Divorce Lawyer India

A mutual consent divorce under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act has two stages:

1. First Motion: Both parties file a joint petition. Court grants a 6-month cooling period.
2. Second Motion: Filed after 6 months (within 18 months of first motion). Divorce decree granted.

Total time: 7–9 months including court processing. If the 6-month waiting period is waived by the court (as permitted by the Supreme Court in Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur), it can be completed in 3–5 months.

Yes. The Supreme Court in Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur (2017) held that the 6-month waiting period under Section 13B(2) is directory, not mandatory. A Family Court can waive it if:

• All efforts at mediation and reconciliation have failed
• The marriage has irretrievably broken down
• Waiting 6 months would cause undue hardship to either party (especially where children are involved, or there is a settled property/maintenance arrangement)

Your lawyer must make a specific application for waiver along with supporting reasons at the time of the First Motion filing.

There is no fixed formula for alimony in India. Courts consider:

• Income of both spouses (salary, business income, assets)
• Standard of living during the marriage
• Duration of the marriage
• Age and health of the spouse claiming alimony
• Custody of children
• Earning capacity of the claimant

The Supreme Court in Rajnesh v. Neha (2020) issued guidelines for standardising alimony calculations. As a general rule, courts often award 25–35% of the husband's net salary as maintenance, but this varies significantly case by case.