Basic Matters
in Divorce Case
Hi, my name is
Yunaelis
and I am the founder of
Yunaelish & Associates Law Firm,
a Bali based law firm who provide
assistance to expatriates having to deal
with complexity of Indonesian laws.
On many occasion, I gets some frequent
questions regarding divorce proceeding
in Indonesia, here is some basic matters
in divorce course for those who seeks
some enlight.
Either you are gathering the courage
to get out of your toxic relationship
with your spouse or maybe you have
received a call for your divorce hearing,
knowing some of the basics in divorce
cases is important because if you never
ask read, you will never know.
Here are some basic things in divorce cases
you should know :
01. Minimum Trial Period of Three Months
02. The addresses of the parties must be clear
and submitted to the District Court where
the Defendant is domiciled
03. Divorce can only be filed for certain reasons
04. The trial is held behind closed doors except
for the decisions hearing
05. The divorce process can only be done through
the Court
06. Every divorce case must go through Mediation
Process
07. The parties are allowed not to attend as long
as they have appointed a legal representative
08. Divorce status only valid after there is a
divorce deed
09. As long as you are not divorced, avoid
having a romantic relationship to avoid the
crime of adultery
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01. Minimum Trial Period of Three Months
Many people believe love and hate are two sides of
the same coin. It is so close, that the separator is only
a thin veil, which is also approved by brain scanning
technique research with the result that both feelings
activate the same part of the brain.
No wonder many couples who feel no longer
compatible with their partners want to complete
the divorce process as quickly as they can. So
they could immediately change their status and no
longer have to deal with the ex-partners.
However, the trial process cannot follow the feelings
of the spouse, there are procedures that must be
followed in which the process takes a minimum of 3
(three) months, starting from the registration of
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Basic Matters in Divorce Case
the petition, summoning the husband and wife,
mediation, giving each other answers/responses to the arguments of the parties (defense [and
counter claim] - Plaintiff’s Reply - Defendant’s
Rejoinder), submission of evidence and witnesses,
submission of conclusions, and finally the judgment/
judge decision.
Even after all these processes have gone through
and the Panel of Judges have rendered their
decision, the parties still have to wait 2 (two) weeks
for a decision that has permanent legal force.
Permanent legal force means that both parties
accept the decision handed down by the judge.
If one of the parties does not accept and submits
legal action to a higher court, the time will be longer.
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02. The addresses of the parties must be clear
and submitted to the District Court where
the Defendant is domiciled.
– except for parties who are Muslim, submitted
to the Religious Court where the woman/wife is
domiciled regardless of whether the woman/wife
acts as the Plaintiff or the Defendant.
The divorce process starts from submitting a
Divorce Petition to the competent Court – the party
who submits the petition is called the Plaintiff and
the opposing party is called the Defendant.
This petition is in the form of a letter containing the
story of why someone wants to separate from their
partner and what they want, officially divorced.
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Basic Matters in Divorce Case
After the petition is registered, the Court will record
and send the petition (the officer who sends it is
called the Bailiff) to the couple who wants to divorce
and provide an invitation letter/summons to attend
the first trial. The summons from the court must be
submitted in accordance with the provisions of the
applicable laws and regulations so that the summons
can be declared valid. Invalid summons may cause
problems in the future.
How can the summons be valid?
> Valid summons are addressed to the residential address of the parties. Then, what is meant by
residential address? Namely the address of the main
residence or the actual place of residence based on
the principle that the party actually resides.
So, to determine this address, there are several
documents that can be used as sources of official
addresses, including ID cards (KTP), NPWP, or
family certificate (KK). Then what if the address of
the Defendant’s actual residence is different from
the address listed on the KTP?
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If you have Defendant’s document such as KIPEM
(Temporary Residence Permit Card) or SKTS
(Temporary Residence Certificate) which includes
the Defendant’s actual residential address, then this
information can be used, but if not, it is better to use
the address listed on the KTP.
> After being submitted to a valid address, a
summon then is declared valid if it is received directly
by the party or at least by the nuclear family (father,
mother, child, sister, or brother). What if accepted by
an assistant or a helper? Then the summons will be
invalid!
> If the party is often away so that the summons
cannot be received directly (or by one’s nuclear
family), the bailiff must send the summons to the
head of area who is in charge of the Defendant’s
domicile address, to be forwarded to the Defendant.
> Summons are made at least twice.
In addition to the things mentioned above, there
are special things in determining the time of the
summons where the summons is received no later
than 3 (days) before the trial day. Therefore, usually
the distance between trials is one week to fulfill this
requirement.
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Basic Matters in Divorce Case
What if the Defendant’s address is unknown?
Then what if your partner is long gone and the
address is unknown? If this is the case, then the
petition is submitted to the Court where the
Plaintiff is domiciled and when stating the address
of the Defendant in the petition must include “the
exact address is currently unknown throughout the
territory of the Republic of Indonesia”.
After that, the procedure for calling a petition whose
address is unknown must be in accordance with
the laws and regulations, namely the summon is
made through newspaper announcements or other
mass media twice with a distance of 1 (one) month
from each announcement, and the trial is held at
least 3 (three) months from the date of the last
announcement printed. So if the process is carried
out, it will take a minimum of 5 (five) months from
the time the petition is registered until the start of
the trial.
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What if the Defendant’s address is overseas?
Spouses whose addresses are overseas are not a
barrier to file for a divorce as long as your marriage
was in Indonesia or you have registered your
marriage (in the Civil Registry Office) even though
you and your spouse married abroad.
Now, considering that the divorce petition must be
filed in the Court where the Defendant is domiciled,
then for a petition with the Defendant who is
domiciled abroad, the petition is submitted to the
Court where the Plaintiff is domiciled, and because
the submission of documents is done conventionally
by post, the procedure for summoning the
Defendant who is domiciled abroad takes time
which resulted in a longer period of time in which the
examination hearing is held at least 6 (six) months
after the petition is registered.
Can summons be made electronically? For now,
summons for the Plaintiff can be made electronically
via email from the beginning of the trial, while for
the Defendant the summons can only be made if the
Defendant is present at the trial and agrees to the
summons electronically.
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Basic Matters in Divorce Case
03. Divorce can only be filed for certain reasons.
Many things can be the cause of the incompatibility
between husband and wife, from small to basic and
crucial, whatever it is. Your relationship doesn’t need
to make sense to anyone, except you and your
partner. This is a relationship, not a community
project.
Unfortunately, the divorce petition cannot be filed
because your partner does not want a child, for
example. There are several reasons that have
been determined in accordance with applicable
regulations, including :
a. One of the parties commits adultery or
becomes an alcoholic, addict, gambler, etc.
which is difficult to cure;
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