Getting a Divorce in Jamaica

You have taken the vows where you have pledged to be take your:

" lawful, wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part."...

But here you are after the marriage has commenced, looking for answers on how to terminate the union because it simply isn’t working out. You may have questions on the way forward. Here are some answers regarding Divorce proceedings in Jamaica.

 

Who can get divorced?

•           Jamaican National who is married

•           Person is either domiciled or resides in Jamaica at the date of the commencement of the proceedings

•           Person is Married for  2 years minimum

•           Person is separated for 1 year minimum

 

There are essentially three (3) stages for a divorce

•           Petition for Divorce

•           Decree Nisi

•           Decree Absolute

 

Jamaica has a “No fault” jurisdiction, which means that one does not have to prove that the other party is at fault or has engaged in a particular action thus causing the marriage to come to an end. What the Court is interested in, is that the marriage has “broken down irretrievably”. This means that the relationship is over, done, finished….and there is no chance that the husband or wife will sort out their issues and be united again.

 

It is very important to note that even if one party does not want to get divorced, they cannot hold this over the head of the other party and refuse to get divorced. What is important is proof that the husband/wife was served the divorce papers. This is because a Divorce cannot be a secret. One party cannot get a Divorce and the other party does not know. It is a matter of public record and the marital status of a person has legal implications for both parties.

 

Many persons are anxious and wish to be divorced immediately, however a Divorce takes time, and an Attorney-at-Law cannot tell you exactly how long a Divorce may take, as there are several things that are out of the hands of the hands of an Attorney:

•           The Registry who receives the filed documents may have amendments which need to be corrected before the matter may move forward;

•           There may be issues with finding the other party and serving the documents on them;

•           There may be a wait list- in that other persons seeking a Divorce may have filed before you and you simply have to wait before a Judge signs off on the Divorce and grants the “Decree Absolute”.

 

What is clear however is that the earlier you get the process legally started, means that you are one step ahead in getting the desired outcome of obtaining a Divorce?

 

Is it time to get the process started?

Kymberli Whittaker 

Website: https://whittakerlaw.business.site/posts/6341003551332915384?hl=en-US

Booking info: https://visibook.com/kymberliwhittakerlaw?pp=calintro

MARITAL RAPE: Selective Ownership of a Woman’s Body

If a man physically abuses a woman, there is outcry. If he lays a hand on her and if she presses charges, he will be dragged before the courts, often with no sympathy for his assault on her- Even if they are married. The threshold is lowered to a point of non-existence for a more intrusive type of assault- Rape.

The message sent is confusing and a firm stance needs to be taken. In cases of rape, personally knowing your attacker does not vitiate the attack, so why then should being married to your attacker preclude an offence from being committed?

The words of the traditional marriage vows are:

"I, ___, take you, ___, for my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part."

It did not say:

"I, ___, take you, ___, for my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, to own your body, for me to do as I wish, even if you are against it. To hurt you and harm you, because of my sick and twisted mindset ...and there is nothing you can do about it, until death (most likely of the wife) do us part”.

One key element of the offence of Rape is consent. If a wife does not consent, that should be it. The union of marriage has created an impenetrable shield, allowing husbands to perpetuate sexual violence against their spouse with the protection of the law.

There has been a steady increase in domestic violence cases, with many persons, not living to tell the tale. A woman is empowered to stand up against physical domestic violence and is told repeatedly, “a man does not own her…..walk away”, however based on the current stance it would appear as if there are levels of abuse, and physical abuse is placed on a higher tier than the unwanted sexual violation of a wife and/or mother, and she will receive no protection if this is the avenue taken by her spouse.

So many persons are living in marriages where the issues if chronicled would surprise many, but a brave face is put on as they struggle to make it work, or give the appearance of making it work- often because of the standards of the church and/or its members.

An issue also arises where a wife is trying to separate from her husband. A key element needed to successfully file a divorce petition is separation for a year (including sexual contact). What happens when the husband simply won’t leave his wife alone through forced sexual contact? In a Divorce application, the parties may still be viewed as separated even if they continue to cohabit in the same house,  but not if they continue having sex with each other. There are therefore several implications stemming from this issue.

The church has missed the mark in their utterances and their continued unequivocal Stance regarding the submission of a wife to a husband to their own detriment. Otherwise Criminal behavior is being encouraged on a weak basis- the husband does not own the outside of the body, so he can be prosecuted accordingly, but he owns the inside of her body, and should not be prosecuted. Selective ownership has no basis in law and it is time for the playing field to be leveled.