Displaying items by tag: Marriage

Foreign marriage in Indonesia is a marriage between two foreign nationals. It must be conducted under the laws of the Republic of Indonesia. Their marriage must be performed according to their religions and belief. They must have the same religion before they can perform the marriage. After that, they can register their marriage with the marriage registry in Indonesia. We have Civil Registry in the event the couple is non Moslem. We have Office of Religious Affairs in the event they are a Moslem couple.

In order to register your marriage in Indonesia, you need to supply the following supporting documents:

1. Certificate of Non Impediment Letter from your embassies in Jakarta;
2. Birth certificates from both partners. This document is a civil certificate. So, it is required in order to deal with civil matters in Indonesia. 
3. Copy of your passports;
4. Certificate of domicile, in the event you are a Kitas holder.

Basically, marriage in Indonesia is under monogamous principle. A husband can only have one wife, and a wife can only have one husband. In the event that you wish to take a second wife, you need to have a court order and the court may impose that your first wife to appear at the court for giving the consent. 

Legal Age

In 2019, the legal age to get married both for man and woman is 19 (nineteen) years old. In the event both the bride and groom are younger than 21, they need to have the consent from their parents. 

The stipulation of the legal age is according to the law number 16 of 2019 regarding the Amendment of the Marriage Law number 1 of 1974. The basis for this amendment is the Constitutional Court decision in 2017 number 22/PUU-XV/2017. The court ruled that the amendment to the relevant law must be issued within 3 (three) years since they issued the decision in 2017. 

This legal age also applicable to foreigners that perform their marriage here in Indonesia. 

Marriage Guardian 

If you are a Moslem couple, you need to make sure your bride has her own marriage guardian. The guardianship is imposed under the Article 14 of Islamic Compilation Law. This is the law for marriage in Indonesia especially for Moslem couples. The marriage guardian is one of the legal requirements to perform a marriage in Indonesia:

Residency Permit

As foreigners, you may or may not have a resident permit in Indonesia.

If you do, this determine the jurisdiction of your marriage registry. If you did not have one, you may register your marriage according to the place where your marriage takes place.

Marital Property

Since you're married under the laws in Indonesia, your property is subject to our laws too. Any property acquired during the marriage is subject to joint property. Anything acquired before the marriage date belongs to each spouse. They have their power to manage the property according to their will.

Prenuptial Agreement

I suggest you sign the prenup. Even if both of you are foreigners and the assets are located outside of Indonesia. The prenuptial agreement signed under the laws in Indonesia shall be mirrored by the court where your assets are located. If you did not sign any prenup, anything acquired during the course of your marriage shall be join. 

I advised American-Russian spouse married in Bali couple of years. Having a prenup under Indonesian laws sound simple. You might think it is not necessary as well. But this is important. This is going to test smartest move you will ever done in your assets protection. 

What else you need to know about the marriage in Indonesia? Oh ya, the Children!

Children

If you have a child born before your legal marriage registered in Indonesia, you need to have it legalized. This is simply building a relationship between the child and the father. You guys shall establish paternity privilege between those two persons. This is very important for claiming citizenship for your child. I did this for Australia, Swedish, American, and British couples before. Great people!

The proceeding called legalization of child born out of wedlock. Certain things you need to do before the child legally recognized. Give me a call or drop me an email and we'll take it from there!

We have prenuptial agreement questionnaire, biographic information form, and notice for marriage intention. All the forms you need to start your new journey legally recognized in Indonesia.

My name is Asep Wijaya. Thank you for reading my posts!

We take marriage very serious in Indonesia. You need to meet certain requirements, terms and conditions in order to get legally married. Once you have been issued a marriage certificate, or a marriage book for Moslem couples, your marriage is legally recognized. The terms and conditions for a person to get legally married in Indonesia are, among others:

1. Consents by both parties; bride and groom;
2. They must be aged 21 years. They must obtain parents' approval, or either parent if one of them has passed-away, or from their guardian in the even both of them have passed-away.

Consents by both parties are required in order to avoid forced-marriage, or arranged marriage. Both bride and groom must love each other without any force to enter into a matrimony. This is in accordance with our philosophy that marriage is a spiritual bond between a man and a woman as husband and wife with the aim of forming a happy and eternal family (household) based on belief to one and only God. This aim most likely will not be met without consents of both parties.

The idea of having the couples aged 21 years old to get married without parents' consent, among others, is to have matured spouses in the matrimony as it requires emotional as well as physical efforts. 

The Applicant 

If you think a marriage does not meet the above terms and conditions, you may file a cancellation to the court of law. An application may be submitted to the court with a jurisdiction as governed by the 1974 Marriage Law. In order to file an annulment application, you must be either:

1. You are one of the parties in the marriage, either wife or husband;
2. You are the parents of the groom or the bride;
3. You are the authorized officer as governed by the Marriage Law;
4. Any party related with legal interest to the marriage. This can be, among others, a wife whose husband is getting married again without her approval for committing bigamy.

You need to pay attention to the time frame for filing the annulment with the ground that the marriage conducted under a threat. You have only six  (6) months to file for the annulment application to the court. After that, the law will see you accept the situation, and annulment is no longer the case. 

Legal Consequences

The marriage annulment will not take affect to your children's legal status. They are legitimate one, and therefore shall have the legal relationship with their father. The rights and obligations within parental relationship are still in place even the marriage has been canceled. 

As for the property, since the marriage declared annulled and therefore it's not legally recognized since day one, the property division is not applicable between the husband and wife that is not legally free to marry. This may happen especially when the previous marriage still exists and is not yet to be dissolved.

Key Take-away

Marriage annulment has many aspects to meet. Failure to do so will make the court reject your application. Instead of filing for the annulment, I would suggest you to go with a divorce application. You have more leeways and options in pursuing your goals. We have one legal ground that commonly used in the field of practice i.e. irreconcilable differences. 

I am Asep Wijaya. Thank you for reading my blogs!

Marriage performed outside of Indonesia is not automatically legal and recognized. You must willing to go through the extra mile in order to gain recognition under the laws in Indonesia. We called it reporting of foreign marriage. This thing has substantial implication to you and your family. The marriage indeed is the foundation to everything important in our lives i.e. the children, property, inheritance, etc. You make a mess with the marriage, you're messing with your own life. Not to mention your children. So, whatever you do, always think twice. 

The foreign marriage reporting has a set of time frame as imposed by the prevailing laws. You need to comply with it. They said don’t put till tomorrow what you can do today. This must be the reason why they put such a time frame in place. The reporting must be made within 30 (thirty) days since you return in Indonesia after the marriage. The older version of the law sets more leeway to report it i.e. one year. They use the new rule, without revoking the old one. The old one is the 1974 Marriage Law, and the new one is the 2003 Administration of Population Law. The old law is considered as general regulation, and the new one is a very specific law governing certain issues. The marriage registry in Indonesia, they tend to use the 2003 for governing your foreign marriage reporting. At Wijaya & Co., we alway identify the issues before they can potentially turns into a problem. 

There are two conditions or requirements that must be fulfilled in order to create legal recognition with the foreign marriage in Indonesia. First, formal requirement. The marriage is legal according to the local rules and regulation where it is performed and registered. So, when you’re married, you’re married. The laws in Indonesia will mirror anything that takes place in the country where the marriage performed and registered. Second, material requirements. This conditions applicable absolutely to the Indonesian citizen. It must refer to the prevailing laws and regulations in Indonesia especially regarding marriage. Issue under this criteria is, among others, the minimum age requirements to get marry. Mixed religion is also part of the material requirements. Failure to meet this requirement, the marriage may be voidable. It may be challengeable at the court of law. There’s a slight possibility that the marriage may be legal in the country where you register it, but it might not be recognized under the laws in Indonesia. It’s a quite tricky situation, please contact me should you wish to discuss any further about this. Things may be overlooked. This potentially can turn into something inevitably unpredictable. This can be used as one of the grounds for an annulment. See, there's more to this than meet the eyes. 

Article 56 (1) of the Marriage Law imposed strict requirements as well as time frame for foreign reporting marriage to the Indonesia’s government. This law was retrieved from the Principle of Nationality that every Indonesian citizen submit themselves to the laws of the Republic of Indonesia, wherever they are. You see, this is the interesting part of your foreign marriage. The idea behind the issue is an ancient government ruling took place from the colonial government back in 18 century. It was the Algemene Bepalingen ("AB") in the Article 16. This ruling is still there until today and become the basic law of how we determine our individuals can access the legal system wherever they are. We proud ourselves that the laws of Indonesia is always prevail in the life of every Indonesian, even if they are not on the Indonesian soil. 

So, the other inevitable legal consequences for getting marry in a foreign country is, among others, without you even realize, you’re inviting other foreign law elements into your marriage life. Not to mention, if your spouse is non-Indonesian. Another foreign law element is joining the club. You know, two is a company. Three is a crowd. You even have higher potential that you may overlook things. But remember, things can be mitigated with the help from the experienced international civil law in Indonesia.

My name is Asep Wijaya. Thank you for reading my post!

The laws in Indonesia legally recognized marital agreement as a contract entered by a husband and wife, either before or during the course of marriage. Having a marital contract, either a prenup or postnup in Indonesia, there is more to it than meets the eyes. You can see how it redefines your marriage, regardless your nationalities. 

Are You In It for Love?

A prenuptial agreement(so called “Prenup”) in Indonesia definitely can protect your assets. When you're considering to marry someone, you need to know if she/he's marrying you for love or for money. One could never tell, but the marital agreement could always do. Take my word for it. If she/she says yes, even after the prenup has been executed, then he/she's the one. No matter what. 

By entering into a marital agreement prior to your marriage, you can protect your assets acquired prior to your marriage to him/her. The assets are legally free from the claim she/he can brought against you as if no marriage has been consummated. You're not legally liable for the debts prior the marriage. So, yes, with the marital agreement in Indonesia, you are in it for love. Not for the money.

Protection against Bigamy

This is sometime, just sometime, happens in countries like Indonesia: your husband is committing bigamy. Ouch! That's not good. Please don't get mad. Get everything! Yes, you read me right. Get everything, literally!

You should insist to enter into a postnuptial agreement (so called “Postnup”) between you and your husband in order to protect your financial interest, your children's future, and your assets. Even though, each marriage to each wife and its assets is totally separated, but you never knew. Get yourself a cover. You can't risk yourself and the children exposed to any potential risks. In this case, you should get a postnuptial agreement. A Postnup in Indonesia is legal and recognized.  is a type of marital agreement entered into a husband and wife during the course of marriage. With the breakthrough verdict from the Constitutional Court in 2016, the postnup is legally recognized and totally can be upheld in the court of law. 

Using a postnuptial agreement to protect yourself from bigamy is exist long before the Court reach the verdict. The terms and conditions for this type of marital agreement is even exist in the Civil Code. Indonesian socialites have been using this to protect their marital assets, and the laws allow the wife to submit a motion for postnuptial agreement. 

Business as Usual

Practically, in Indonesia, your spouse is your business partner. Not to mention if she/he's actively contributing to the business enterprise on daily basis. Whether he/she is serving as a member of the board or not. Your spouse entitles to half of your share. Lovely, isn't it?

Article 157 Civil Code imposed that the profit you made out of your marital assets, retrieved from the community assets, income derived from joint assets, shall be considered as marital property or community property. Whatever you call it, your spouse entitle to it. Your profit, your income, exchanges of the existing property, among others, are part of the joint assets with your spouse. 

When the marriage ends with a divorce, your spouse gets half of the assets, both now in existence and its profits. So, consider signing an Indonesian postnuptial agreement in order to prevent that from happening, and list your business enterprise as one of your separate assets. 

Preserving Your Inheritance

Say, you're expecting inheritance from your parents. Legally, inheritance and gift from a third party are separate property. Article 35 (2) of 1974 Marriage Law stipulates that if you otherwise determined, the inheritance may become joint property. It means, it may not be free from your spouse's claims. Putting the inheritance into a prenup or postnup contract in Indonesia can preserve the inheritance from your parents. It can't be touched legally. You may be clear describing the assets such as location, dimension, and other related description in the marital agreement.

Back-to-Back: Foreign & Indonesian Prenup

Both of you are foreigners. Neither of you is an Indonesian citizen. But you have been residing in Indonesia for quite sometimes. You plan to get marry in one of our beautiful islands such as Bali, or Lombok. It means, you're registering your marriage under the laws of Indonesia. You're submitting yourselves to the legal system in Indonesia. There's a legal term called: "Minimum Contact." It’s a universal legal terms. You and your husband have a minimum contact with the Indonesian laws because you live in Indonesia. The legal effect is minimum but it’s still a loophole. I am not saying you are totally exposed without any Indonesian prenup or postnup, but if you wish to have a safe-precaution, you should get one. Remember, the Indonesian laws on marriage is applicable also to foreigners live in Indonesia. This is the part of the international civil law that may expose you to the risks of having a regime of marital property. Doctrines on the international civil laws are very complicated. We don’t know which one the court will apply to your case. We never know which court will have jurisdiction to your situation. But the last thing you want is to left yourself, and your marriage open to the potential exposures of marital property regime in Indonesia. People spends tens of thousand of dollars fighting in divorce litigations, while they can avoid it with a piece of paper called a prenup. 

But hey! You're signing a foreign prenup. That's cool! You know what? Your foreign prenup is not recognized here. So, from the Indonesia's legal perspective you’re married but with no prenup. Therefore, you have joint property ownership regime. On the other hand, if you have the Indonesian prenup, and/or the Indonesian marriage, and/or you live here on the Indonesian soil, those are legal bonafide to you and your marriage. There’s no question in terms of the legality of your foreign prenup. It will even make things stronger. The Indonesian prenup shall serve as "the bridge" to your foreign prenup. So, everything is connected now. There's no missing link anymore.

In the event of divorce, with the Indonesian prenup, your marriage will still have separation of property regime. This can be used as “mirror” just in case things get ugly, and any court in other country may refer to the Indonesian side.

Preserving the Indonesian

I like the term "preserving" better than "protecting" because your Indonesian spouse is entitled to the freehold property. She/he can own property under hak milik. The best thing about it is that you can keep it for good. You can even inherit to your children. But once you're married to a foreigner, the Indonesian shall be precluded in owning the property in Indonesia. She/he is the same legal position with his/her foreign spouse. The Indonesian prenup comes to preserve the rights of an Indonesian citizen, even though she/he's married to a foreigner. The right or entitlement in owning the property has already been there since the Indonesian spouse was born. So, nothing to be protected. It just a matter of preserving what's already been there.

Do you know any other way how an Indonesian prenuptial or postnuptiall agreement may redefines your marriage? Do you have something to discuss with? Please do not hesitate to contact me:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I am Asep Wijaya. Thank you for visiting my blogs and reading my posts.

Disclaimer:

The above is provided for informational purposes only and is NOT to be relied upon as legal advice. This information is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney and should not be construed as a solicitation. No attorney-client relationship is established by use of information found anywhere in this article nor in this website. 

Getting marry in Indonesia must meet age requirements as set-out by the prevailing laws and regulations. It is the age where the laws think that you have the capabilities in taking action on your behalf to tie the knot with someone. Performing the marriage legally, requires emotional maturity, and therefore such decision may not be able to be taken by a youngster.  There are many prevailing laws about the minimum legal age for getting marry, but the Marriage Law is the most relevant one, and therefore shall be referred to for such cases.

The Marriage Law stipulates that the minimum age for getting marry is 16 (sixteen) years old for a woman, and 19 (nineteen) years for a man. If you are so young, performing the marriage shall requires the consent from their parents. You don't need any parental consent when you're 21 (twenty one) years old. If you're not old enough, you need to get either a consent from your parents, or get the court of law to approve your marriage. 

We have also Civil Code that stipulates the minimum age for getting marry is 18 (eighteen) for a man, and 15 (fifteen) years of age for a woman. An approval from the President is required when you are younger. Special permission is usually granted under the circumstances such as pregnancy before performing the marriage. 

The other prevailing laws governing minimum legal age to get marry is Islamic Law, and also customary law. But national law refer to the Marriage Law, and is applicable for Indonesian citizen, and all couples getting marry under the laws of the Republic of Indonesia, regardless your nationality.