Divorce in Bangladesh 2026: Talaq, Khula, Court Dissolution, Dower, Custody and Foreign Divorces

Divorce in Bangladesh: the 2026 legal framework

Divorce in Bangladesh is not governed by a single statute. The law that applies depends on the religion of the spouses, and the route out of the marriage depends on who wants it and whether the other spouse agrees. A Muslim husband can divorce by talaq, but only through a written notice and a ninety-day statutory process. A Muslim wife can divorce through a delegated right in her kabinnama, by agreement, or by suing in the Family Court. A Christian spouse needs a court decree on narrow grounds. A Hindu spouse, in 2026, still has no statutory divorce at all.

This guide maps the whole field: the section 7 notice and Arbitration Council, talaq-e-tafweez, khula and mubara'at, judicial dissolution under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, legal aid mediation, dower, maintenance, custody, registration, the Hindu and Christian positions and foreign divorces. Where TRW has a dedicated guide on a sub-topic, we link to it rather than repeat it.

Summary: For Muslims, divorce in Bangladesh takes legal effect only after written notice reaches the local Chairman or Mayor and ninety days pass, whether the divorce is a husband's talaq, a wife's delegated talaq or a khula. A wife without a delegated right can obtain a Family Court decree on statutory grounds. Christians need a court decree; Hindus have no divorce, only separate residence and maintenance. Dower, maintenance and custody survive the divorce and are enforced in the Family Court.

Key point: In November 2025 the High Court Division held that notice to the Chairman under section 7(1) of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 is mandatory even in a mutual khula, and that a private khula without notice is void and inoperative. Only a khula granted by Family Court decree is outside section 7.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

How divorce in Bangladesh is organised

Bangladesh runs a plural system of family law. Marriage, divorce, dower, maintenance and guardianship are governed by the personal law of each community, as modified by statute. The procedural forum is common: the Family Courts Act 2023, which replaced the Family Courts Ordinance 1985, gives Family Courts jurisdiction over dissolution of marriage, restitution of conjugal rights, dower, maintenance, and guardianship and custody of children.[6] The court fee for a family suit is Tk 200, and appeals go to family appellate courts presided over by a District Judge.[6]

For Muslims, who are the large majority, three statutes do most of the work. The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 regulates talaq, polygamy, maintenance and dower and applies to all Muslim citizens of Bangladesh wherever they may be.[1] The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 sets out the grounds on which a wife may obtain a court decree.[2] The Muslim Marriages and Divorces (Registration) Act 1974 provides for registration by the Nikah Registrar, commonly called the Kazi.[3]

Four questions that decide every case

Pin down four facts first: each spouse's personal law, including any conversion; the kabinnama, especially the dower entries and clause 18; where each spouse lives, which decides the Chairman and the Family Court; and whether there are children, whose custody and maintenance run on a separate track.

Talaq: the section 7 notice and the Arbitration Council

A husband's unilateral divorce is talaq. Classical Muslim law treats talaq as effective on pronouncement, but the 1961 Ordinance overrides that rule in Bangladesh. Section 3 gives the Ordinance effect notwithstanding any law, custom or usage, and section 7 imposes a compulsory procedure on every talaq "in any form whatsoever".[1]

The written notice

Section 7(1) requires any man who wishes to divorce his wife to give the Chairman notice in writing, as soon as may be after pronouncing talaq, and to supply a copy to his wife.[1] "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Union Parishad or Paurashava, the Mayor or Administrator of a City Corporation, or a person appointed by the Government in cantonment areas. Where the Chairman is not a Muslim or cannot act, the body elects a Muslim member to act instead.[1] Keep the dated receipt: the clock starts from delivery, not from pronouncement.

The Arbitration Council

Within thirty days of receiving the notice, the Chairman must constitute an Arbitration Council, consisting of himself and one representative of each spouse, to attempt reconciliation.[1] If a spouse fails to nominate a representative in time, the Council is validly formed without one. The Council cannot block a divorce. Its function is reconciliation, and the procedural rules of the civil courts do not apply to it.[1] Attend even in a consensual case: the Council's record is the best evidence that the procedure was followed.

When the divorce takes effect

Under section 7(3), a talaq that is not revoked earlier, expressly or otherwise, takes effect on the expiry of ninety days from the day the notice is delivered to the Chairman.[1] If the wife is pregnant when talaq is pronounced, section 7(5) postpones effect until the ninety days or the pregnancy ends, whichever is later. Until the effective date the spouses remain married: the husband's maintenance obligation continues, and a revocation during the period ends the process.

Remarriage between the same spouses

Section 7(6) allows a couple whose marriage has ended by an effective talaq to remarry each other without an intervening marriage to a third person, unless the termination is the third one effective under the section.[1]

Penalty and the civil consequence of skipping notice

Failing to give notice is an offence punishable with simple imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to ten thousand taka, or both.[1] The civil consequence matters more. A talaq without notice leaves the marriage legally intact: the wife remains entitled to maintenance, and a husband who remarries on the strength of an unnotified talaq risks contracting a second marriage without Arbitration Council permission. That triggers immediate payment of the entire dower to the existing wife and a separate criminal penalty under section 6(5).[1]

Talaq-e-tafweez: the wife's delegated right of divorce

A Muslim husband may delegate his power of divorce to his wife. The standard kabinnama provides for this in clause 18, and the delegation may be unconditional or subject to conditions.[4] When it is properly recorded, talaq-e-tafweez lets a wife end the marriage without going to court and, unlike khula, without giving up her dower or maintenance.[4]

Section 8 of the 1961 Ordinance applies the section 7 procedure, so far as applicable, where a delegated right is exercised.[1] The wife therefore serves written notice on the Chairman with a copy to her husband, the Arbitration Council is formed, and the divorce takes effect after ninety days. Two points decide most disputes. The wife should exercise the right in clear written terms that refer to clause 18, and any conditions attached to the delegation must actually be satisfied. A delegation conditioned on, for example, the husband's cruelty or second marriage requires evidence of that event.

Clause 18 is negotiated, or neglected, at the wedding. For a woman marrying today it is the single most valuable protection in the kabinnama, alongside clear dower entries and any lawful special conditions under clause 17, such as compensation for divorce without fault.[4] Our guide to marriage registration in Bangladesh covers the kabinnama in detail.

Khula and mubara'at: divorce by agreement

Muslim law recognises two consensual forms. In khula, the wife seeks release and offers consideration, most often the surrender of all or part of her dower, and the husband accepts. In mubara'at, both spouses want the divorce and either may propose it. Both are covered by section 8 of the 1961 Ordinance as dissolution "otherwise than by talaq".[1]

Notice is mandatory even in a mutual khula

For years practitioners disagreed about whether a khula needed notice to the Chairman. In Md Parvej Hossain v Mst Shohana Shohgi, decided on 16 November 2025, the High Court Division settled the point for now. The court held that khula becomes effective only through the husband's consent and so attracts section 7(1); that the words "in any form whatsoever" cover unilateral talaq, talaq-e-tafweez and mutual khula; and that non-compliance renders the purported dissolution void and inoperative.[5] Only a khula granted by decree of a competent Family Court takes effect by judicial order outside section 7.[5]

Putting the agreement in writing

A khula or mubara'at agreement should state exactly what the wife gives up, what she keeps, who pays what and when, the arrangements for children, and the return of personal property. A waiver of dower should be specific and in writing, because the 1939 Act preserves a wife's dower rights on dissolution unless she gives them up.[2] Our guide to mutual divorce walks through the agreement clause by clause, and our guide to divorce cost in Bangladesh sets out the fees.

Judicial dissolution under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939

A wife who has no delegated right and no agreement from her husband can still end the marriage, by suing in the Family Court for a decree under section 2 of the 1939 Act. This is the route most often litigated when divorce in Bangladesh is contested, and it requires proof of at least one statutory ground.[2]

The statutory grounds

Section 2 entitles a woman married under Muslim law to a decree on any one or more of the following grounds:[2]

• the husband's whereabouts have not been known for four years;
• he has neglected or failed to provide for her maintenance for two years;
• he has taken an additional wife in contravention of the 1961 Ordinance;
• he has been sentenced to imprisonment for seven years or more;
• he has failed, without reasonable cause, to perform his marital obligations for three years;
• he was impotent at the time of marriage and remains so;
• he has been insane for two years or suffers from leprosy or a virulent venereal disease;
• she was given in marriage by her father or guardian before the age of eighteen and repudiated the marriage before nineteen, provided it was not consummated;
• cruelty, as defined in the Act; and
• any other ground recognised as valid for dissolution under Muslim law.

The "option of puberty" ages are eighteen and nineteen, not the older fifteen and eighteen that still appear in some guides: they were raised by a 1986 amendment.[2]

What counts as cruelty

Cruelty is wider than physical violence. It includes habitual assault or making the wife's life miserable by cruelty of conduct even without physical ill-treatment, associating with women of evil repute or leading an infamous life, attempting to force her into an immoral life, disposing of her property or preventing her exercising her rights over it, obstructing her religious observance, and, where he has more than one wife, failing to treat her equitably.[2] Mental cruelty is therefore a recognised basis, but it must be proved with dates, witnesses and records.

Safeguards built into the grounds

Three provisos protect the husband. No decree is passed on the imprisonment ground until the sentence is final. A decree on the missing-husband ground does not take effect for six months, and is set aside if he appears and satisfies the court that he will perform his conjugal duties. On the impotence ground the court must, on his application, give him a year to show he has ceased to be impotent.[2] In a missing-husband suit, the plaint must name the persons who would be his heirs, and they must be served and may be heard.[2]

Conversion and dower

A Muslim wife's renunciation of Islam or conversion does not by itself dissolve her marriage, though she may then seek a decree on any section 2 ground. Section 5 provides that nothing in the Act affects her right to dower on dissolution.[2] A wife who wins a decree is therefore as entitled to unpaid deferred dower as one divorced by talaq.

Mandatory mediation and the Family Court in 2026

The biggest procedural change to family disputes in a generation came through the amendments to the Legal Aid Services Act 2000, now in the Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026. Disputes listed in its schedule must go to legal aid mediation before a case can be filed. The family categories reported are restitution of conjugal rights, dower, maintenance, and custody and guardianship of children, and a settlement agreement has the same force as a court decree.[7] The scheme launched in pilot districts and the government plans to extend it nationwide in stages, so confirm the current notification before filing anywhere.[7]

In practice, a divorce in Bangladesh that leaves money or children unresolved will usually pass through a structured settlement stage before any contested hearing. Prepare for legal aid mediation as a real negotiation, not a formality.

How a family suit runs

A suit is filed in the Family Court with territorial jurisdiction, on a Tk 200 court fee.[6] The court runs its own reconciliation stages, and a settlement reached there can be recorded as a decree. Where the facts overlap, claims for dissolution, dower, maintenance and custody are best planned together so that evidence is assembled once. Our guide to family court procedure in Bangladesh covers filing, service, evidence, appeals and execution in detail.

Dower and maintenance when a marriage ends

Ending the marriage does not end the money. Dower, known locally as den mohor, is the wife's property, and its unpaid balance becomes the largest single claim on most divorces.

Prompt and deferred dower

Dower may be split into a prompt portion, payable on demand, and a deferred portion, payable on divorce, death or another specified event. Any stipulation that dower will not be paid is void.[4] Where the kabinnama does not specify how dower is to be paid, section 10 of the 1961 Ordinance makes the entire amount payable on demand.[1] On a talaq, a delegated talaq or a judicial decree, the whole unpaid balance falls due. In a khula, the wife keeps whatever she has not expressly given up.

On 13 July 2026 a High Court Division bench issued a rule asking why the government should not be directed to frame guidelines on the payment and recovery of dower that account for inflation and the falling value of money, particularly for deferred dower claimed long after the marriage.[8] The rule is pending. Until it is decided, deferred dower is recoverable at the figure written in the kabinnama. See our guide to dower recovery in Bangladesh.

Maintenance during the marriage and the waiting period

A husband must maintain his wife throughout the marriage, and that includes the ninety days before a talaq takes effect. If he fails, the wife may sue in the Family Court or apply to the Chairman, who forms an Arbitration Council that may issue a maintenance certificate; unpaid amounts are recoverable as arrears of land revenue.[1] Persistent failure to maintain for two years is also a ground for dissolution.[2] Bangladeshi law does not, however, impose open-ended maintenance on a husband for a former wife after the iddat period. The checklist in our guide to a wife's rights after divorce lists every recoverable claim, and our maintenance case guide explains how to prove and enforce it.

Children: custody and guardianship after divorce

Bangladeshi law separates custody, meaning day-to-day care, from guardianship, meaning legal authority over the child's person and property. Under Muslim personal law the mother has the right of custody, known as hizanat, of a son until the age of seven and a daughter until puberty, while the father remains the natural guardian until majority.[9]

Those rules are starting points, not entitlements. Courts treat the welfare and best interests of the child as the paramount consideration and depart from the age rules where welfare requires it. In Abu Baker Siddique v SMA Bakar the Appellate Division declined to apply the traditional age-based rule in light of the child's needs.[9] The father's duty to maintain his children continues whoever has custody, and it is not affected by the divorce. Our guide to child custody and guardianship in Bangladesh covers interim custody, visitation, relocation and cross-border cases.

Registering the divorce

The 1974 Act applies to all Muslim citizens of Bangladesh wherever they may be. While registration of a Muslim marriage is compulsory under section 3, section 6 provides that a Nikah Registrar may register a divorce effected under Muslim law within his jurisdiction, on an application made by the person or persons who effected the divorce. A parda-nashin woman may apply through an authorised vakil, and the registrar must give the parties an attested copy of the entry free of charge.[3]

Registration does not replace the section 7 process. A registered talaqnama without notice to the Chairman is exposed to the same challenge as an unregistered one. The order that works is: written notice to the Chairman with a copy to the other spouse, the Arbitration Council meeting, expiry of ninety days, then registration with the Kazi and a certified copy of the entry. Keep the notice, the Chairman's receipt, any Council record and the registration certificate together as proof of status.

Digital registration

On 3 October 2026, opening a training course for Kazis in Dhaka, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman said marriage and divorce registration would move online and be linked to the National ID and passport databases, creating a central record that foreign authorities could verify online.[12] No national launch date has been announced, so the paper register and certified copies remain the primary evidence for now.

Hindu, Christian and other communities

The Muslim procedures above do not apply to other communities, whose position is markedly narrower. Marriages under the Special Marriage Act 1872 and cases involving conversion raise their own questions, covered in our guide to interfaith marriage in Bangladesh.

Hindus: no divorce, only separation

Hindu personal law as applied in Bangladesh contains no statutory provision for dissolving a marriage.[11] The Hindu Married Women's Right to Separate Residence and Maintenance Act 1946 allows a wife to live separately and claim maintenance in defined circumstances, for example where the husband marries another woman, but the marriage continues and she may not remarry while it subsists.[11] The Hindu Marriage Registration Act 2012 deals only with registration, which is optional, and has no divorce provision. Affidavits of "separation" sometimes used by Hindu couples do not dissolve the marriage.[11] A Hindu wife's maintenance and property claims are nevertheless heard by the Family Court.

Christians: a court decree on narrow grounds

Christian marriages are dissolved only by court decree under the Divorce Act 1869; there is no divorce by declaration or mutual consent. A husband may petition on the ground of his wife's adultery. A wife must show conversion and remarriage by the husband, incestuous adultery, bigamy with adultery, marriage to another woman with adultery, rape, sodomy or bestiality, or adultery coupled with cruelty or with desertion for two years or more.[10] The asymmetry between husband and wife is stark, and it is one reason judicial separation is sometimes a Christian wife's only realistic remedy.

Petitions are filed before the District Judge or the High Court Division. A District Judge's decree for dissolution must be confirmed by the High Court Division, by a bench of three judges deciding by majority.[10] Judicial separation is available to either spouse on adultery, cruelty or desertion for two years or more, and the Act also provides for nullity and the protection of a deserted wife's property.[10]

Foreign divorces and NRB spouses

Divorce in Bangladesh frequently has a cross-border element, with a spouse working in the Gulf or living in the United Kingdom or North America. Three questions arise.

Divorce in Bangladesh from abroad

Because the 1961 Ordinance and the 1974 Act both apply to Bangladeshi Muslim citizens wherever they may be, a spouse abroad can use the Bangladeshi procedure.[1] [3] The notice must still reach the competent Chairman in Bangladesh, with proof of delivery, and the other spouse must receive a copy. A representative can attend the Arbitration Council. Signatures on notices and agreements executed abroad are usually attested at a Bangladesh mission to avoid later disputes about authenticity.

Foreign court decrees in Bangladesh

A divorce decree from a foreign court is treated as a foreign judgment under section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908. It is conclusive on matters directly decided between the parties unless it was not pronounced by a court of competent jurisdiction, was not given on the merits, refused to recognise Bangladeshi law where applicable, was obtained in proceedings opposed to natural justice or by fraud, or sustains a claim founded on a breach of Bangladeshi law.[13]

A foreign decree does not create a Bangladeshi record by itself, and it rarely decides kabinnama dower, which can still be claimed here. Serving notice of the decree on the Chairman and registering the dissolution is the prudent course.

Bangladeshi divorces abroad

Recognition abroad depends on the foreign country's law. In England and Wales, section 46 of the Family Law Act 1986 recognises an overseas divorce obtained by means of proceedings if it is effective where obtained and either spouse was habitually resident, domiciled or a national there; a divorce obtained otherwise than by proceedings needs domicile there and neither spouse habitually resident in the United Kingdom for the year before.[14] A talaq or khula that completes the section 7 procedure is the stronger document in that analysis than a bare talaqnama. Our cross-border family matters practice coordinates with counsel in the destination country.

Step by step: divorce in Bangladesh for Muslim spouses

Each step fixes a date or document that later claims depend on.

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Throughout, watch limitation dates on dower and maintenance, and do not remarry until the effective date has passed and the registration certificate is in hand.

Comparing the routes out of a marriage

The table summarises how the main routes compare. On a phone, scroll it sideways.

Mistakes to avoid

• Treating pronouncement as divorce: a talaq, delegated talaq or khula without written notice to the Chairman leaves the marriage legally alive.[1] [5]
• Vague khula terms: a waiver of dower that does not state what is given up invites a later dower suit.
• Skipping mediation: in notified districts, a dower, maintenance or custody claim filed without first going to legal aid mediation may not be entertained.[7]
• Assuming a Hindu divorce exists: an affidavit of separation does not end a Hindu marriage, and remarriage on its strength carries serious risk.[11]
• Relying on a foreign decree alone: without local notice and registration, a foreign divorce can be questioned in Bangladesh, and dower may remain unpaid.

What to watch in 2026 and beyond

Four developments will shape divorce in Bangladesh over the coming year. First, whether the Appellate Division endorses the High Court Division's strict reading of section 7 in Parvej Hossain.[5] Second, the outcome of the July 2026 rule on inflation-adjusted guidelines for deferred dower, which could change the value of thousands of claims.[8] Third, the national roll-out of online, NID-linked registration announced by the Law Minister in October 2026.[12] Fourth, whether reform of Hindu personal law, which has repeatedly stalled, finally gives Hindu spouses a statutory route out of a marriage.[11]

The decisions that matter most are made early: which route, which notice, which documents and what a realistic settlement looks like. TRW's Islamic family law practice and family mediation and settlement team advise on all of them. Contact TRW to discuss your matter in confidence.

Frequently asked questions

How does divorce in Bangladesh work for Muslims?

The spouse who effects the divorce gives written notice to the Chairman or Mayor with a copy to the other spouse, an Arbitration Council attempts reconciliation, and the divorce takes effect ninety days after the notice is delivered, or at the end of a pregnancy if later.[1]

Is a verbal or triple talaq valid in Bangladesh?

A pronouncement alone does not end the marriage. Section 7 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 requires written notice to the Chairman, and the talaq takes effect only after ninety days; skipping notice is also an offence.[1]

Can a wife divorce her husband without his consent?

Yes. She can exercise a delegated right of divorce under clause 18 of the kabinnama, or sue in the Family Court for a decree on a ground in section 2 of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939.[2] [4]

Does a khula need notice to the Chairman?

Yes. In November 2025 the High Court Division held notice mandatory even in a mutual khula and treated a khula without notice as void; only a khula decreed by a Family Court is outside section 7.[5]

What are the grounds for divorce in Bangladesh for a Muslim wife?

They include a missing husband for four years, non-maintenance for two years, an unauthorised second marriage, imprisonment for seven years, failure to perform marital obligations for three years, impotence, insanity or certain diseases, the option of puberty, cruelty and any other ground valid under Muslim law.[2]

Does the wife lose her dower if she seeks the divorce?

Not unless she gives it up. The 1939 Act preserves dower rights on dissolution, and with a delegated talaq she need not waive dower. In a khula she keeps whatever she has not expressly surrendered.[2] [4]

Can Hindu spouses divorce?

No. Hindu personal law in Bangladesh has no statutory divorce. A wife may claim separate residence and maintenance under the 1946 Act, but the marriage continues.[11]

How does a Christian divorce work?

Only by court decree under the Divorce Act 1869, on grounds that are narrower for wives than for husbands. A District Judge's decree must be confirmed by the High Court Division.[10]

Who gets custody of the children after divorce?

Under Muslim law the mother has custody of a son until seven and a daughter until puberty, and the father remains guardian, but the court decides on the child's welfare and can depart from those rules.[9]

Is a foreign divorce recognised in Bangladesh?

A foreign court's decree is generally conclusive under section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure unless an exception applies, such as lack of jurisdiction, fraud or breach of natural justice. Local notice and registration are still advisable.[13]