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Browse Acts ↓(1) Where a marriage celebrated in Kenya is annulled or dissolved by a decree of a foreign court, any party to the annulled or dissolved marriage may apply to the Registrar to register the decree. (2) Where the Registrar is satisfied that a decree under this section should be recognised in Kenya as…
(1) The Registrar shall enter the details of the declaration made under section 8 against the relevant entry in the register of marriages. (2) The Registrar shall enter the details of the decree registered under section 60 against the relevant entry in the register of marriages and such an entry sha…
(1) A party to a marriage may apply to the Registrar or to a marriage officer or to a person authorised by the Registrar to correct a clerical error or omission in a register of marriage or a certificate of marriage regarding that person’s marriage. (2) Where the Registrar, a marriage officer or a p…
The parties to a marriage celebrated under Part III may seek the services of any reconciliation bodies established for that purpose that may exist in the public place of worship where the marriage was celebrated.
A party to a marriage celebrated under Part III may petition the court for a decree for the dissolution of the marriage on the ground of— (a) one or more acts of adultery committed by the other party; (b) cruelty, whether mental or physical, inflicted by the other party on the petitioner or on the c…
(1) A party to a marriage celebrated under Part IV may not petition the court for the separation of the parties or for the dissolution of the marriage unless three years have elapsed since the celebration of the marriage. (2) A party to a marriage celebrated under Part IV may only petition the court…
Where a foreign court has granted a decree in matrimonial proceedings whether arising out of a marriage celebrated in Kenya or elsewhere, that decree shall be recognized in Kenya if— (a) either party is domiciled in the country where that court has jurisdiction or had been ordinarily resident in Ken…
(1) The parties to a marriage celebrated under Part V may undergo a process of conciliation or customary dispute resolution before the court may determine a petition for the dissolution of the marriage. (2) The process of mediation or traditional dispute resolution in subsection (1) shall conform to…
(1) A Party to a marriage celebrated under Part V may petition the court for the dissolution of the marriage on the ground of— (a) adultery; (b) cruelty; (c) desertion; (d) exceptional depravity; (e) irretrievable breakdown of the marriage; or (f) any valid ground under the customary law of the peti…
A party to a marriage celebrated under Part VI may petition the court for the dissolution of the marriage on the ground that— (a) the marriage has irretrievably broken down; (b) the other party has deserted the petitioner for at least three years before the making of the petition; (c) the other part…
The dissolution of marriage celebrated under Part VII shall be governed by Islamic law.
Where a Kadhi, sheikh, imam or person authorised by the Registrar grants a decree for the dissolution of a marriage celebrated under Part VII, the Kadhi, sheikh, imam, Mukhi or authorised person shall deliver a copy of the decree to the Registrar.
(1) A party to a marriage may petition the court to annul the marriage on the ground that— (a) the marriage has not been consummated since its celebration; (b) at the time of the marriage and without the knowledge of either party, the parties were in a prohibited relationship; (c) in the case of a m…
(1) A petition for annulment may be presented only by one of the parties. (2) Where a petitioner alleges facts of which only one party was ignorant at the date of that marriage, it may be presented only by that party. (3) Where a petitioner alleges the willful refusal of one party to consummate the…
The parties to a marriage which has been annulled by decree absolute of the court shall be deemed never to have been married but a decree of annulment shall not— (a) render lawful anything which was done unlawfully during the marriage or render unlawful anything which was done lawfully during the ma…
Except as provided in this section a promise by a person to marry another person is not binding.
(1) The court may order a person to pay maintenance to a spouse or a former spouse— (a) if the person has refused or neglected to provide for the spouse or former spouse as required by this Act; (b) if the person has deserted the other spouse or former spouse, for as long as the desertion continues;…
Except where an order for maintenance of a spouse is expressed to be for any shorter period or where any such order has revoked and subject to section 79, the order shall lapse— (a) if the maintenance was unsecured, on the death of the spouse; (b) if the maintenance was secured, on the death of the…
An order of maintenance shall lapse upon the remarriage of the beneficiary of the order.
(1) The court may revoke or vary a subsisting order for maintenance of any kind, whether secured or unsecured, if it is satisfied that the order was based or obtained as the result of any misrepresentation or mistake of fact or that there has been a material change of circumstances since the order w…
Maintenance payable to a person under an order of the court shall not be assigned or transferred or liable to be attached, sequestrated or levied upon for, or in respect of, any debt or claim.
(1) Despite any other period of limitation prescribed by the Limitation of Actions Act (Cap. 22), no instalment of maintenance shall be recoverable in proceedings instituted after a period of three years from the date upon which the instalment accrued. (2) Subject to subsection (1), arrears of unsec…
(1) The court may, if it is satisfied that a disposition of property has been made by the spouse or former spouse of the person by or on whose behalf the application is made, within the preceding three years, with the object on the part of the person making the disposition of reducing the means to p…
(1) The court may order a party to refrain from molesting a spouse or former spouse. (2) No proceedings may be brought to compel one spouse to cohabit with the other, but a spouse who alleges that he or she has been deserted may refer the matter to a conciliatory body. (3) Where either the husband o…
Custody and maintenance of children shall be dealt with in accordance with the Children Act (Cap. 141) and any other written law relating to children.
(1) Any person who, in a notice of intention to marry under section 25 or notice of objection to an intended marriage under section 28, makes a false statement commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or fine not exceeding two million sh…
Any person who marries a person who is below the minimum age commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding one million shillings or to both.
(1) A party to a purported celebration of a marriage where the parties are within a prohibited marriage relationship commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand shillings or to both. (2) A per…
A party to a ceremony purporting to be a marriage, who at the time, knows or has reason to believe that the consent of the other party was induced by coercion or fraud or by a mistake as to the nature of the ceremony, or that the other party was suffering from any mental disorders or mental disabili…
A person who celebrates a union purporting to be a marriage and who at the time of the ceremony is not authorised to do so commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine of three hundred thousand shillings or to both.