Respected Members,
Needs some information to understand & guide a close familiy member who is a women;
The marriage took 13 yrs ago; problem were there in the initial stages but got settled down in few years. Thereafter they live for 8 years together and have a daughter of 7 years. But again the problem started emerging and on one day the husband said to get out of the house or else he would do anything which could either harm himself so that she would in trouble or he could harm her. Fearing this she left home with the child (to her parental house) when the husband was away to office. After 2 months the husband came with some family members for a meeting but that meeting ended in heated argument not with the wife but among the family members. Since then she is living in parental house and now it is been 5 years. No legal action was taken from either side during these periods and somehow she & her family members thought there would be one day that he will come back and he would repent the mistakes he made and there would be a chance of re-union.
Last month husband sent a notice issued from the lawyer mentioning the desertion by the wife asking to join back within 5 days of the receipt of notice. They replied the notice through a lawyer stating the allegation made in the notice is baseless & false. And now a notice has been issued by the Family Court stating the petitioner has asked for legal separation and asked to appear on a particular date.
We would like to know
1) How the case are dealt in Family Court? Do she has to be present in person or a lawyer can handle the case?
2) Do we just reply to the allegation made in the notice by the husband or can we make the real truth by mentioning the actual scenario which lead to this situation?
3) How long this would take if the she does not wish to give divorce by consent?
4) Will there be any counseling session involving both the person?
5) She is not an earning member but does not want to have any maintenance if the husband really wants divorce and not re-union but the child should get her legitimate rights of her father assets for her studies & marriages. What should she do to get this?
Your response would be really helpful inorder to understand the proceedures & rights.
Best Regards
