4.3 Kinds of Divorce

4.3.1 Divorce by Mutual Consent The design: both spouses jointly petition for divorce by consent — the parties' own verdict on their marriage; The safeguards: the court's mandatory reconciliation attempt (the cooling stage — the petition cannot proceed to decree at the first hearing); the settlement of property, maintenance and custody settled or settled by the court; only then does the court confirm and decree the consensual divorce; The signature problem of practice: the consent petition filed, then one party withdraws consent at the door — the petition collapses into the fault route (a known coercion-and-regret tactic; the courts' careful inquiry into genuine consent); Why it matters: the dignity route — no blame pleaded, the parties' privacy preserved, the children spared the adversarial record. 4.3.2 Divorce by Judicial Process (i) Procedure of divorce: Forum: the District Court (family benches where constituted — Unit 10) — jurisdiction by residence; appeal to the High Court; The petition: grounds and particulars; the interim applications (maintenance, custody and access pendente lite, protection orders where violence is alleged); The mandatory reconciliation stage: the court's first duty in every matrimonial cause — conciliation attempted and recorded before contest; "compromise" achieved = the petition's disposal by reconciliation terms; failed = contest proceeds; Evidence and decree: the grounds proved (or consent verified) → the divorce decree settling property…