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Guide

Khula, talaq and
what comes after

There are two ways a marriage in Pakistan ends, and they do not work the same way. One is something the husband does. The other is something the wife asks a court to do. This page shows you which is which, and what still has to happen after.

Where this applies This page covers a marriage registered in Pakistan, and the official steps for ending it there. What the country you live in needs from you is a separate step, and it is below. What your religion asks of you is a third thing, and not something we write about.

An adult and a child walking away together down a street, seen through a large brick archway
Photograph: Sultan Ali

The two routes

Which one applies to you decides where the case is heard and who you need.

The husband ends it

Talaq

The husband states it, then sends written notice to the chairman of the union council. The chairman forms an arbitration council within thirty days. The divorce does not take effect until ninety days have passed.

Read more about talaq or

The wife asks a court

Khula

The wife files a suit in the family court. The court first tries to save the marriage. If that does not work, the court makes the order that ends it. This is a court case, not a form.

Read more about khula

After the divorce

  1. The offices that come after

    Paperwork follows either route, and more than one office is involved in it. One is local, one is national. Ask your advocate which document comes from which office, and which of them the country you live in asks for.

    Read more about the two offices

  2. Making it count where you live

    A divorce decided in Pakistan is not automatically valid in the country you live in. What each country asks for is decided by that country, and it is not the same everywhere. The page behind this card shows the apostille route. If you stop after the Pakistani side, you can still be married where you live.

    Read more about recognition abroad

Children

  1. Which court a case about a child belongs to

    One thing is worth knowing before you start: the special courts set up for Pakistanis living abroad were created for property disputes. Ask whether they have anything to do with a case about a child.

    Which court would hear your case, and where it would have to be filed, is the first thing to ask.

    Read more about a case about a child

More in Ending a marriage

Next in this group My husband has said talaq It is not over the moment he says it. Written notice has to reach the union council, a council is formed, and ninety days have to pass. Read this next

Also relevant

All of Ending a marriage on one page

Words you will meet

khula
The wife asks a court. It has its own page.
talaq
The husband states it and sends written notice. It has its own page.
divorce certificate
The paper that shows the divorce is on record.
union council
The local office. One of the two named on this page.
NADRA
The national office. The other of the two.

Find an advocate who handles family cases

The register shows who takes family work, in which city, and in which language.