable differences they have been living separately since one year, and their marriage has broken down irretrievably and efforts to bring about reconciliation have also failed.

4. The time for concluding mutual consent divorce will be 6 months and this cooling period of 6 months can also be waived off in certain cases.

Shashidhar S. Sastry
Advocate, Bangalore
5115 Answers
314 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

If you feel it no more possible to continue this marital relationship with him, then you can file a contested divorce case on the grounds of cruelty.

if you want to get him out of your company allotted accommodation, you first file a divorce case  and then inform him to vacate the house, if he is not listening then you can give a complaint to your company along with the copy of your divorce petition asking them to evict him from the premises to protect  from his threats to your life and limbs.

You can also give a police complaint on this and seek their help to get him out of the house for the said reasons.

 

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84912 Answers
2194 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hi

You can send a legal notice to him for evacuating the property. 

And the divorce procedure will be much easier if you go for mutual consent divorce

Otherwise it will tske around 2 3 4 5 years to accomplish. 

Thanks

Rahul Jatain
Advocate, Rohtak
5365 Answers
4 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

Well, do not take harsh steps of dissolving marriage only because your marriage is now n rocks.

If the resistances of cruelty is no so serious then intermittent aberration in understanding should not led to thinking of applying for divorce.

If there is a child then think twice .

Otherwise file contested divorce which takes lot of time. If he agrees then apply for mutual divorce which takes six months of time.

 

 

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22821 Answers
488 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You can apply for separation of marriage and can live separately. 

Ganesh Kadam
Advocate, Pune
12930 Answers
255 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

Your marriage is not affected even if the marriage is not registered and it is valid one.

You can file for divorce against your husband for mental cruelty, make sure, you have  proofs in support of same, if you do not have any, at lease now try and have some messages, phone call recordings, his  aggressive actions against you from now before you file for divorce i.e., to support your case.

You can file application under Domestic Violence Act praying for restraint orders against your  husband from entering your house which is in your possession and allotted by your Employer (can append allotment letter to support your application).

To complicate the things further, you can file 498-A and Domestic Violence cases against your husband and his family members.  

You have to face the repercussions of the same.

S Srinivasa Prasad
Advocate, Hyderabad
2876 Answers
9 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

registration of marriage has nothing to do with divorce case.

Process is same.

Atul Shahi
Advocate, Allahabad
160 Answers
1 Consultation

4.6 on 5.0

Dear Madam,

The entire matrimonial laws are in your favor. Under the provisions of Domestic Violance Act you can restrain your husband from entering your house. Further registration is of no consequence to get or reject the divorce. You have to filed divorce on the grounds of cruelty and get it easily.

=========================================================

Non-registration not to invalidate the marriage.- No marriage contracted in the State shall be deemed to be invalid solely by reason of the fact that it was not registered under this Act or that the memorandum was not delivered or sent to the Registrar or that such memorandum was defective, irregular or incorrect.

Kishan Dutt Kalaskar
Advocate, Bangalore
6136 Answers
487 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

This is not material that the marriage is not registered means that is no marriage this marriage is supported by the other document and can be proved in the court as well in case you are looking for divorce then the process is same and you have to file divorce petition in family court to get divorce from the court if anybody told you that not registration of marriage is not a valid marriage please be aware that if you have completed the formalities of marriage and not registered your marriage your marriage is valid and very much in force. the only way out to get out of this marriage is divorce from the court

Vimlesh Prasad Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
6852 Answers
23 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

1. The process is same whether your marriage is registered or not. 

2. If you want his to leave your house before divorce then you can claim Interim relief of his eviction from your house. 

3. You can also file case for judicial separation so evict him from your house but it will take same time as divorce case so it's better to proceed with divorce case.

Mohit Kapoor
Advocate, Rohtak
10687 Answers
7 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

If you have a social marriage then there is no need for marriage certificate to claim divorce. First send him notice or convince him for mutual divorce if he fails to heed to your request you can file petition. Also you can file a suit for injunction to prevent him from entering your residence 

Swarnarka Chowdhury
Advocate, Mysore
1879 Answers
5 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Even if the marriage is not registered, you have to seek divorce by filing a divorce petition before the family court.

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19299 Answers
32 Consultations

4.7 on 5.0

hello,

It is sufficient if there is a proof of customary marriage to file a divorce suit else file a criminal case under section 442 of the IPC for house tresspassing.

If there is a proof of marriage file a case under section 498a of the IPC along with other provisions suits with your situation which can only be decided after going through all the facts and circumstances of your case.

Regards.

Swarupananda Neogi
Advocate, Kolkata
2964 Answers
6 Consultations

4.7 on 5.0

Registration of marriage has nothing to do with the fact that now you wish to divorce your husband; and hence the fact that your marriage is not registered, will not come in  the way of seeking divorce.

Since he is causing mental trauma to you, on this ground alone, you may seek safe residence/residence order under the Domestic Violence Act. 

Vibhanshu Srivastava
Advocate, Lucknow
9600 Answers
303 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

  1. As per the information mentioned in the present query, makes it clear that you wish to go either for the divorce or for his eviction from your resident.
  2. I would like to apprise you that yes, you can give him divorce on the grounds of cruelty been done to you by him irrespective of the fact even if your marriage is not been registered.
  3. And for his eviction, you can move to the court of law stating threat to you from him in future.

Sanjay Baniwal
Advocate, South Delhi
5474 Answers
13 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Even if marriage is not registered it does not preclude spouses or either spouse from filing petition for dissolution of marriage.

2. The process is no different from the process to dissolve a registered marriage.

3. To evict him from the property allotted to you by your employer you have to file a petition for his eviction.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Ask a Lawyer

Get legal answers from lawyers in 1 hour. It's quick, easy, and anonymous!
  Ask a lawyer