The Family Justice Courts of Singapore was established in 2014 to make family disputes less adversarial, with more emphasis placed on the well-being of children.
The Family Justice Courts help families to resolve their disputes faster. The focus of the Family Justice Courts is on providing parties with a practical outcome and direct their attention towards recovery and parenting.
Court processes have been refined and Judges of the Family Justice Courts of Singapore manage cases actively to reduce the acrimony as much as possible.
Services at the Family Justice Courts include counselling and mediation. These initiatives help parties to reach an amicable outcome by themselves, instead of leaving it to the Courts to decide.
Child representatives are appointed in cases where child issues are highly contentious. Child representatives help to safeguard the interests of children in such cases.
Typically, it takes just 4 months for an uncontested divorce case to be finalized. If the marriage has broken down irretrievably, expeditious handling of the case helps parties move on quickly. On the other hand, complicated cases that require more time are given adequate attention by Judges at the Family Justice Courts.
See: Chia Wee Kiat, Registrar of the Family Justice Courts, “Faster resolution in court helps families move forward: Forum”, The Straits Times, 23 November 2017
Many of my clients have never stepped into a courtroom in their lifetime. It can be intimidating. Most divorce cases in Singapore are resolved outside the courtroom, either through private settlement between parties or mediation. Hence, if your divorce is uncontested, or if it is resolved through mediation, it is likely that you do not need to attend Court.
Contact us to find out more about the processes in the Family Justice Courts of Singapore!
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