It is getting more and more expensive for married couples to divorce as one needs a minimum of 10,000 cedis just to begin the process in court.
According to him Private legal Practitioner, Christian Lebrecht Malm-Hesse, Ghanaians should expect an increase in the fees as the Ghana Bar Association has approved a new scale of fees for attorneys, increasing the expense of divorce processes.
The lawyer says the relatively high fees have prevented many people to finalise their separation resulting in a situation where many people find themselves locked in unhappy unions.
“The 10,000 cedis is an old price, and that’s when the situation is simple. Depending on the lawyer or legal company you go to, the fee might rise. Aside from that, the Ghana Bar Association believes incidental costs should be paid separately from the legal charge. It includes filing expenses and transportation fares for each time the lawyer comes to court, Malm-Hesse said.
Speaking in an interview on 3FM, Mr Malm-Hesse said that the number of divorce cases is growing in Ghana and that it’s simple to get married but tough to seek a divorce.
“Besides paying a lot of money to the lawyers for that, it is emotionally absorbing, traumatizing, and it is not easy for both the man and woman, so as lawyers we turn ourselves into pastors, counselors, and everything for either side to go through, but for some it is bitter from the beginning to the end. It’s poisonous.” he emphasized
The family lawyer said all divorce cases he has witnessed are acrimonious and compared the procedure to uprooting a tree. It must be pushed and dragged to all sides to weaken the earth before being hauled out.
He added that while the lawyer crafts the petition, the petition itself is like a dagger pulled through the other party’s heart because things that are not pleasant and things that were done in private between the couple that the public should not know would be mentioned. That’s why divorce processes are held in chambers.
Mr. Malm-Hesse said the divorce and matrimonial court of the high court is like a hospital or maternity ward where mothers, dads, and children grieve.
He urged young people who wish to marry to recognize that nobody’s character would change because of marriage, therefore the attention should be on the person’s shortcomings to determine if one can manage with them for the rest of one’s life
