The main Malaysian statutes governing the breakdown of marriage and the welfare of

children are:
 Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976
 Guardianship of Infants Act 1961
 Child Act 2001, which deals primarily with children in need of care, protection and
rehabilitation, and related matters.
 Married Women Act 1957.
 Married Women & Children (Maintenance) Act 1950.
 Married Women & Children (Enforcement of Maintenance) Act 1968.

Law Reform (Divorce and Marriages) Act 1976 (“LRA”)

The LRA is a set of family laws that governs the civil marriage in our country. It laid down the
laws on marriage and divorce and other matters auxiliary thereto, for example, maintenance of
spouse and children, division of matrimonial property and child custody.

Marriage

The LRA became law on 1st March 1982 and provides for all marriage to be registered in order
for it to be regarded as a valid marriage. Therefore any marriage which is not registered, for
example amongst girlfriend and boyfriend, cohabitants, shall be regarded as invalid, thus have no
protection whatsoever afforded under the family law context.

Having said that, all marriages that did not registered but solemnized under any law, religion or
customary rites prior to 1st March 1982 are still legal marriage, thus valid so long parties can
show proof of solemnization of their marriage such as certification or eye witnesses or better still,
video recording.

It is further spelt out in the LRA that bigamy is disallowed under the law.

The LRA applies to all persons in Malaysia and to all persons domiciled in Malaysia but resident
outside Malaysia; and for this purposes, a person who is citizen in of Malaysia is deemed to be
domiciled in Malaysia until the contrary is proven.

Divorce

For any marriage registered under the LRA, the Court shall have the power to grant a decree for
divorce upon petition of one party to the marriage and such decree shall notwithstanding any
written law to the contrary, be valid against the other party, notwithstanding the other party has
converted to Islam.
 There can be several grounds for a party to petition for divorce as follows, provided always that
2 years shall have been expired at the time of petitioning from the date of the marriage:-

a. Where one party to a marriage has converted to Islam;

b. Where husband and wife mutually agreed that their marriage should be dissolved after
expiration of two years from the date of their marriage by presenting a joint petition;
c. Where there is breakdown of marriage which is provable by showing:-
 either party had committed adultery;
 either party behaved in such a way that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live
together;
 the respondent has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of at least 2 years; or
 the parties have lived apart for a continuous period of 2 years.

Presumption of the other party to a marriage is death after seven years of continuous
absence.

The LRA also provide that for divorce under the sole ground of irretrievable broken down of
marriage, the petitioner must first refer their matrimonial difficulties to the Marriage Tribunal or
Conciliatory Body in National Registration Department (official website: www.jpn.gov.my),
which is established under the purview of Ministry of Home Affairs, in order to obtain the
relevant certification of whether the marriage can be reconciled.

In any divorce proceedings, regards shall have for the following auxiliary matters to be resolved.

Maintenance of Spouse (a.k.a Alimony)

The Court is empowered to award maintenance to a spouse even during the course of the divorce
proceeding before a decree for divorce is granted. Maintenance can be either paid from the
husband to the wife or vice versa. It is the law that the assessment of maintenance shall base
primarily on the “means and needs” of the parties for the purpose of continuing their standard of
living such that during the subsistence of the marriage. Such amount of maintenance awarded is
regardless of the proportion that such maintenance bears to the income of the husband or wife,
but having regard to the responsibility which the court apportions to each party for the
breakdown of the marriage.

Property Division

The inherent power of the court to order property division should be exercised judiciously in the
pretext of safeguarding the benefit of the spouses but also the dependent children. This involves
assets that are used jointly and severally for the benefit of the family as a whole. The principles
for property division, on one hand, emphasize towards equality of division considering the needs
of the minor children. On the other hand, the Court is mindful of the need to balance of whether
the assets were acquired jointly or by the single effort of one party where in the latter case, the
division cannot be based on the equality principle.

Maintenance of Children
Maintenance of children is essentially the obligation of both parents. However, judicial
precedents inclined towards holding that the husband has the primary obligation to maintain the
children whereas the mother has secondary obligation. The law also states that the term
‘maintenance’ should be construed widely as it signifies any form of material provision that will
enable the wife and children to be placed in a position to enjoy the same standard of living as
they did during the subsistence of the marriage.

Custody of Children

As a general rule, there is a rebuttable presumption that it is for the good of a child below the age
of 7 years to be with his or her mother but in deciding whether that presumption applies to the
facts of any particular case, the court shall have regard to the undesirability of disturbing the life
of a child by changes of custody from the father [section 88(3) of the LRA].

The court may at any time by order place a child in the custody of his or her father or his or her
mother or, where there are exceptional circumstances making it undesirable that the child be
entrusted to either parent, of any other relative of the child or of any association the objects of
which include child welfare or to any other suitable person.

Where there are two or more children of a marriage, the court shall not be bound to place both or
all in the custody of the same person but shall consider the welfare of each independently
[Section 88(4) of LRA].

In deciding in whose custody a child should be placed the paramount consideration shall be the
welfare of the child and subject to this the court shall have regard to the wishes of the parents of
the child; and to the wishes of the child, where he or she is of an age to express an independent
opinion [Section 88(2) of the LRA].

Judicial Separation

For if 2 years have not been expired from the date of the marriage for purpose of petitioning for
divorce, parties may consider the option to petition for judicial separation on the same 4 grounds
as petition for divorce. Judicial separation, once granted, allows parties to live apart and end their
marital obligations but parties shall remain married until divorce. Such decree, if successfully
obtained, will be useful for the winning party as a means of presenting a marriage offence
leading to breakdown of marriage and with a view to applying for divorce later.

Nullity

A party can present petition for nullity if the marriage is a void or voidable marriage which is the
result of the absence of one of the requisites of a valid marriage, for example as regards to age (ie
less than 21 years old), mental and physical capacity be incapable of contracting the marriage.
Other common grounds on which the marriage will be voidable are either party to the marriage
did not validly consent to it; or the marriage had not been consummated owing to the incapacity
or willful refusal of either party to the marriage which facts shall be ascertained by the Court.
马来西亚关于婚姻和儿童福利的主要法规是：

•1976 年法律改革（婚姻和离婚）法令
•1961 年婴儿监护法令
•2001 年儿童法令，主要涉及需要照顾，保护和康复的儿童以及相关事项
•1957 年已婚妇女法令
•1950 年已婚妇女和儿童（维持）法令
•1968 年已婚妇女和儿童（强制执行抚养）法令

1976 年法律改革（婚姻和离婚）法令（LRA）

LRA 是一套管辖我国民事婚姻的家庭法令。它规定了婚姻和离婚的法律以及其他辅助的事项，例
如，配偶和子女的抚养，婚姻财产的分割和子女监护。

婚姻

LRA 于 1982 年 3 月 1 日成为法律，它规定所有婚姻都要登记，以便将其视为有效婚姻。因此，

任何未登记的婚姻，例如女朋友和男朋友，同居者之间的婚姻，均应视为无效，因此无法根据家
庭法背景提供任何保护。

尽管如此，所有未经登记但在 1982 年 3 月 1 日之前根据任何法律，宗教或习俗仪式登记的婚姻仍

然是合法婚姻。只要当事人可以出示证明其婚姻的证明，如证明或目击证人或更好的是，视频录
制，婚姻便是有效的。

LRA 也进一步阐明重婚是不允许的。

LRA 适用于马来西亚的所有人以及定居马来西亚但身在马来西亚境外的所有人;为此目的，在马
来西亚居住的人被视为在马来西亚定居，直到相反证明为止。

离婚

对于在 LRA 下注册的婚姻，法院有权授予婚姻其中一方申请的离婚判令须。此判令应对婚姻的另

一方有效，尽管婚姻另一方已皈依伊斯兰教。

婚姻的其中一方当事人在结婚期满 2 年时，有权以一下 4 个理由提出离婚请愿：

（a）婚姻的其中一方已皈依伊斯兰教;

（b）如果丈夫和妻子双方同意其婚姻应在其结婚起满两年后通过提出联合请求而解除;
（c）如果婚姻破裂，可通过以下方式证明：

•任何一方犯了通奸罪;

•任何一方的行为使得请愿人无法合理地与他或她生活在一起;

•被告人已遗弃申请人至少 2 年;或

•双方已分居连续两年。

-婚姻的一方在婚后连续缺席七年，即被假定为死亡。

LRA 还规定，以婚姻无法挽回为唯一理由而申请离婚者，必须首先向内政部管辖下的 Marriage

Tribunal 或 Conciliatory Body in National Registration Department（官方网站：www.jpn.gov.my）述
说他们的婚姻困难，以获得婚姻是否可以和解的相关证明。

在任何离婚诉讼中，都应考虑解决以下辅助事项。

配偶的赡养费

法院有权在离婚诉讼期间授予配偶赡养费，然后才批准离婚判决。抚养费可以由丈夫支付给妻子，
反之亦然。法律规定，赡养费评估应主要以各方的需求为基准，主要考虑如何让对方维持在婚姻
存续期间的生活水平。无论赡养费在丈夫或妻子的收入中所占的比例如何，法院主要的考虑是各
方在婚姻破裂上所应付责任。

财产分割

法院命令财产分割的固有权力应以维持配偶和受抚养子女的利益为主要考量，明智地行使。这涉
及整个家庭共同和分开使用的资产。财产分割原除了强调考虑到未成年子女的需要，也强调法院
需注意平衡共同或分开拥有的资产。如果资产是分开拥有的，其财产分割则不能基于平等原则。

儿童抚养

抚养儿童基本上是父母双方的义务。但是，司法先例倾向于认为丈夫有抚养子女的主要义务，而
母亲则有次要义务。法律还规定，“抚养”一词应该被广泛解释，因为它表示任何形式的物质支
持，使妻子和儿童能够享有与他们在婚姻期间所享有的相同的生活水平。

儿童监护权
在一般情况下，作为一条可被推翻的推定，即为了 7 岁以下儿童的利益，儿童应与其母亲在一起。
但在决定该推定是否适用于任何特定案件的事实时，法院应当考虑到因把监护权交予父亲所带来
的对儿童的影响。[LRA 第 88（3）条]。

法院可随时通过命令将儿童置于其父亲或其母亲的监护之下，或者在特殊情况下将儿童委托给父
母的任何其他亲属，或其任何组合包括儿童福利或任何其他合适的人。

如果婚姻里有两个或两个以上的婚姻子女，法院不应将两者或全部置于同一人的监护之下，而应
独立考虑各自的福利[LRA 第 88（4）条]。

在决定将儿童的监护权安置时，最重要的考虑因素应是儿童的福利，在此情况下，法院应考虑到
儿童父母的意愿;以及他或她的年龄表达独立意见的能力 [LRA 第 88（2）条]。

司法分离

如果当事人想在结婚未期满两年内提出离婚申请，当事人可以考虑以此前解释过的 4 大理由申请
司法分居。司法分居一旦获得批准，当事人会被允许分居并终止其婚姻义务，但当事人应继续保
持结婚状态直至离婚被批准为止。如果当事人成功获得这样的法令，将在申请离婚上有帮助。

婚姻无效

如果婚姻缺乏有效婚姻的必要条件，例如成年年龄（即 21 岁），身体及精神健康，婚姻其中一方
可以提出无效请求。婚姻无效的其他理由是婚姻的任何一方都没有有效地同意婚姻;或者婚姻未能
完成，因为婚姻的任何一方缺少法律能力或故意拒绝结婚，其案件的事实将由法院裁定。