With recent news that more couples in Singapore are getting divorced, the government is deliberating on enabling divorces without attributing the marital breakdown to a fault of the other party or separation, The Straits Times reports.
Such an option, labelled an “amicable divorce” by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), would ease tensions and hostility significantly during the divorce process, according to family lawyers.
Currently, the Women’s Charter accepts three fault-based reasons for divorce, where one party has committed an unacceptable act, including adultery, unreasonable behaviour, and desertion. The only other option for divorces is a separation, of three years with mutual consent or four years without.
However, with the proposed new policy in place, couples can simply mutually consent to the divorce without attributing its breakdown to any of the above five reasons.
This avoids the antagonistic opposition the current divorce policy requires a couple to be in, where one must accuse another one of a fault leading to the breakdown of their marriage, according to Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling.
This prevents further discord between the divorcees, and ameliorates a “loss of face” that can be acutely felt in Asian culture if either party is blamed for the failure of the marriage, according to lawyer Ivan Cheong.
Such a blameless divorce can also be important for couples with children, who can part on amicable terms and cooperate more smoothly with each other in their caregiving roles.
Support for children feeling the impact of divorces is also available, such as the Children In Between (CiB) programme that helps both parents and children adapt to the effects of the divorce.
The Ministry is looking for opinions on if such programmes should be made compulsory.
However, MSF remains keen on encouraging couples to stay together as far as possible, offering pre-divorce support that hopes to resolve crises through counselling services.
The Ministry has also made clear that the new policy does not aim to ease a divorce, and other restrictions on divorces will remain, including the requirement that couples must be married for at least three years before the divorce.
Couples can also continue to file a divorce as plaintiff or defendant, and cite the five current facts for divorce if so preferred.
The policy of “amicable divorces” is currently under public consultation from Sunday (2 May), the opinions solicited from which will be combined with “further engagements with stakeholders” before concrete legislation is proposed.
Opinions on the option can be submitted to [email protected] by 3 June, and more about the consultation can be found here.
Feature Image: New Africa / Shutterstock.com
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