How to Give or Get a Divorce (Talaq) in Bangladesh: Notice, 90 Days, Khula & Costs

In this guide: Step 1: send written notice · Step 2: the arbitration council and the 90 days · When the wife wants the divorce · Step 3: register the divorce · Money: denmohor, iddat and children · Divorce when one spouse is abroad · Hindu and Christian marriages · Mediation before a Family Court case · Mistakes that cause years of trouble

The short answer

A Muslim husband can divorce his wife by talaq, and a wife can divorce her husband if the right has been delegated to her in the kabinnama, by agreement (khula), or through the Family Court. Whichever route is used, the law is the same on the key point: under section 7 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, the divorce takes effect only when 90 days have passed from the day the Chairman receives written notice. After that, it should be registered with a Nikah Registrar (Kazi).

Step 1: send written notice

Pronouncing talaq, even three times, is only the start. The husband must send written notice to the Chairman of the Union Parishad, or the Mayor or Administrator of the City Corporation or Pourashava, for the area where the wife lives, and send a copy to the wife.

Use registered post with acknowledgement due, or deliver by hand and get a received copy with the office seal and date. The 90 days run from the date of receipt, so that date is the most important fact in the whole process. Keep the postal receipts, the acknowledgement cards and a copy of the notice.

Step 2: the arbitration council and the 90 days

Within 30 days of receiving the notice, the Chairman is required to form an arbitration council, with a representative of each spouse, to attempt reconciliation. Attend if you are called. The council cannot refuse or block the divorce, and failing to attend does not stop the clock.

If nothing changes, the talaq takes effect when 90 days have passed from the Chairman’s receipt of the notice. If the wife is pregnant, it takes effect at the end of the 90 days or the end of the pregnancy, whichever is later. The husband can revoke the talaq at any time before it takes effect, and the marriage then continues.

When the wife wants the divorce

Delegated right (talaq-e-tafwid)

Look at column 18 of the kabinnama. If it records that the husband delegated the right of divorce to the wife, she can divorce him herself, following the same notice procedure: written notice to the Chairman or Mayor with jurisdiction, a copy to the husband, and 90 days. She keeps her full denmohor. Many women hold this right without knowing it.

Khula (divorce by agreement)

In khula the wife asks for the divorce and the husband agrees, usually in exchange for her giving up some or all of the unpaid denmohor. Put the terms in writing and have both of you sign. Anything not expressly given up stays payable. The notice procedure still applies.

Divorce through the Family Court

Without a delegated right or an agreement, the wife can sue for dissolution in the Family Court under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939. The grounds include: the husband’s whereabouts unknown for four years; failure to maintain her for two years; a second marriage without the arbitration council’s permission; a prison sentence of seven years or more; failure to perform marital obligations for three years without reasonable cause; impotence; insanity or serious disease; a marriage arranged when she was a minor, repudiated on reaching the age set by the Act, if not consummated; and cruelty. Courts read cruelty broadly, including habitual assault and mental cruelty. Once the court passes a decree, it sends a copy to the Chairman and the 90-day period follows.

Step 3: register the divorce

Once the talaq is effective, register it with the Nikah Registrar under the Muslim Marriages and Divorces (Registration) Act 1974. The official registration fee is Tk 1,000. Ask for a receipt and certified copies. Passport offices, embassies, the NID office and any future Kazi will ask for this registration, not for the notice.

Registration is also moving online: the registration rules were amended in 2025 to allow online filing, online payment of fees and digital divorce certificates, and the High Court Division directed full digitalisation in December 2025. The rollout is phased, so until your registrar’s office joins the system, the register entry and the certified copy remain your proof.

Money: denmohor, iddat and children

• Denmohor. All unpaid dower, prompt and deferred, is payable on divorce. A wife who divorces through a delegated right or the court keeps it. Only a khula can reduce it, and only by what she expressly gave up. See the denmohor and maintenance guide.
• Maintenance. The husband must maintain the wife during the iddat period. The Appellate Division has held that a divorced wife has no claim to maintenance after iddat.
• Children. The father must maintain the children whoever has custody. Custody is decided on the child’s welfare. See the child custody guide.

Divorce when one spouse is abroad

A husband abroad can sign the talaq notice where he lives and send it by courier or registered post to the Chairman and the wife. Having the signature attested at the Bangladesh mission is not required by the Ordinance, but it makes the notice far harder to dispute later. Some people instead give a special power of attorney to a relative to serve the notice and complete registration. That works, but the power must be drafted and authenticated properly, which adds weeks. Whichever you choose, the proof of delivery to the Chairman is what matters.

A divorce granted by a foreign court is not always treated as final here, particularly for remarriage and records. If you hold a foreign decree, take advice on whether a Bangladesh notice should also be served.

Hindu and Christian marriages

There is no statutory divorce for Hindu marriages in Bangladesh. A Hindu wife can claim separate residence and maintenance under the Hindu Married Women’s Right to Separate Residence and Maintenance Act 1946. Christian marriages are dissolved only through court under the Divorce Act 1869, and a District Judge’s decree needs confirmation by the High Court Division.

Mediation before a Family Court case

In the districts where mandatory pre-case mediation under the amended Legal Aid Services Act is in force, disputes about dissolution, dower, maintenance and custody must first go to the District Legal Aid Office. The Family Court will expect the certificate that mediation failed. By July 2026 the scheme covered 30 districts. A notice-based talaq itself does not need mediation.

Mistakes that cause years of trouble

• Pronouncing talaq and never sending notice, then remarrying.
• Sending notice to the wrong Chairman, for example where the husband lives rather than where the wife lives.
• Signing a khula paper that gives up all denmohor without reading it.
• Not registering the divorce, then being unable to prove it years later.