💡 Ask the Expert: How to Handle a Divorce (Part 2)

1) As mentioned below, the Court will look at what is best for the child in deciding who he or she should live with. In this regard, the Court looks at various factors, including who has been the child's primary caregiver, the child's wishes (if he or she is old enough to express them), how best to maintain the status quo for the child, whether the care parent is able to provide a stable environment for the child, and if the parents are working, whether they have help to look after the children during working hours, etc. 2) With regard to maintenance, the Court will first determine what is the reasonable expenses of the child (based on the child's current standard of living and anticipated reasonable expenses) and often times, have parties pay for the child's reasonable expenses according to their income proportion. A simple illustration would be if a child's monthly expenses is $2,000.00 and parties earn equally, then the access parent must pay a monthly sum of $1,000.00.

He may be ordered to cover all of the expenses for a short period of time (maybe a few months), so that there is some buffer time for you to find a job.

Hi Chervy. While it is easy to see your spouse as an uncaring parent because he does not pay maintenance for your child, and grow resentful as a result, it is unfortunately not allowed in the Court's eyes. The Court views maintenance and access time with the child separately, and it should not be a tit for tat. If your spouse is not paying maintenance, you may got to the Family Justice Courts to enforce the maintenance order.

This is quite a common misconception. No, it will not. The factors that the Court looks at do not include financial stability (please refer to my response to one of the posts below on the factors the Court takes into consideration). This is why maintenance is being paid to the care parent, to help cover some of the child's expenses.

Hi Linda! Thank you for your question. It will probably be very daunting and overwhelming for somebody looking to get a divorce. Some people ponder about it for years before making a decision. I would say the first thing to do is map out a plan post-divorce. It would be better if you can discuss the terms of the divorce before proceeding, as the divorce will be far less painful if the both of you agree on the terms of the divorce. You will need to decide who will takeover the house, and if you want to, whether HDB or the bank will allow you to do so financially. You will also need to decide who and where the children should live, whether you need maintenance for yourself or the children. If you have a rough idea on what post-divorce life would look like, then it's easier to work towards it.

Yes. If all the terms are agreed on, you and your spouse may file for a simplified, uncontested divorce, and your legal fees will definitely be cheaper.

Assuming you wish to proceed with the divorce based on separation (as there are other facts that you may rely on to proceed with the divorce, such as your spouse's unreasonable behaviour), you have to be separated for either 3 years or 4 years. However, if you wish to proceed on 3 years of separation, you will need your spouse's consent.

The only advantage I can think of at the moment is that the person who files for the divorce is in control of when the divorce process will commence. Otherwise, it does not matter whether you or your spouse initiated the divorce.

Hi Mummy Chen! No, you don't have to. You may conduct proceedings on your own but the downside of this is that you may be overwhelmed by all the legalese and procedural rules, and may not present your best case.