. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF DIVORCE
Once a marriage courting is dissolved in a prison feel (i.E. A divorce decree/order has been granted by using the Court), each birthday celebration will now not be a spouse and both events are free to remarry.
Certain rights which might be available to each birthday celebration as a spouse can be both lost or affected upon divorce, for example:
sure advantages beneath a former spouse’s existence coverage can be misplaced;
social protection benefits may be misplaced or modified;
taxation fame might be changed (e.G. Married character’s allowance);
medical insurance supplied by way of a former spouse’s agency may be misplaced; and
divorce will reason any testamentary present (e.G. Present inside the will) to a former partner or benefits under a family trust to lapse.
Both events lose rights that were given to them underneath positive matrimonial legislations, especially their “matrimonial home rights”. However, as a ways as youngsters are worried, each determine (unless otherwise ordered by the Court) keeps parental duty on divorce and there may be an duty on both the father and the mother to offer their children with economic help.
Orders for financial provision, or assets adjustment orders (if any), made by way of the Court according with the law in favour of both of the parties to the wedding will take effect upon divorce. Orders for agreement (e.G. Switch or take over of any assets), or version of settlement, in appreciate of any toddler of the circle of relatives may also take effect upon divorce. All different orders for youngsters take effect as quickly as they are made.
Nullity
The Court of First Instance and the District Court have jurisdiction to claim a wedding null beneath the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance if:
(1) both events to the marriage was domiciled in or had a sizeable connection with Hong Kong on the date of the petition; or
(2) both events to the marriage became habitually resident in Hong Kong during the period of 3 years right now previous the date of petition; or
(three) both events to the marriage have been residents in Hong Kong on the date of the petition; or
(4) the respondent inside the court cases changed into resident in Hong Kong at the date of the petition; or
(five) the marriage changed into celebrated in Hong Kong.
A void marriage is seemed with the aid of regulation as by no means having taken vicinity.
On the opposite hand, a voidable marriage is valid and subsisting until declared void through a decree of nullity.
There are numerous circumstances below which a wedding may be declared null and void through the Court, relying on whether or not the marriage happened after 30 June 1972 or before 1 July 1972, which includes:
A. Grounds upon which marriage after 30 June 1972 will be null and void
(1) That it is not a legitimate marriage under the Marriage Ordinance, that is to say on the time of the wedding:
the parties to the marriage are in the prohibited degrees of kindred and affinity (e.G. Marriage among brother and sister); or
either birthday celebration is under the age of sixteen; or
the parties have intermarried (marriage between blood spouse and children) in disregard of sure necessities as to the formation of marriage
(2) That the wedding is in any other case invalid by way of the regulation of Hong Kong
(3) That at the time of the wedding either birthday celebration became already lawfully married
(four) That the parties aren’t respectively male and female
B. Grounds upon which marriage after 30 June 1972 might be voidable
(1) That the wedding has not been consummated because of the disability or refusal of one party to accomplish that (Ground 1)
(2) Either birthday party to the marriage did not validly consent to it because of reasons along with duress, mistake, unsoundness of mind (Ground 2)
(3) Either party become affected by mental ailment at the time of the marriage (Ground three)
(four) Either party was tormented by communicable venereal disorder (Ground four)
(five) The respondent turned into pregnant via a few 婚姻介紹所邊間好 character aside from the petitioner on the time of the wedding (Ground five)
However, the court shall now not, in proceedings instituted after 30 June 1972, furnish a decree of nullity on the floor that a wedding is voidable (whether or not the marriage took place earlier than or after 1 July 1972) if the respondent satisfies the court docket:-
(a) that the petitioner, with understanding that it became open to him to have the wedding prevented, so carried out himself with regards to the respondent as to lead the respondent reasonably to trust that he could no longer searching for to do so; and
(b) that it’d be unjust to the respondent to provide the decree.
Such provision replaces, in terms of any decree to which it applies, any rule of law wherein a decree may be refused via motive of approbation, ratification or loss of sincerity on the part of the petitioner or on similar grounds.