Divorce comes with its own vocabulary, and most of it is unhelpful until someone explains it. This glossary defines the terms you are most likely to meet in a Singapore divorce or family matter, in plain English, arranged alphabetically. It covers civil proceedings under the Women’s Charter and the terms used in the Syariah Court for Muslim marriages.
Use it as a reference while you read court documents or letters. For the process itself, start with our guide to divorce in Singapore.
A
Access
The time a child spends with the parent who does not have day-to-day care. Access can be defined in detail (specific days, handover times, school holidays, overseas travel) or left more flexible where parents cooperate well.
Adultery
One of the facts that can prove irretrievable breakdown: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than their spouse. The applicant must also find it intolerable to live with the respondent. It is harder to prove than most people expect, which is why many cases that begin as adultery are filed on another fact instead.
Affidavit
A written statement of evidence, sworn or affirmed to be true. Most family proceedings run on affidavit evidence rather than live testimony. Making a false statement in an affidavit is a serious matter.
Affidavit of Assets and Means
The affidavit in which each party sets out their income, assets, liabilities and expenses for the purpose of the ancillary matters. It is the foundation document for division of assets and maintenance, and non-disclosure in it has consequences.
Ancillary matters
The issues to be resolved alongside the divorce: division of matrimonial assets, maintenance, and arrangements for children. They are normally dealt with after interim judgment, at an ancillary matters hearing if not agreed.
Annulment
A declaration that a marriage was void or voidable, treating it as never validly existing, or ending it on grounds arising at the time of the marriage. It is a different remedy from divorce, with its own limited grounds. See annulment in Singapore.
Applicant
The person who starts the proceedings. Under the Family Justice Rules 2024 this term replaced “plaintiff”.
B to C
Beneficiary
A person entitled to receive something from an estate, whether under a will or under the rules that apply where there is no will. Beneficiaries are paid only after the estate’s debts and taxes have been settled.
Care and control
Who the child lives with on a day-to-day basis, and who makes the ordinary daily decisions. It is distinct from custody, and it is usually the issue parents care about most. See custody versus care and control.
Consent order
An order the court makes recording terms the parties have agreed. It has the same force as an order made after a contested hearing. See how consent orders work.
Contested divorce
A divorce in which the parties disagree, whether about whether the divorce should be granted, about the facts alleged, or about the ancillary matters. A divorce can be uncontested on the divorce itself and contested on the ancillaries.
Costs
The legal expenses of the proceedings. In family matters the court has a discretion over who bears them, and it does not automatically follow that the party who succeeds recovers their costs from the other.
Custody
The authority to make major decisions about a child’s upbringing: schooling, significant medical treatment, religion. It is about decision-making, not about where the child sleeps.
D
Decree nisi and decree absolute
The old English terminology for the two stages of a divorce. In Singapore the equivalents are interim judgment and final judgment, and those are the terms now used.
Deed of separation
A written agreement between spouses who are separating, dealing with living arrangements, finances and children. It is a contract, not a court order, and the court is not bound by it, though a genuine agreement freely entered into carries real weight.
Desertion
One of the facts proving irretrievable breakdown: one spouse leaving the other, without consent and without good reason, for a continuous period of at least two years, with the intention of ending the relationship.
Discovery
The process by which each party must disclose relevant documents to the other: bank statements, property records, payslips. Its usual purpose in family proceedings is to test whether the financial picture presented is complete.
Deputyship
A court appointment under the Mental Capacity Act allowing someone to make decisions for a person who has already lost mental capacity and did not make an LPA in time. It is slower and more expensive than an LPA.
Divorce by mutual agreement
The sixth fact proving irretrievable breakdown, added on 1 July 2024. Both parties agree the marriage has broken down and set out their reasons, the efforts made to reconcile, and their consideration of the arrangements for children and finances.
Domestic Exclusion Order
An order that can be attached to a Personal Protection Order, excluding a person from the shared residence or part of it. It is used where continued proximity is unsafe.
E to F
Enforcement
The court process for compelling compliance with an existing order, most commonly unpaid maintenance, but also failures to transfer property or to comply with access terms. An order that is ignored is enforced, not simply re-argued.
Executor
The person named in a will to administer the estate: collecting assets, paying debts, and distributing to beneficiaries. Where there is no will, the equivalent role is an administrator.
Faraid
The Muslim law of inheritance, allocating fixed shares of an estate among categories of heirs. In Singapore the Syariah Court issues an inheritance certificate stating the beneficiaries and their shares.
Family Justice Courts
The court structure that handles family proceedings in Singapore, comprising the Family Division of the High Court, the Family Courts and the Youth Courts. See our guide to the Family Justice Courts.
Final judgment
The order that formally dissolves the marriage. It can generally be applied for at least three months after interim judgment, and usually only once the ancillary matters have been resolved. Until it is granted, you are still married.
G to H
Guardianship
The legal responsibility for a child’s person and upbringing, which can be dealt with under the Guardianship of Infants Act as well as in divorce proceedings. It also arises where a child’s parents have died or cannot care for them.
Harta sepencarian
In Syariah Court proceedings, matrimonial property acquired through the joint effort of the spouses during the marriage, which the court may divide on divorce.
Hibah
A gift made during a person’s lifetime under Muslim law. Because the transfer takes effect while the giver is alive, the asset is generally no longer part of the estate distributed under faraid.
I
Interim judgment
The court’s judgment that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. It ends the marriage in principle but does not yet dissolve it; the ancillary matters are usually dealt with after this stage.
Interrogatories
Written questions that one party may be required to answer on affidavit. Used together with discovery, usually to pin down financial details that documents alone do not reveal.
Intestacy
Dying without a valid will. For non-Muslims, the estate is then distributed according to the fixed shares in the Intestate Succession Act, regardless of what the deceased may have intended.
Irretrievable breakdown
The sole ground for divorce in Singapore. It must be proved by one of six facts: adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion, three years’ separation with consent, four years’ separation, or divorce by mutual agreement.
J to L
Joint custody
An order that both parents share decision-making authority over major issues in the child’s life. It is a common outcome in Singapore, frequently combined with care and control to one parent.
Judicial separation
A court order that the parties need no longer live together, without dissolving the marriage. It is used where divorce is not wanted, often for religious or personal reasons, and the court can still deal with financial and children’s issues.
Lasting Power of Attorney
A document under the Mental Capacity Act by which you appoint someone to make decisions for you if you lose mental capacity. It must be made while you still have capacity. See how an LPA works.
Letters of administration
The grant issued where a person dies without a valid will, or where the will does not effectively appoint an executor. It gives the administrator authority to deal with the estate.
M
Maintenance
Financial support. In Singapore it covers maintenance for a wife or incapacitated husband and maintenance for children, and it can be ordered as monthly payments or a lump sum. See our maintenance guide.
Matrimonial asset
An asset acquired during the marriage, or an asset acquired before the marriage that was used by the family or substantially improved during it. Only matrimonial assets go into the pool the court divides. See division of matrimonial assets.
Matrimonial home
The property the family lived in. It is almost always a matrimonial asset regardless of when or by whom it was acquired, and it is usually the largest item in the pool.
Mediation
A process in which a neutral mediator helps the parties reach agreement rather than having a judge decide. Court-based mediation is a standard part of family proceedings in Singapore, particularly where there are children.
Mutaah
In Syariah Court proceedings, a consolatory gift that a husband may be ordered to pay to his former wife on divorce. The amount depends on factors including the husband’s means and the length of the marriage.
N to O
Nafkah iddah
In Syariah Court proceedings, maintenance payable to a former wife during the iddah, the waiting period following a divorce under Muslim law.
Non-disclosure
Failing to reveal assets, income or liabilities that should have been disclosed. Courts treat it seriously: it damages credibility, can lead to adverse inferences being drawn about what was hidden, and may affect the eventual division.
Nominal maintenance
A token maintenance order, often a very small sum, made not because support is currently needed but to preserve the possibility of applying to increase it later if circumstances change.
Originating Application
The document that starts most family proceedings under the Family Justice Rules 2024. It replaced the older “Writ of Divorce” terminology, which you may still see in older documents and articles.
P
Parenting plan
A document setting out the practical arrangements for children: living arrangements, the access schedule, holidays, schooling, communication between households. Parents are encouraged to agree one rather than have terms imposed.
Personal Protection Order
An order restraining a family member from committing family violence. It can be supported by a Domestic Exclusion Order or a counselling order. See how to apply for a PPO.
Prenuptial agreement
An agreement made before marriage about how assets would be dealt with on divorce. Singapore courts are not bound by such agreements but may give them weight depending on the circumstances in which they were made.
Probate
The court’s confirmation of a will’s validity and of the executor’s authority to administer the estate. Without a grant, banks and land authorities will not deal with the executor.
R to S
Respondent
The person against whom proceedings are brought, the party responding to the application. It replaced the older term “defendant”.
Separation
Living apart, whether in different homes or, in some circumstances, separate lives within the same home. Three years’ separation with the other party’s consent, or four years without it, is one route to proving irretrievable breakdown.
Simplified track
The streamlined court process available where the parties have agreed both the divorce and the ancillary matters before filing. It is faster and cheaper than a contested route.
Sole custody
An order giving one parent alone the authority to make major decisions about the child. Singapore courts order it less often than joint custody, generally reserving it for cases where cooperation is not workable.
Syariah Court
The court that deals with divorce and related matters for Muslim marriages in Singapore, under the Administration of Muslim Law Act. Some matters can also involve the civil courts. See our guide to the Syariah Court.
T to W
Structured approach
The framework Singapore courts use to divide matrimonial assets: identifying each party’s direct and indirect contributions, deriving a ratio from them, and then adjusting for other relevant factors before arriving at a final division.
Talak
A form of divorce under Muslim law pronounced by the husband, which in Singapore must be registered with and dealt with through the Syariah Court rather than taking effect privately.
Unreasonable behaviour
The most commonly relied-on fact for irretrievable breakdown: behaviour such that the applicant cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent. It is judged by reference to this particular couple, not an abstract standard. See unreasonable behaviour in a divorce.
Variation
An application to change an existing order. Maintenance and children’s orders can be varied where there has been a material change in circumstances; orders dividing assets are far harder to reopen.
Wasiat
A will under Muslim law. Its reach is limited: the general position is that a bequest may be made of up to one-third of the estate to persons who are not faraid heirs, with the remainder distributed under faraid.
Women’s Charter
The principal statute governing civil marriage, divorce, division of matrimonial assets, maintenance and family violence in Singapore. Most of what happens in a non-Muslim divorce traces back to it.
