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Foreign marriage in Indonesia is a marriage between two foreign nationals. It must be conducted under the laws of the Republic of Indonesia. Their marriage must be performed according to their religions and belief. They must have the same religion before they can perform the marriage. After that, they can register their marriage with the marriage registry in Indonesia. We have Civil Registry in the event the couple is non Moslem. We have Office of Religious Affairs in the event they are a Moslem couple.

In order to register your marriage in Indonesia, you need to supply the following supporting documents:

1. Certificate of Non Impediment Letter from your embassies in Jakarta;
2. Birth certificates from both partners. This document is a civil certificate. So, it is required in order to deal with civil matters in Indonesia. 
3. Copy of your passports;
4. Certificate of domicile, in the event you are a Kitas holder.

Basically, marriage in Indonesia is under monogamous principle. A husband can only have one wife, and a wife can only have one husband. In the event that you wish to take a second wife, you need to have a court order and the court may impose that your first wife to appear at the court for giving the consent. 

Legal Age

In 2019, the legal age to get married both for man and woman is 19 (nineteen) years old. In the event both the bride and groom are younger than 21, they need to have the consent from their parents. 

The stipulation of the legal age is according to the law number 16 of 2019 regarding the Amendment of the Marriage Law number 1 of 1974. The basis for this amendment is the Constitutional Court decision in 2017 number 22/PUU-XV/2017. The court ruled that the amendment to the relevant law must be issued within 3 (three) years since they issued the decision in 2017. 

This legal age also applicable to foreigners that perform their marriage here in Indonesia. 

Marriage Guardian 

If you are a Moslem couple, you need to make sure your bride has her own marriage guardian. The guardianship is imposed under the Article 14 of Islamic Compilation Law. This is the law for marriage in Indonesia especially for Moslem couples. The marriage guardian is one of the legal requirements to perform a marriage in Indonesia:

1. A groom;
2. A bride;
3. Marriage guardian;
4. Two witnesses. They must be men and grown-ups. If you're getting married in Moslem, you can't have a female witness;
5. Ijab dab Kabul (Consent by the groom and the guardian).

Your guardian for the marriage is strictly limited to these person only: your biological father, your biological grand father, and  your brother from patrilineal line. If none of them does not exist, you're in need of a help from the judge. 

Residency Permit

As foreigners, you may or may not have a resident permit in Indonesia.

If you do, this determine the jurisdiction of your marriage registry. If you did not have one, you may register your marriage according to the place where your marriage takes place.

Marital Property

Since you're married under the laws in Indonesia, your property is subject to our laws too. Any property acquired during the marriage is subject to joint property. Anything acquired before the marriage date belongs to each spouse. They have their power to manage the property according to their will.

Prenuptial Agreement

I suggest you sign the prenup. Even if both of you are foreigners and the assets are located outside of Indonesia. The prenuptial agreement signed under the laws in Indonesia shall be mirrored by the court where your assets are located. If you did not sign any prenup, anything acquired during the course of your marriage shall be join. 

I advised American-Russian spouse married in Bali couple of years. Having a prenup under Indonesian laws sound simple. You might think it is not necessary as well. But this is important. This is going to test smartest move you will ever done in your assets protection. 

What else you need to know about the marriage in Indonesia? Oh ya, the Children!

Children

If you have a child born before your legal marriage registered in Indonesia, you need to have it legalized. This is simply building a relationship between the child and the father. You guys shall establish paternity privilege between those two persons. This is very important for claiming citizenship for your child. I did this for Australia, Swedish, American, and British couples before. Great people!

The proceeding called legalization of child born out of wedlock. Certain things you need to do before the child legally recognized.

“Our thanks to Mr. Asep Wijaya of Wijaya & Co for sharing this article!”

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We take marriage very serious in Indonesia. You need to meet certain requirements, terms and conditions in order to get legally married. Once you have been issued a marriage certificate, or a marriage book for Moslem couples, your marriage is legally recognized. The terms and conditions for a person to get legally married in Indonesia are, among others:

1. Consents by both parties; bride and groom;
2. They must be aged 21 years. They must obtain parents' approval, or either parent if one of them has passed-away, or from their guardian in the even both of them have passed-away.

Consents by both parties are required in order to avoid forced-marriage, or arranged marriage. Both bride and groom must love each other without any force to enter into a matrimony. This is in accordance with our philosophy that marriage is a spiritual bond between a man and a woman as husband and wife with the aim of forming a happy and eternal family (household) based on belief to one and only God. This aim most likely will not be met without consents of both parties.

The idea of having the couples aged 21 years old to get married without parents' consent, among others, is to have matured spouses in the matrimony as it requires emotional as well as physical efforts. 

The Applicant 

If you think a marriage does not meet the above terms and conditions, you may file a cancellation to the court of law. An application may be submitted to the court with a jurisdiction as governed by the 1974 Marriage Law. In order to file an annulment application, you must be either:

1. You are one of the parties in the marriage, either wife or husband;
2. You are the parents of the groom or the bride;
3. You are the authorized officer as governed by the Marriage Law;
4. Any party related with legal interest to the marriage. This can be, among others, a wife whose husband is getting married again without her approval for committing bigamy.

You need to pay attention to the time frame for filing the annulment with the ground that the marriage conducted under a threat. You have only six  (6) months to file for the annulment application to the court. After that, the law will see you accept the situation, and annulment is no longer the case. 

Legal Consequences

The marriage annulment will not take affect to your children's legal status. They are legitimate one, and therefore shall have the legal relationship with their father. The rights and obligations within parental relationship are still in place even the marriage has been canceled. 

As for the property, since the marriage declared annulled and therefore it's not legally recognized since day one, the property division is not applicable between the husband and wife that is not legally free to marry. This may happen especially when the previous marriage still exists and is not yet to be dissolved.

Key Take-away

Marriage annulment has many aspects to meet. Failure to do so will make the court reject your application. Instead of filing for the annulment, I would suggest you to go with a divorce application. You have more leeways and options in pursuing your goals. We have one legal ground that commonly used in the field of practice i.e. irreconcilable differences.

“Our thanks to Mr. Asep Wijaya of Wijaya & Co for sharing this article!”

Getting divorce in Indonesia is not easy, especially if you were married abroad, but is still doable. You can rely on the court in Indonesia to dissolve your foreign marriage. This is not the case that they usually see on daily basis. This is about making Indonesia as your primary jurisdiction. Some regular legal issues in terms of divorcing in Indonesia may not be applicable to your case. For example, the marriage must be registered or reported to the marriage registry in Indonesia, you must possess a marriage certificate issued from the marriage registry in Indonesia, or none of you are Indonesian national. Those things are not required to exist in your case. This is a foreign divorce case. It's part of the international civil law in Indonesia. 

There are several legal principles that may able to used to support your foreign divorce. They are principle of connection point, Lex Fori, and Lex Causae. Those are the basic legal principle that in order to examine how the court will handle your case. The connection point principle consist of two parts i.e. Primary and secondary connection point. Some called it Minimum Contact. Your case must have minimum contact with the laws where the court has its jurisdiction. Primary connection point is the facts that establish the connection between your divorce case with the place where you will find it has jurisdiction over your case. At Wijaya & Co., we always pay attention to the details of our clients' case portfolio. At Wijaya & Co, we always pay attention to details of our client’s case. 

The component supporting primary connection point are as follows:

1. The nationality. Both spouses nationality is part of the primary connection point that establish the case between you and your spouse.

2. Domicile. You must live in the territory of Indonesia and both you and your spouse are residents. This is where you establish the bonafide residence in order to have a minimum contact with the court jurisdiction in the area where you live.

3. The venue. The venue is the exact place where you intend to dissolve the marriage and shall try your case according to the prevailing laws in Indonesia.

As for the secondary connection point in your case is the applicable law under your nationality. If you belongs to the state of California, United States, the court in Indonesia shall use family law in the state of California, especially to establish legal grounds for divorce, spousal and child support. The judge will compare those laws with the same thing that applicable under the Indonesian laws. They need to come to examination where none of the stipulation in California laws do not contradict anything under the Indonesian laws. This is to meet the requirements of keep the public order. Indonesia definitely confirm that they have jurisdiction over the case like this under a very ancient stipulation of Article 16 Algemene Bepalingen (AB). It's an ancient law that still exist in Indonesia. It came from Dutch ruling ages ago, but still exist up until now. In fact, it created the framework of our legal system. 

Under Article 207 of Civil Code, a petition for divorce is to be filed with the court of justice, within whose jurisdiction the husband, at the time of the filing of the petition has his main residence, or in the absence thereof, has taken up actual residence.  In the event the husband does not have any known principal residence or actual residence within Indonesia, the petition is to be filed with the court of justice at the location where the wife, at that time, actually resides. So, the actual residence of both spouses may be used in order to establish connection with the court jurisdiction in Indonesia. This is the principle Lex Fori that the laws in Indonesia shall be referred to in terms of determination of the court responsible to try the case.

The above is the legal technicality in relation to the divorce proceeding in the event you are a resident of Indonesia. Please contact me should you want me to explain in plain language about how we can do to assist you with your foreign marriage dissolution. Please contact me should you wish to discuss any further about this.

Our thanks to Mr. Asep Wijaya of Wijaya & Co for sharing this article!

Getting divorce in Indonesia is not easy, especially if you were married abroad, but is still doable. You can rely on the court in Indonesia to dissolve your foreign marriage. This is not the case that they usually see on daily basis. This is about making Indonesia as your primary jurisdiction. Some regular legal issues in terms of divorcing in Indonesia may not be applicable to your case. For example, the marriage must be registered or reported to the marriage registry in Indonesia, you must possess a marriage certificate issued from the marriage registry in Indonesia, or none of you are Indonesian national. Those things are not required to exist in your case. This is a foreign divorce case. It's part of the international civil law in Indonesia. 

There are several legal principles that may able to used to support your foreign divorce. They are principle of connection point, Lex Fori, and Lex Causae. Those are the basic legal principle that in order to examine how the court will handle your case. The connection point principle consist of two parts i.e. Primary and secondary connection point. Some called it Minimum Contact. Your case must have minimum contact with the laws where the court has its jurisdiction. Primary connection point is the facts that establish the connection between your divorce case with the place where you will find it has jurisdiction over your case. At Wijaya & Co., we always pay attention to the details of our clients' case portfolio. At Wijaya & Co, we always pay attention to details of our client’s case. 

The component supporting primary connection point are as follows:

1. The nationality. Both spouses nationality is part of the primary connection point that establish the case between you and your spouse.

2. Domicile. You must live in the territory of Indonesia and both you and your spouse are residents. This is where you establish the bonafide residence in order to have a minimum contact with the court jurisdiction in the area where you live.

3. The venue. The venue is the exact place where you intend to dissolve the marriage and shall try your case according to the prevailing laws in Indonesia.

As for the secondary connection point in your case is the applicable law under your nationality. If you belongs to the state of California, United States, the court in Indonesia shall use family law in the state of California, especially to establish legal grounds for divorce, spousal and child support. The judge will compare those laws with the same thing that applicable under the Indonesian laws. They need to come to examination where none of the stipulation in California laws do not contradict anything under the Indonesian laws. This is to meet the requirements of keep the public order. Indonesia definitely confirm that they have jurisdiction over the case like this under a very ancient stipulation of Article 16 Algemene Bepalingen (AB). It's an ancient law that still exist in Indonesia. It came from Dutch ruling ages ago, but still exist up until now. In fact, it created the framework of our legal system. 

Under Article 207 of Civil Code, a petition for divorce is to be filed with the court of justice, within whose jurisdiction the husband, at the time of the filing of the petition has his main residence, or in the absence thereof, has taken up actual residence.  In the event the husband does not have any known principal residence or actual residence within Indonesia, the petition is to be filed with the court of justice at the location where the wife, at that time, actually resides. So, the actual residence of both spouses may be used in order to establish connection with the court jurisdiction in Indonesia. This is the principle Lex Fori that the laws in Indonesia shall be referred to in terms of determination of the court responsible to try the case.

The above is the legal technicality in relation to the divorce proceeding in the event you are a resident of Indonesia. Please contact me should you want me to explain in plain language about how we can do to assist you with your foreign marriage dissolution. Please contact me should you wish to discuss any further about this.

Our thanks to Mr. Asep Wijaya of Wijaya & Co for sharing this article!

Getting marry is going to be the best decision you'll ever made. It is a simple decision with the a future lying ahead of you. They said the marriage is the foundation to everything in your life, among other, property. Both husband and wife are to have joint property ownership after the marriage, if they did not sign anything like a prenuptial agreement. Sometime, you don't get one just because you thought you did not need one. But now, the Constitutional Court revised the Article 29 (1) of the Marriage Law that the marital agreement may be entered as well during the course of marriage. The verdict number 69/PUU-XII/2015 officially created a postnuptial agreement on October 27, 2016 as one of the legal instrument in management of your assets in the marriage. Now, you can have one when you feel you need one.

The ideas behind this decision to officially allow the postnuptial agreement for married couples were to create separation of property and assets between husband and wife. Their separate assets are protected. No drama in fighting for property division. The same idea also applicable to debts. Husband and wife shall responsible for debts they created. The postnup therefore shall create separation of liability during the course of marriage. Furthermore, no consent is required from each of the party in the marriage in the event they want to sell their own separate assets. As for loan application with the bank, neither party is required to obtain consent from their spouse in putting their separate assets as a mortgage. In view of the above, the court wants both parties are totally independent in managing their assets. This is a fine legal reasoning. The Constitutional Court, they keep-up with the contemporary developments within the society in Indonesia. Awesome!

The validity of the postnup shall be initiated as soon as you’ve signed it. It is applicable since you entered it, and it is advisable not retroactively backward. It is applicable on actual date. This is to avoid any conflict of interests with any third party, because since the marriage date the couple might have been created jointly owned marital assets. It is very difficult to differentiate which property belongs to separate or joint property. You may potentially jeopardize the third party’s interests such as banks, and other investors in your marital assets. If you should retroactively draw the postnup back to the marriage date, at least you need to have the properties included into the exhibit and make sure they are mortgage-free. Apart from the ones listed in the exhibit, they belong to both of them. The couple is to have equal shares. This will also include the creditor(s) having a portion in the unlisted properties for the part that a mortgage has been put under. You may want to contact me here to discuss any further about this matter. At Wijaya & Co, we always pay attention to details of our client’s case. 

The postnup created under the verdict from the Constitutional Court has potential challengeable issues. The verdict put a notary as the party that legalize the postnup. According to the civil law procedures doctrines, this is not a proper ruling. They put the role of a notary to substitute the authority of a judge. You see, having a prenup and not having a prenup is a big deal, because it creates a property separation during the course of marriage. This situation is full of potential issues because when you're having a property, whether you like it or not, it involves other third party(ies) too, not just you and your spouse. The other third party such as bank as the lender if the property under mortgage, the government through the BPN (Badan Pertanahan National/National Land Registry), and other party that may have interest in your assets acquired during the marriage. At Wijaya & Co., we always pay attention to our clients' details and therefore issues are identified before they become potential hiccoughs. 

By having a notary legalizes a postnup, they are driven to declare some new legal situation. Last time I checked, this is the domain of a court through their legal instruments i.e. court decree. They called it a Declaratory Verdict. It creates a new legal facts, a new situation. For instance, declaring from joint property ownership to separation of ownership. As far as I concern, the court have a very established sets of law in civil procedures. Before finally reaching the verdict, the court must conduct a cross examination. This is a very important phase in civil legal system. If you were not happy with the verdict, you may file an appeal to the higher court within 14 (fourteen) days since the date the verdict reached. If there was nothing within that set of time-frame, the court finds that you are happy with the verdict, and everybody can get on with their lives. Your Indonesian attorney may proceed to draft a postnup for you.

You can't have those situations if a notary is to legalise the postnup. The convert from joint property to separate property, is not legally assessed with substantial rule of evidence, like the one they're doing it at a court proceeding. If one of the spouses was not happy, or seek any potential leeway that may benefit them in a divorce case, they might want to revoke the prenup. I would say they may be able to do that. Therefore, the postnup as its final outcome, is challengeable, and may be voidable. I would suggest you should consider it with full discretion. If your situation is full with substantial marital property, you should decide if any further reasonable action may be taken to secure your interests. Please contact me should you wish to discuss any further about this.

When you're married, you're married. Most people wants the marriage for once in a life time. But at some point, you want to "undo" the decision and "reinstate" the status. From married to single. This is doable with the marriage annulment. Although permitted under strict requirements, the application for marriage annulment must be lodged to the court within the territory of the Republic of Indonesia. This is the procedures to turn the clock around under civil law in Indonesia. This has several legal consequences to your marital status. Shall be go over the rest of them? Read on!

Marriage annulment in Indonesia is a court litigation proceedings, similar with divorce application. It requires litigation skills by lawyers who specialize in civil law, family law or international civil law to assist you to navigate with the sophisticated legal system. The proceeding may be conducted with the same chamber of court other family law cases, but some may not be familiar with the proceedings as this one is one of a kind. 

The application for annulment of marriage must meet the following criterias:

1. It must be made within six (6) months since the marriage date. They have strict time-frame. If you stay in the marriage for for that six months, they think you're accepting the marriage, and you might enjoy tying the not with your spouse. 
2. Must be made to the court according to your jurisdiction. They set-out a very strict ruling with the court jurisdiction. This is understandable as the legal system needs to provide legal certainty for those who committed with the sacred bond of matrimony. 

The parties that may apply for the marriage annulment are as follows:

1. Upper line family members of husband, or wife. They include your parents, your grand parents, etc. 
2. Husband or wife. They must step forward and tell the truth. After all, this is the life they're about to go through;
3. The authorized officer before the marriage dissolved;
4. Any party that has legal interest to the marriage, but only after the marriage has been dissolved. This may be related to the the property acquired during the marriage i.e. mortgage with the bank, etc. This thing make things get complicated. Other third parties may be involved in the marriage because finally they are affected as well;
5. Any person related to the bride or groom under the marriage relationship. The children of either spouse may be included in this category. They are the person that may be suffer more than anybody else if a marriage turns to sour.

One of the main requirements to conduct the annulment that the marriage must be originally performed and registered in Indonesia. It doesn't matter if it was a Moslem or Non-Moslem marriage. It must be registered and recognised under the Indonesia's Marriage Law. The marriage must have proof of registration from the marriage registry in Indonesia. It doesn't matter your nationality, whether you're an Indonesian or not. 

The court upon receipt of the marriage annulment shall hold a litigation proceedings, and the procedures shall be set-up according to the applicable divorce litigation proceedings. Some pointers that you need to anticipate is that the court may require two (2) witnesses to testify. They need to come to the court and supply the information to the judge. The court will take their oath in order to be used as evidence. This is a substantial part of the case and therefore you must have some family members to be support you if you want to go ahead with the case.

Although, the marriage annulment may reverse your marital status, but it will not, in anyway, take effect to the children born into the marriage, property, debt and other financial consequences. This is according to the Article 28 of the Marriage Law. The annulment of a marriage applicable after the court order legally binding. You see we have 14 (fourteen) days waiting period for you to file for an appeal. If they don’t receive any appeal from either party within that period, the annulment will be legally binding.

Marriage in Indonesia is a choice of legality, simplicity, and hassle-free. The reason I put legality first is because the marriage laws protects your marriage, and a little family you raise. The laws require you to perform the marriage according to your religion belief, and recorded at a marriage registry. You need to understand that Indonesia does not recognize only civil marriage. You need to conduct religious ceremony first, before your marriage is legally recognized. In another words, solemnization first, then civil marriage, then reception party.

Bonafide of Your Marriage

The marriage registry in Indonesia will issue marriage license to both you and your spouse as proof that you are legally married. For Moslem couples, they will receive two marriage books. One original copy for each spouse. The colours of the books are brown, and green. They have the same biographic information, and both of them have your pictures too. As for Non-Moslem couples, you will receive two marriage certificates. Each spouse gets one certificate. Both certificates represents the groom and bride information and their picture together. At Wijaya & Co, we always pay attention to details of our client’s case.

The marriage license from Indonesia, both being the marriage book and the marriage certificate are legally recognized worldwide. Major countries like the United States, United Kingdom, China, and some other major European countries recognize and may be able to be used as one of the supporting documents for immigration spousal sponsorship.

Ten (10) Days Waiting Period

In order to obtain legal recognition under the marriage law in Indonesia, you need to allow ten (10) days waiting period. This time frame was meant to give time to the public to recognize you, whether you are legally free to marry or not, You need to meet the marriage requirements in Indonesia, otherwise it is challengable at the court of law. You may face annulment claim by one of the relevant parties. Please see here for further details of how you can avoid your marriage being nullified.

Simplicity

You can perform a marriage in Indonesia with a simple, but yet legal. We cherish a marriage because it is one of the good things in life. If you can show that you are legally free to marry and have no legal impediment why the two of you should wed, our marriage registry will register your marriage and issue a marriage license. One of the most important documents to register your marriage in Indonesia ia Non-Impediment Letter. Some call it Certificate of the Non Impediment ("CNI"). Some event call it Certificate In Lieu of the Non Impediment, because this thing does not exist in a country like Canada. Since they are required to issue one, the issue it anyway.

Please give me a call or drop me an email, should you wish to talk of how I can assist you in any way you need!

Marriage legalization is applicable to Moslem couples in Indonesia. It is to legalize the marriage previously conducted under religious rites, but not legal according to the state law yet. It may be happened for so many reasons like one of the spouse was ready to make a new commitment with you, but he/she was not legally divorce yet. This can be a burden socially to you, your spouse, and your family. So, you decided to performed the religious marriage. Consuming a marriage life like this is the same thing as if cohabitation. It is the life without legal recognition. The marriage laws in Indonesia are not applicable to you, yet. Not until you legalize the marriage.

Having a marriage legalization means you are legally recognizing the marriage previously conducted. Your official marriage date would be the date you performed the marriage. They may issue you a marriage license and the issuing date of the documents may be recent. That's fine, as it is only to show the issuing date of the documents only. When they do that, your marriage to your spouse is legally registered with the registry database. The marriage law, and family law in Indonesia are applicable normally to you, your spouse, and to your children. This is why the marriage legalization in Indonesia means for you, and your family. At Wijaya & Co, we always pay attention to details of our client’s case.

The thing is, a marriage only legally recognized when it meets two requirements i.e. it is performed according the couple’s religion affiliation, and it must be registered according to the prevailing laws. Article 7 (1) of Compilation of Islamic Law stipulates that a marriage book issued by the marriage registrar is an evidence of a legal marriage. So, the marriage legalization is applicable to the marriage that does not meet this stipulation. It means you can perform the legalization of marriage for getting your marriage registered and issued a marriage book.

There would be no legal protection for the marriage without any registration. The marriage book itself is an evidence that the marriage exists. The registration is protecting your spouse, and children born into your marriage. You see, the marriage is the very basic foundation in your life. As a father, your name will not appear on your child’s birth certificate. Your spouse may not be able to prevail as your next of kin, nor your children. Your assets may not be distributed according to your wishes, and your family may not receive the benefits of your estate. This is the last thing you want.

Article 7 (2) of Compilation of Islamic Law further states that a marriage legalization application may be lodged to the court in the event you’re unable to prove the marriage with a marriage book. The court responsible for your case may have to cross examine all the evidence you submitted together with the witnesses in this matter. There's no guarantee that the court may approve your application, therefore the attempt to legalize the marriage must be done with enough supporting documents, and compliance to the prevailing procedures with the legal system.

The outcome from the proceeding of the marriage legalization in Indonesia will give your spouse, and your children legal protection. Both of them is legally recognized both their rights and obligations according to the laws in Indonesia. Upon completion of the proceedings, your marriage will be recognized, and the court verdict is the proof of your marriage. It consist of some pages of court decision. It may not be practical, but at least it give you protection you and your family need. Please contact me should you wish to discuss any further about this.

Child custody in Indonesia is one of the consequences of a divorce between a husband and a wife, Divorce may be the solution for both of you. It may be your best way out, but the law suggets it can only be used as a last resort. It means both of you should work hard to keep your marrriage intact. In Indonesia, you should have enough reason to dissolve your marriage. You just can’t say: “I have enough of you! Let’s get divorce!” They won’t allow you to get divorce on this ground. Article 39 (2) of the Marriage Law stipulated that in order to get a divorce, both husband and wife must have enough reason that they will not be able to live in harmony.

There are legal grounds of filing for divorce that every divorce lawyer in Indonesia has to advise his clients with, and they have been regulated in the Marriage Law, which are, in the event one of the parties:

1. has committed adultery, is an alcoholic, is addicted to drugs, is a gambler or exhibits other vices which are difficult to cure;
2. has left the other spouse for two consecutive years, without consent and without legitimate reasons or the absence of reasons beyond his control;
3. has been sentenced to imprisonment for five (5) consecutive years or a longer period;
4. has resorted to cruelty or severe ill treatment, endangering the life of the other spouse;
5. has developed a disability or disease, preventing from fulfilling the duties of husband or wife; or
6. has irreconcilable differences.

For couples married in Moslem ceremony, Article 166 of Islamic Compilation Law added two more legal ground to get divorce. They are:  a. You may get divorve in the event a husband broke his taklik talak. It’s a marriage vow soon after the Moslem couples performed the marriage. If you forget about it, you may want to check the back page of your marriage book; b. Apostate.  In the event your spouse convert back to his/her previous belief, other than Islam. The above legal grounds are optional. I mean, your divorce case doesn’t have to meet all of the legal grounds. You just have to include ome of them, and supply two witnesses to take the stand at the court room. 

As for the child custody, the decision follows after the marriage has been dissolved. The custody of a child under the age of 12 belongs to the mother. Article 105 of Islamic Compilation Law imposed that a child aged 12 (twelve) has a freedom to choose between its mother or father. They tend to give the custody to the mother because they think women is the best figure to nurture the child. They are more compassionate than men. They think women can do it better than men. In short, they think the Islamic Compilation Law has maternal preference. It's also has sole custody principle that allow one parent to be a custody holder, and the other parent is a non-custody parent. But, in the field of practice those things are not always happen. They don't always do their jobs. They can be either mentally unstable, committing adultery, leaving the child at home during night time to meet friends, hang out and partying all night, or even jeopardizing the child's well-being. Those are the circumstances where you as the father may take over the custody of your child. You can’t just say that you’re financially better than your wife, and you think you deserve the custody. Our Marriage Law considered husband is a bread maker in the family. You have the obligation to support your children. This is the universal value every where, I supposed.

The ultimate consideration of having a child custody is for the best interests of the child. It's imposed by the 2002 Child Protection Law. The judges assess and measure your ability in providing what’s best for your child. Factors included in the assessments are physical and mental health, intellectuality, independence, and utmost good faith in allowing his/her ex-spouse to have parenting and visitation. In another words, you still need to talk to you ex-spouse even though you are no longer married to each other. This is for the best interests of the child. The one that meets the requirements is the most eligible to serve as custody holder of the child.

I would like to bring your attention to the court verdict number 110K/AG/2007 issued by the Supreme Court in December 2007. The holding from the court was, among others, the ultimate consideration of having child custody (Hadhanah in Arabic term) is for the best interests of the child, not merely the most normatively entitled to. The court further stipulated that even though the child was only 7 (seven) years, and the mother frequently travelling overseas and leave the child all alone by herself, while the father actually always be there for the child giving her steady and stable life, so therefore they found the father was entitled to the custody of the child. This is one of the most brilliant court's products in Indonesia, and considered as "jeopardizing" the maternal preference since the Islamic Compilation Law enacted in 1991. But I mean, apart from that, you know, you can really lose your rights in getting child custody, even though the law prefers you due to gender preference. As parents, I believe we must put ourselves behind the children's interests and put them as our priority in life. I am sure we're all love our children so very much. 

Our thanks to Asep Wijaya, Managing Director of Wijaya & Co for sharing this information with us!

Child born out of wedlock in Indonesia may include its biological father on its birth certificate. The only way to do this is by getting the father acknowledge the child. They must support the claim with a DNA test, and backed by at least two witnesses. Furthermore, the legalization of a child must be court-approved. Otherwise, the civil law relationship between the father and his child will not be established. It is very important because this is where it all begins. 

The civil law relationship between the father and his child begins with a birth certificate. When you see his name on his child’s birth certificate, you will see they have something between them. This the truth lies in the amended Article 43 (1) of the Marriage Law. The legal protection given by the Constitutional Court with its breakthrough verdict. They are giving the child an identity printed on its birth certificate with full names of mom and dad. This is the real truth. You get the legal protection for the child in the form of a birth certificate. Nothing less, nothing more. Therefore, you need to do something about it for the sake of your child's future. 

Originally, the Article 43 (1) was not allow you to include the father’s name on the child’s birth certificate. It only recognize the relationship between the child and its biological mother. Some thinks that it’s not fair. Some thinks that it’s legally bastardizing the child. Other thinks we need to allow them to use both parents’ name on the child’s birth certificate, even though the marriage of the parents is still illegitimate. So, the amendment of this article is also about giving the child what they deserve and not to punish them for something what their parents did. The Civil Code furthermore imposed that as long as the child was acknowledged by the father and the mother, he/she may inherit from the parents. But the child may only have legal relationship with the person that acknowledge it. No further relationship with the rest of the family. In general, if a parent have legitimate children, a wife or a husband, the out of wedlock child entitles to only 1/3 of the legitimate child's share. 

As for Moslem couples, you need to dig this a little deeper as the amended Article 43 (1) will not create other consequences such as inheritance, and nasab relationship, as they thought they will have those two in the area of civil law. In Islamic Laws, if you’re conceiving a child outside of religious marriage, even though the father acknowledge it, the nasab relationship will not be established, even the father voluntarily acknowledge his child. Nasab relationship is parental relationship between the father and his child, created only through legitimate marriage betwen the father and the child's mother. Without it, there won’t be a nasab even the father acknowledges his child. This one of the inconvenient truths retrieved from the child legalization proceeding under the amended Article 43 (1) of the Marriage Certificate. 

If you're a Moslem, and you have an out of wedlock child, you need to refer further to the Islamic Compilation Law. This special civil law for Moslem couples governing activities like marriages, divorces, inheritances, and other issues related to family law. As for Non-moslem couples, you need to refer further to the Civil Code. According to those laws, both the Islamic Compilation Law, and the Civil Code, they imposed that child born out of wedlock can't inherit from the father, even though he acknowledges his child. This is a further legal consequences of child legalization as amended by the Article 43 (1). It seems to me, the amendment by the Constitutional Court was only to provide the child with a birth certificate with full parents' name. The ruling stops there. It does not solve any further complication regarding the issues related to the status of being an out of wedlock child. As parents of child born out of wedlock, you must not allow this to happen to you child. You need to do something. I would suggest you draw-up a last will and testament. This is the only possible solution to protect your child from the legal limbo regarding this issue in Indonesia

Our thanks to Asep Wijaya, Managing Director of Wijaya & Co for sharing this information with us!

Marriage in Indonesia is a spiritual bond between a man and a woman as husband and wife with the aim of forming a happy and eternal family (household) based on belief to one and only God. We take marriage a very serious matter. We require both religious and civil marriage to be conducted in order to gain legal recognition. The marriage is legal if you perform the religious marriage before the civil one. We have two types of marriage ceremony in Indonesia i.e. Moslem marriage, and Non-Moslem marriage. Both types of ceremony must go through religious marriage. As for Moslem marriage, they don't require civil registration as it is legally recognized. 

Child born out of wedlock in Indonesia doesn’t have its father’s name printed on the birth certificate. He/she can only have relationship with its mother and her mother’s family. The child doesn’t have any relationship with the biological father. Not until you as the father acknowledges it or legalizes it into his marriage to the child ‘s mother. You must support your acknowledgment with a DNA test, and the two witnesses taking the stand at the court of law. This proceeding is conducted in order to prove blood relationship between the child and the father. It will then creates legal relationship between the two of them. This is the essence of the rule in Article 43 (1) of the Marriage Law as amended by the Constitutional Court number 46/PUU-VIII/2010 dated Feb. 17, 2012.  

Furthermore, the amended Article 43 (1) stipulates as follow: "The child born out of wedlock has legal relationship with the biological mother and her family, and has legal relationship with the alleged father proven with scientific evidence and/or other evidence according to the laws that they have blood relationship, including civil law relationship with the father's family."

You don’t need to fix the legality of the marriage in order to acknowledge the child born out of wedlock. This is about getting a child legalized. It’s about getting to know the child’s origin by having the father and the mother’s names printed on the child’s birth certificate. It’s not about getting a marriage legalization. Those are two different things. When you as the father acknowledges the child, the legal relationship between the child and the father will be created as stipulated by Article 280 of Civil Code.  

The legalization of child born out of wedlock is to give legal protection to all the children in this matter. The law must protect the children and make sure they get what they deserve, even though the marriage of the parents is still in question. The protection must be implemented in the form of birth certificate with all the parents’ names printed on it. Article 55 of Marriage Law stipulates that the origin of a child can only be supplied by authentic birth certificate. This is the basic rights that the child must be able to have. The certificate is very useful when the child is applying for the school, passport for travelling, and other basic rights for her/his nurturing needs.

The birth certificate of an out of wedlock child does not include the father's name. Only name of the mother. It says something like is: "Premarital son/daughter of a woman named [insert mother's name]." It's because when the child was born, it only related to the mother and her family legally. When a birth certificate does not include complete names of the parents, it does not tell you the origin of the child. It doesn't comply with Article 55 (1). In order to include the name of the father on the birth certificate, a father must acknowledge the child with the consent from the biological mother. Without it, the court may not be able to approve the legalization. So, in order to legalize your child born out of wedlock, you need to present a case with complete evidence. Otherwise, they may reject the case and your child remain illegitimate child for good. As the father, you won’t be able to have access to the child legally. You can’t have joint custody of the child. Many cases like this where fathers lost cases in the court fighting for the custody of their children. You have to be careful, because you only have one bite of the apple. You better make it works.

I am Asep Wijaya. Thank you for reading.

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Child born out of wedlock in Indonesia has some key issues in its proceedings. If you have a child born out of legitimate marriage, you should know these and make sure you don't get conflicted by our legal system. First, we have now amended Article 43 (1) of the Marriage Law stipulates that child born out of wedlock not only has civil relationship with its mother and her family, but the child also have civil relationship with the biological father, and his family as well.

The starting point to draw a fine line between the child and the father, is by having the father to acknowledge the child. According to the Article 280 of Civil Code, the acknowledgment is to create the civil law relationship with the child, and its father or mother. After the acknowledgement, you may draw anything between the two of them. You may establish a child support, parenting and visitation. The child is also entitled to use your family name. He/she might be able to claim as your heir in the inheritance matters.

Furthermore, the amended Article 43 (1) imposed that a claim made in order to acknowledge the child and his father must be supported with a scientific evidence, like DNA test, as well as two witness that willing to take a stand at the court of law. The acknowledgment of an out of wedlock child must be approved by the court of law. The court verdict must shows the origin of the child, the acknowledgment made by the father, and the consent by the biological mother. This is an integrated paperworks. 

The idea to come-up with the amended Article 43 (1) is to provide legal protection for the child born out of wedlock. It is the duty of the state to issue a document regarding the origin of the child with full names of the parents and printed on a birth certificate. 

My name is Asep Wijaya. Thank you for reading my posts.

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