Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage Singapore

What count towards irretrievable breakdown of marriage Singapore?

Under Section 95(3) of the Women’s Charter, you can prove irretrievable breakdown of marriage Singapore if it satisfies the Court of one of the following:

Your spouse committed adultery and you find it intolerable to live with him/ her;
Your spouse has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with him/ her;
You have been deserted by your spouse for a continuous period of 2 years or more immediately before you file for divorce;
You have been separated for a period of 3 years or more immediately before you file for divorce and both parties consent to the divorce; and
You have been separated for a period of 4 years or more immediately before you file for divorce.

Out of the hundreds of divorces I do every year, most of my clients opt for unreasonable behaviour or separation to prove irretrievable breakdown of marriage Singapore.

To use separation to prove irretrievable breakdown of marriage Singapore, you do not need to live in separate apartments. You merely need to lead separate lives (and sleep in separate bedrooms) during the period of separation.

As for unreasonable behaviour, you do not have to list extreme examples of unreasonable behaviour on the part of your spouse to succeed in your divorce application.

Example of unreasonable behaviour

Recently, a Judge in Taiwan granted a divorce to a woman who moved out of her husband’s home as his family was “unfriendly” to her. In July 2016, the woman was involved in an accident and sent to hospital. She had sent her husband the following text messages:

“Hubby, you know where I live, why don’t you visit me?”
“I got into a car accident, I’m in the ICU!”
“Hubby, I’m in the hospital ward.”
“Hubby, why do you keep blueticking me?”
“Hubby, is it necessary for things to become so cold between husband and wife?”

He did not reply to her messages. The Judge ruled that “blueticking”- showing that the husband read his wife’s text messages, showed the state of marriage. The Judge said that the “foundations of the union had fallen apart.”

See: Lydia Lam, “Man who ‘blueticks’ his hospitalized wife is heartless, says Taiwan judge who grants divorce”, The Straits Times, 13 July 2017

In my opinion, such a “bluetick” divorce will fall under unreasonable behaviour on the part of the husband and be sufficient to prove irretrievable breakdown of marriage Singapore.

There are many more examples which you can use.

To find out more about irretrievable breakdown of marriage Singapore, contact us today!