Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

As per the National Civil Code of 2017 A.D, the Divorce Laws start from Chapter 3, Section 93 to 104. As one can guess the sections under this chapter comes under the title of Provisions Relating to Divorce and cover as many grounds as possible to ensure a fair trial for the cases of Divorce in Nepal for both husband and wife.

Needless to say, there are quite a few loopholes in these laws which can and have been exploited over the course of time but that is common with all the laws and is not something unusual. Disregarding these few loopholes which can be exploited, these Divorce Laws are generally fair and provide more or less equal justice in most cases for both husband and wife. 

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

Note that this is not legal advice or a word-by-word representation of the divorce law.

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Section 93: Consent

This section basically states that in case the divorce happens with the mutual agreement of both husband and wife in marriage the case can be filed and the court can make the case at any time. This means that the divorce case will be held in the next possible free schedule of the court and that the couple has to be ready at any time for the court hearing until the case is over. But since these types of cases are generally over in a few hours it is not much of an inconvenience for any party.

Section 94: Husband can file and affect the divorce without the consent of the wife

This section of the divorce law says that the husband can file for divorce and effect the court hearing without the consent of the wife in four cases which are divided into Clauses. 

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D
  • Clause a: A husband can file for divorce and affect the court hearing when the couple has been living separately where both of them eat in a separate kitchen and sleep in different rooms for at least three years, without the consent of the husband.
  • Clause b: This Clause states that if the wife denies the husband of the support costs or kicks him out of the house, the husband can file and affect the divorce without the consent of the wife
  • Clause c: This part of the divorce law states that if the wife conspires against the husband or abuses the husband in any form be it financial, physical, or emotional, the husband can file for and effect the divorce without the consent of the wife.
  • Clause d: If the wife is proven to have cheated on the husband, then the husband can file for divorce without the consent of the wife. Note that there has to be proof of sexual relation from the side of the wife for this subsection to come into play and emotional reliance on another man does not count. 

Section 95: Wife can file and affect the divorce without the consent of the husband

This part of the Divorce law is basically the counterpart of section 94 and it states that the wife can file for divorce and affect the court under a few circumstances and as with section 94, it is divided into Clauses as well. 

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D
  • Clause a:  A wife can file for divorce and affect the court hearing if the husband has been living separately with a separate kitchen and has been sleeping in different rooms with separate beds for a minimum of three years, without the consent of the wife.
  • Clause b: This Clause of the divorce law states that the wife can file for and affect the court for the case of a divorce if the husband does not provide the required maintenance and support costs of the house or has kicked the wife of the house. Naturally, this rule does not apply if the husband does not provide for the maintenance and support costs or the wife leaves the house on the basis of mutual consent. 
  • Clause c: It states that if the husband is proven to have conspired against the wife or is proven to be abusive then the wife can legally file for divorce and affect the court without the consent of the husband.
  • Clause d: This part of the divorce law states that the wife can file for divorce without the consent of the husband if the husband conducts a second marriage without the consent of the wife. However, this rule becomes invalid if there is evidence that shows that the second marriage was done by the consent of the wife.
  • Clause e: This Clause says that if the husband is proven to have cheated on the wife, the wife can file for divorce and effect the court hearing without the consent of the husband. Needless to say, there needs to be a sexual relationship between the husband and the third party and emotional reliance does not count as cheating.
  • Clause f: As per this section of the divorce law wife can file for divorce without the consent of the husband if there is proof of Rape committed by the husband. Needless to say, if the wife fails to provide any form of proof, this case is invalid but she can be charged with the case of false accusation and defamation depending on the circumstances. 

Section 96: Petition for divorce

This Section of the divorce law basically states that both the husband and the wife can file the petition for divorce if s/he wants to get out of the marital relationship. Note that the other half is not forced by any law to sign the petition of s/he does not want their relationship to end unless the rules and laws of section 94 and 95 come into play and that the petition has no expiry date before the inclusion of the signature of both the members in a relationship. 

Section 97: Meditation between the couple

What this part of the divorce law says is that the court has the responsibility to try to help the couple solve the issue between the couple in the case where both the parties have agreed to the divorce under the rule of section 96. 

Section 98: Divorce to be effected

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

This section states that if the court fails to make the husband and the wife reconcile then under the rule of section 97,  the court shall commence the divorce. On the grounds that the second party in the relationship does not agree to reconcile, despite the court trying to solve their issue and withdraw the case of divorce, then the case shall commence the case of divorce a year from the date when the petition is signed. 

Section 99: Division of the property before the divorce

This section of the Divorce law of Nepal deals with the partition of the property before the court hearing of the divorce and this is further divided into 6 subsections:

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

Subsection 1: In case the divorce is filed by the husband the wife can demand the division of the property before the commencement of the divorce.

Subsection 2: This subsection states that if the wife is the one who filed for divorce on the grounds based on the Clauses b, c, d, e, or f of section 95 can demand a part of the property of the husband with the same conditions as the subsection 1

Subsection 3: If the couple owns a shared property then the property shall be divided as per the agreement made when owning the property before filing the divorce.

Subsection 4: If the husband has not gained separate ownership of the property from the father or other shared owners, then the court shall order both husband and wife to disclose who the partners are and the property on the share of the husband will be distributed as per the prior agreements with the partners between husband and wife. 

Subsection 5: This subsection of the Divorce law states that if the division of the property takes too long in a way that will affect the process of the divorce, the court will order the husband to pay monthly alimony money as per the property and the income of the husband until the division of the property is completed. This rule will be void and no longer be in play if the wife remarries before the property is divided between them. 

Subsection 6: This subsection states that if subsections 1 to 5 do not apply, and if the divorce is filed by the husband on the grounds of the clause b, c, or d of section 94, the wife shall not be eligible to demand a part of the property or alimony money and subsections 1 to 5 will no longer be in play. 

Section 100: Lump Sum money or the Alimony Money

This section of the Divorce Law of Nepal states that the wife can ask for Lump sum money or amilomey money in the form of either annual or monthly payment instead of the property, in the case that the wife is the one who filed for divorce. The lump-sum money/ alimony money will be determined on the basis of the husband’s income and property value. 

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

Naturally, the wife will not be eligible for this money if she remarries someone during the process and the rules of this section will no longer apply. 

Section 101: Maintenance Costs/Support costs

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

The rules of this section of the divorce law come into play if the husband has no property so to speak of to be divided under section 99. Under the rules of this section, the husband can be ordered to provide the support costs to the wife based on the income of the husband after the divorce. This law will no longer be in effect and the husband will no longer have to pay if the wife remarries or has a higher income than the husband. 

Section 102: As per the agreement

As per this section of the Divorce Law of Nepal, if there is a pre-existing agreement between husband and wife about the division of the property or alimony money, then it will be done as per their agreement and the rules of section 99, 100, and 101 will no longer be in play.

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

This basically means that if both the husband and wife have agreed to who gets what after the divorce then the court will do nothing with their agreement and they can divide the property as they want to, given that this is done before they file the divorce.

Section 103: In the case of the death of the wife

This section of the Divorce law says that if the wife dies, her share of the property that she gained after divorce will go to her children with the ex-husband if she has any children with him. 

If she does not have any children with the ex-husband, the part of the property that she gained from the ex-husband before the divorce will go back to him, and the property that was originally hers will go to the descendants from her mother’s side. 

In simple words, this part of the divorce law says that if she has kids with her ex-husband, what she gained from him will belong to them, and if she does not have any kids with him then his part of the property will go back to him and the rest will go to her mothers family. 

Section 104: Statute of limitation

This is the last rule under the divorce law of Nepal and it says that if any party be it the husband, wife, or any third party directly related to the case are affected in a negative way, they can make a case against the decision of the court. There is a time limit however and any cases regarding the divorce must be made within three months of the final hearing of the divorce case. 

Divorce Laws in Nepal As per the National Civil code of 2017/18 A.D

With this, we have covered all the sections of the Divorce Law in Nepal. As you can see there is no law regarding child custody under the divorce law however it is covered under section 115 of the National Civil Code of Nepal under the chapter of provisions relating to the relationship between parents and children. 

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