Religious Divorce

A religious divorce obtained in England is not recognised as a divorce in the Family Court in England & Wales. You may therefore need to obtain two divorces:

• a religious; and
• a legal divorce

• The husband must provide his wife with a Get.
• A Get is the religious divorce under Jewish law.
• This can also refer to the piece of paper or document that officially gives the Get.
• Without a Get, neither can remarry in the Jewish faith.
• There are consequences for the wife if she has new relationship or a child with her new partner but remains religiously married. This is still the case even if she obtains a valid legal divorce in England & Wales.

A couple can avoid some of these problems by:

• Recording in their financial settlement that the husband will give a Get; or
• To agree within the terms of any pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement  that the husband will give a Get in the event of a future legal divorce or breakdown of the relationship.

Many Muslim couples have both a religious marriage and a legal marriage.

• Where a couple have entered a civil marriage, the Family Court can grant a final divorce order to end the marriage
• An Islamic divorce is necessary to terminate the Islamic marriage.
• If the Islamic marriage is not dissolved, there are consequences, for example, a woman may not be able to enter a new religious marriage contract or in some countries she will need the ex-husband’s consent to travel out of the country.
• In a Muslim divorce, the husband must also pronounce Talaq or the wife can initiate Khula, Faskh or Tafreeq.
• A Talaq is the most common and refers to the husband’s right to finalise an Islamic divorce.

The need for both a legal divorce and a religious divorce is important. For example, for Jewish or Muslim couples, if you just obtain just a religious divorce then you will still be legally married in England & Wales.

It is through a legal divorce that you can make a financial claim before the Family Court.

The position may be different if the religious divorce was granted in a different country and may be treated as a valid legal divorce in the Family Court. Specialist family law advice is necessary to consider this further.

Under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 the refusal to obtain a religious divorce can be considered domestic abuse if it amounts to coercive and controlling behaviour.

For example, the refusal to obtain the Get may amount to controlling or coercive behaviour.

We are specialists in family law and divorce law cases.

Our work often deals with legal divorce, financial claims and international family law issues.

We have a very strong family law team and work with you to obtain the best settlement for you and in respect of any children; and to allow you to move forward with your life.