CONDITIONS FOR THE GRANT OF THE DIVORCE OF A MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

This legal Illumination of Akintunde Esan[1] known as the Legal Advise Online is on the conditions for the grant of divorce or dissolution of a statutory marriage under the statutes regulating how to file for divorce of a statutory marriage in Nigeria known as the Marriage Act and the Matrimonial Causes Act.

A statutory marriage is a marriage which is contracted in accordance with the procedure provided under the Marriage Act and which can only be dissolved or annulled in accordance with the procedure prescribed under the Matrimonial Causes Act.

 

In Nigeria, it is only the High Court that, has the jurisdiction/authority to dissolve a statutory marriage which is usually contracted at a Marriage Registry or at a Church or any Religious Centre licensed to conduct a statutory marriage.[2]

 

The aggrieved spouse who wants the marriage dissolved is referred to as the Petitioner while the other spouse is referred to as the Respondent. The Petitioner is required to file a Court process known as the Petition for a Decree of Dissolution of Marriage on the ground that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

The Court seized of the Petition for a Decree of Dissolution of a Marriage shall adjudge the marriage to have broken down irretrievably upon the Petitioner satisfying the High Court of one or more of the following conditions[3]:

1.That the Respondent has willfully and persistently refused to consummate the marriage; 

2.That since the marriage the Respondent has committed adultery and the petitioner finds it intolerable to live with the respondent.

3. That since the marriage the respondent has behaved in such a way that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with. 

4.That the respondent has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding the presentation of the petition;

 5.That the parties to the marriage have lived a part for a continuous period of at least two years, immediately preceding the presentation of the petition and the respondent does not object to a decree being granted;

6. That the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuance period of at least three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition;

 7. That the other party to the marriage has, for a period of not less than one year failed to comply with a decree or restitution of conjugal rights made under this Act;

8. That the other party to the marriage has been absent from the petitioner for such time and in such circumstances as to provide reasonable grounds for presuming that he or she is dead.

In case you seek for further legal illumination on the conditions precedent for the High Court to grant or not to grant a decree for the dissolution of your marriage in Nigeria, you can contact Akintunde Esan (The Legal Adviser Online) on phone or WhatsApp @ 08073828487 or email @ akintundeesan@gmail.com or @ ASE OLODUMARE CHAMBERS, Oshopey Plaza, 2nd Floor, Left Wing of Front Wing, No.17/19, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State.

 

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[1] Akintunde Esan (known as the legal adviser online) is a Legal Practitioner/Legal Consultant/Chartered Mediator with two decades of litigation and transactional legal practice experience. He is the Managing Partner/Principal Consultant @ Ase Olodumare Chambers, a Lagos based litigation and transactional Law Firm.

[2] Section 6 of the Marriage Act

[3] See section 15 (1) and (2) (a) - (h) of the Matrimonial Causes Act; Per Saulawa, J.C.A in Akinlolu v. Akinlolu (2019) LPELR-47416(CA), Pp. 25-26 paras. B

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