Unilateral Divorce Procedures

For a divorce application filed by one party to the marriage (unilaterally) as the petitioner, the applicant (petitioner) must prove that he and the respondent (spouse) have any one or more of the following facts: “The marriage has broken down irretrievably.” According to Section 11A of the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance, Chapter 179, the petitioner must prove to the court that one or more of the following circumstances have occurred:

1. Both parties agree to divorce and separate for at least one consecutive year Before the applicant filed the application, the parties to the marriage had lived separately for at least one continuous year, and the respondent also agreed to divorce.

2. Unilateral divorce and separation for at least two consecutive years Before the applicant files the application, the parties to the marriage have lived separately for at least two consecutive years (this situation does not require the respondent to agree to divorce).

3. The spouse has committed adultery The respondent had committed adultery, and the applicant found it unbearable to live with the respondent.

4. Spouse’s unreasonable behavior The applicant and the respondent cannot reasonably be expected to live together because of the respondent’s behavior (the “unreasonable” here does not refer to the behavior itself; to constitute “unreasonable behavior”, the court must consider that the respondent’s behavior is objectively reasonable The petitioner could not “reasonably” be expected to live with the respondent). Separation and divorce are not required.

5. Abandoned by spouse for one consecutive year The applicant has been abandoned by the respondent for at least one continuous year before making the application. If applying for divorce based on one or more of the spouse’s adultery, unreasonable behavior or desertion, the applicant must prove that it was the respondent’s behavior that caused the breakdown of the marriage. However, it is often not the fault of one person that causes a marriage to break up. Therefore, the requirement to prove adultery, unreasonable behavior or abandonment will easily increase the hostility between spouses, add unnecessary costs and burdens to the litigation process, and will not help both parties resolve issues arising from divorce, such as property distribution, alimony and Child Custody.