A lawyer, Richard Sena Hotor has stated the preferred duration after which a spouse can file a divorce petition.
According to him, a couple can annul their marriage a year after the union, but they can only file a divorce petition two years after the marriage.
The legal practitioner indicated this during a conversation on Prime Morning’s Divorce Series segment on a radio programme in Accra, Ghana while discussing the topic of how to start a divorce process legally.
“If it is something that you’re going to annul, it must be within one year. But if you have just married, it must take at least 2 years before you can bring a divorce petition,” he told host KMJ on Tuesday.
The process of divorce becomes easier when the decision is mutually agreed upon by both spouses.
Nonetheless, in cases where one party disagrees, the other is advised to hire a lawyer to support in filing the petition at any preferred court.
He said, “It’s advisable that you get a lawyer who will first listen to your story and then situate it within the seven facts proving that the marriage has broken down beyond reconciliation.”
Following the filing of the petition, the other spouse is required to file an answer. Where a party fails to file, the lawyer moves forward with alternate remedies to the problem.
“Once the petition is filed, it is the beginning of the end,” he added.
As to how long it takes a court to complete a divorce case, Mr. Sena asserted that the process is dependent on how complicated the situation is.
He also noted that an individual can further appeal to the court if he or she feels the court has rendered an unfair judgement.
