Hello,
Me and my wife are Roman Catholics who married in Goa in 2008 under the Civil Marriages Act. Post our marriage we shifted to Bangalore where I have private employment. While we were extremely compatible with each other as friends, we found our relationship as husband and wife degrade over time to the point that we began to consider ending our marriage.
In early 2015, after going through a series of failed counselling therapies we took the decision to end our marriage - preferably through the route of a divorce by mutual consent.
Since June 2015, we have been living seperately - me in Bangalore, while she has returned to live in Goa. This is however not a judicial or a legal seperation in the sense that it has not been mandated by any court. We have also worked out the seperation of whatever property and savings we have. Since we have no children there is no issue of child custody.
We have a few doubts in this regard that we hope that the learned experts here can clarify for us. While there are a lot of resources for obtaining divorces through the Hindu Marriage Act, there is very little available online with regard to Goa's Civil Marriage Act. As you will be aware, Goa is the only state in India to have a uniform civil code for all citizens with no family law in force.
Our questions are as follows:
We understand that we have to live seperately for one year before we are eligible for a mutual consent divorce. Does this seperation have to be mandated by a court, or does our present condition of living seperately count towards this period?
If merely staying seperate counts towards this period of one year, will we need to maintain any documentary evidence to prove that we have lived seperately?
We understand that the Hindu Marriage Act requires a first motion filed in court followed by a second motion between 6-18 months after the first motion. Does the Civil Marriage Act applicable in Goa also have a similar provision, or does it differ?
Any help will be appreciated.
