This article sets out the timetable the Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282) imposes, and the practical costs that sit outside it.
Filing fees are fixed by the National Court and are revised from time to time. No figure is given here because a stale figure is worse than none. Ask the National Court registry for the current scale.
Legal fees are a matter of agreement with the lawyer and vary widely. What follows is about the structure of the cost, not the amount.
The periods the Act fixes
| Stage | Period | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage to petition for dissolution | Three years, unless leave is granted | s 31 |
| Separation ground | Five years of separation | s 17(m) |
| Desertion ground | Two years of desertion | s 17(c) |
| Decree nisi to decree absolute — no children under 16 | Three months | s 60(3) |
| Decree nisi to absolute — children under 16 | Three months, or 28 days after the s 59 order, whichever is later | s 60(2) |
| Where an appeal or intervention is instituted | 28 days after it is determined or discontinued, or the ordinary date, whichever is later | s 60(5) |
Section 60(4)(b) allows the Court to reduce the period, but only where satisfied that there are special circumstances. Extending it, by contrast, requires only regard to the possibility of an appeal.
So the shortest realistic divorce is: petition filed, served, undefended hearing, decree nisi, three months, decree absolute. The hearing date depends on the registry’s list, not on the Act.
What lengthens a case
1. A defended suit. An answer — which under section 56(2) may itself seek any decree the respondent could have sought — produces pleadings, discovery and a contested trial.
2. Service problems. A respondent abroad or in hiding means substituted service or an application to dispense with service under section 94(2).
3. Children. The section 59 declaration must be made before the decree can become absolute, and section 74(2) allows an adjournment for a welfare officer’s report.
4. Money and property. Contested maintenance or a settlement of property requires evidence of means and valuations.
5. Reconciliation adjournments. Section 10 obliges the Court to consider reconciliation and permits adjournment for it.
Where the money goes
Court fees — filing the petition, sealing documents, and the section 61(2) certificate that the decree has become absolute, for which “the appropriate fee” is payable.
Service — a process server, or the cost of substituted service by advertisement, or of service abroad.
Legal fees — usually the largest item, and driven almost entirely by whether the suit is defended.
Travel — only the National Court can dissolve a marriage. For a party in a rural area this can exceed every other cost combined.
Section 97 allows such orders as to costs and security for costs as the Court thinks just. Costs do not automatically follow the event in a matrimonial cause, so a successful petitioner should not assume the other side will pay.
Note also section 98: proceedings that are frivolous or vexatious may be dismissed at any stage, and a party against whom frivolous allegations are made may be dismissed from them — usually with costs.
Reducing the cost
The Public Solicitor. The office is established by Constitution section 176 and provides legal aid to those who qualify. Ask at the nearest office.
Do not defend for its own sake. An undefended suit is far cheaper for both parties, and section 73(3) means a decree made against a party does not bar them from maintenance.
Agree what can be agreed. Section 76(1)(k) allows the Court to sanction an agreement for a lump sum or periodical sums in place of rights under sections 73, 74 or 75 — turning a negotiated settlement into a binding order.
Plead everything once. Section 56(3) requires ancillary claims to be brought in the same petition, and section 56(4) requires them to be heard together as far as practicable. Bringing them separately costs more and may be barred by section 78(4).
Section 4 excludes customary marriages from the Act. There is no petition, no decree, no waiting period — and no National Court fee.
Questions about children are dealt with in the Family Court, which sits as a District Court under the Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015 — closer, cheaper and quicker. See how a customary marriage ends.
Sources
- Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282) — ss 4, 10, 17, 31, 56, 59–61, 73–78, 94, 97, 98
- Constitution — s 176
- Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Marriage Act (Chapter 280) and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.