Divorce refers to the legal termination of a marriage. Generally speaking, a divorce can be lengthy and expensive. Typically, a divorce in Jamaica can start at $120,0000 upwards and the fastest divorces are finalized within 18 weeks, and this is only in relation to uncontested divorce.

What this article will seek to do is to inform its readers on the easiest and fastest way to get a divorce in Jamaica. It must be noted however that ultimately the length of time a divorce will take will be heavily influenced by the number of divorce matters that are before the court at the time of the application. However, through experience, we have seen some methods that have helped our clients’ to have their divorce application processed faster and cheaper.

Get your Documents in Order

This is one of the small things that can save you a ton of time and some money. In order to start your application, your family lawyer will need your original marriage certificate. Make sure you have this before even consulting your family lawyer for a divorce. In the event that you do not have a copy of your marriage certificate, your family lawyer would have to apply for one and you will be billed not just for the cost of the marriage, but the additional administrative fees that come with applying for the marriage certificate.

Gather All Facts

As family lawyers, we appreciate a client who is well prepared for our first meeting. A well prepare client is one that has written down all the questions he wants to ask and answers to all the questions that he or she thinks the lawyer might ask. Usually, in order to draft the application, the following information is required.

1. Date of birth of your husband/wife
2. Place of birth of your husband/wife
3. The date of birth of all the children you have together
4. Schools your children are attending
5. The name, address and date of birth of any children who were born during the marriage with someone else apart from your spouse.
6. The name and date of birth of any child that your husband/ wife have with another person outside of the marriage.
7. Who will have custody of the children
8. Whether the children have any serious health problems
9. The amount of money you contribute towards the maintenance of the child and how much your husband/ wife contributes towards the maintenance of the child
10. Your monthly income and your husband/ wife monthly income.
11. The address of your husband/ wife, this is crucial as the Petition and other divorce documents must be served on the spouse.

Select Someone to Serve The Divorce Document

For the divorce application to be heard, the Petition, after being signed and sealed by the Registrar must be served on the Respondent i.e the other party to the divorce. The issue is that the Petitioner (the party applying for the divorce) cannot be the one to serve the document. As a result, the petitioner can opt to either use the service of a process server or a relative or friend to serve the documents. Process servers can charge up to $10,000.00 to serve a document so it is best to get the assistance of a family member or friend to serve the documents.

Select a Competent Family Lawyer

Select a competent Family Lawyer We cannot stress enough the importance of a competent family lawyer. A  divorce application with lots of errors will be rejected by the registrar and your family lawyer will have to amend the document and have you come into their office several times to resign amended documents.

An uncontested divorce is a paper application and so a lot of paperwork is involved. A lawyer who does not pay attention to detail is likely to submit an application riddled with errors. For this reason, it is important that when you carefully select your divorce attorney.

Divorce for anyone can be stressful, but if you follow the guidelines given there is a good chance that you will get a fast and affordable divorce.