{"id":895,"date":"2021-06-28T16:44:11","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T08:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devwp.visibleone.io\/p136\/?p=895"},"modified":"2021-09-11T10:27:43","modified_gmt":"2021-09-11T02:27:43","slug":"procedures-and-grounds-for-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familyclic.hk\/en\/topics\/matrimonial-matters\/divorce\/procedures-and-grounds-for-divorce\/","title":{"rendered":"Procedures and grounds for divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"

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IV. Procedures and grounds for divorce<\/h1>\n

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Divorce and matrimonial proceedings are generally heard in the Family Court section of the District Court before a District Court judge and proceedings for divorce must be instituted either by a petition for divorce or by an application for divorce.<\/p>\n

If it becomes clear that a case raises a difficult point of law or involves assets of considerable value then either party can apply to transfer the case to the High Court. A High Court judge is more experienced and therefore better qualified to deal with complicated cases.<\/p>\n

Certain matters must be commenced in the High Court, such as application for wardship (i.e. The custody of the child is given to the Court. More details of wardship are discussed in\u00a0Divorce > Matters affecting children > B. My wife wants to apply for divorce and she plans to take our only daughter out of Hong Kong during the waiting period. Can I stop her?<\/a><\/p>\n

A. What are the grounds for divorce? Must I explain why I want a divorce?<\/h2>\n

In law, there is in fact only one ground for presenting a petition for divorce, namely, that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.<\/p>\n

Under\u00a0section 11A<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Matrimonial Causes Ordinance<\/a>\u00a0(\u00a0Cap. 179<\/a>\u00a0of the Laws of Hong Kong) , except in the case of a Joint Application for divorce, the Court shall not hold the marriage to have broken down irretrievably unless the applicant for divorce (i.e. the petitioner) satisfies the Court of one or more of the following facts:<\/p>\n