How long does it take to get a divorce in Jamaica?

What the law says

Divorce in Jamaica is governed by the Matrimonial Causes Act, and section 3 gives these cases to the Supreme Court. Under section 5, either spouse may ask the court to end the marriage on one ground: that it has broken down irretrievably, meaning beyond repair.

Separation is how that is shown. Under section 5(2) of the Matrimonial Causes Act, the court grants the divorce if, and only if, it is satisfied that the couple separated and lived apart for a continuous period of at least 12 months right before the petition was filed.

The first 2 years of a marriage are a wait of their own. Under section 8 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, no petition can be filed until 2 years have passed since the wedding, unless a judge gives leave, meaning permission. A judge can do that only if one spouse has tried to reconcile with the help of an approved marriage counsellor, and there are special circumstances. Under the Act’s Schedule, the Minister approves such counsellors by notice in the Gazette.

The two waits can run together. Section 8(4) of the Matrimonial Causes Act allows a petition based on things that happened in the first 2 years, so the 12 months apart can fall inside them.

A divorce then comes in two steps. Under section 16 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, the court’s first decree is a decree nisi, a provisional order that becomes final only when it is made absolute. If the couple reconcile before then, section 18 lets the court cancel it. Section 17 says a decree of divorce shall:

“not be made absolute until after the expiration of six weeks from the date of the decree nisi”

The court can fix a shorter time than 6 weeks by order, under section 17 of the Matrimonial Causes Act. Either spouse can apply to make the decree absolute.

Children under 18 affect the final step. Under section 2 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, a relevant child is a child of both spouses, or a child of one spouse whom the other has accepted as one of the family, including an adopted child and a child of a void marriage, one the law treats as never valid, such as where a spouse was already married (section 4).

Section 27 of the Matrimonial Causes Act bars the court from making the decree absolute until it is satisfied about every relevant child under 18. The arrangements for the child’s care and upbringing must be satisfactory, or the best that can be devised, unless making any arrangements is impracticable, meaning not possible in practice.

In an urgent case, the court can let the decree go ahead first. Under section 27(2) of the Matrimonial Causes Act, it needs a satisfactory promise from one or both spouses to bring the children’s arrangements before it within a set time.

What changes the answer

Where the couple live. Under section 15(1) of the Matrimonial Causes Act, the court can hear a divorce if either spouse is a Jamaican national or is domiciled in Jamaica, meaning Jamaica is their permanent home in law. Otherwise one of them must live in Jamaica when the case starts, and must have been ordinarily resident there, living there as their usual home, for at least 12 months before it.

Whether the couple really separated. Under section 6 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, a couple can count as separated even if only one of them ended the living together. They can also count as separated while still living in the same house, or while one still does some household work for the other.

A try at getting back together. Section 7 of the Matrimonial Causes Act lets a couple live together again once, for up to 3 months, to try to reconcile. That period does not break the 12 months of separation, and it is not counted in them either.

Whether the court thinks the marriage could resume. Even after 12 months apart, section 5(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act stops the court from granting a divorce if it finds a reasonable likelihood that the couple will live together again.

Pauses along the way. The court can adjourn a case, which means putting it off to a later date. Under section 11(2) of the Matrimonial Causes Act, it can do so when reconciliation seems reasonably possible, and under section 12 so the couple can see an approved marriage counsellor. Under section 31(2), it can adjourn a hearing and ask for more evidence. If either spouse asks to go on after an adjournment for reconciliation, section 11(3) says the court must resume as soon as practicable.

The court’s own pace. The Matrimonial Causes Act sets the standard waits: 12 months apart, usually 2 years of marriage, and 6 weeks between the two decrees unless the court fixes a shorter time. It does not fix how long the court takes to hear a petition, so the full time depends on when the petition is filed and how the court deals with it.