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Guide

Khula, and why it
goes to a court

Khula is the way a wife ends a marriage. It is not a form. The wife files a suit, the court hears it, and the court decides. This page shows the order, and how to find an advocate who has done it before.

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 afterwards is a separate step. What your religion asks of you is a third thing, and not something we write about.

A dark workshop interior with daylight flooding through an open doorway, and a figure at work in the light
Photograph: Badar ul islam Majid

What a khula is

A khula is the wife asking a court to end the marriage. It is a court case, not a form. The court decides, and that decision is what ends it.

Talaq is the other route, and it works the other way round: the husband states it, and written notice goes to the union council. If that is your situation, this is not your page.

Back to khula, talaq and what comes after

The order it happens in

  1. The wife files a suit

    The suit goes to the family court.

  2. The court tries to save the marriage

    This comes before anything else.

  3. The court decides

    If that does not work, the court makes the order that ends the marriage.

Note Ask your advocate which family court hears your case.

Paperwork follows, and more than one office is involved in it.

The union council and NADRA, and what each one is

Choosing an advocate for a khula

  1. Can act on a power of attorney

    You are not in Pakistan. Someone has to be able to act for you there, and not every advocate takes that work.

  2. Has filed from abroad before

    Filing for a client who lives in another country is not the same job as filing for one down the road. Ask how often they do it.

  3. Works where the family court is

    The suit goes to one particular family court. An advocate in the wrong city is the wrong advocate, however good they are.

  4. Speaks a language you are comfortable in

    You will be reading documents you cannot afford to misunderstand.

What to ask before you agree

  • How many khula suits have you filed for someone living outside Pakistan?
  • Which family court will hear this, and how do you know that?
  • Do I have to come to Pakistan myself, or can you act for me there?
  • What do you need from me, and by when?
  • What is your fee, and what is not included in it?

More in Ending a marriage

Next in this group My children and I are not being paid maintenance Money for a wife and children after a separation. What can be asked for, from whom, and what a court looks at. Read this next

All of Ending a marriage on one page

Words you will meet

khula
The wife asks a court to end the marriage. This page is about that route.
talaq
The husband ends the marriage himself. That is the other route, and it has its own page.
family court
The court that hears a khula.
union council
The local office that written notice of a talaq goes to.

Find an advocate who handles a khula

The register shows who acts on a power of attorney, who has filed from abroad, and in which city.