Divorce Documents Checklist for Malaysia

Identity and marriage documents

• Your original marriage certificate from the National Registration Department (JPN) or the relevant authority[1]. If you have lost it, ask JPN for a certified copy before seeing a lawyer.
• If you married abroad: the original foreign marriage certificate, with a certified translation into Bahasa Malaysia or English.
• Copies of both spouses’ MyKad or passports. For a foreign spouse, also their visa and immigration papers.
• Your children’s birth certificates. For children born overseas, the foreign birth certificate and any Malaysian registration document.

Identity and nationality papers help show whether the Act applies to you (Section 3) and whether the court can hear your case.

Financial documents

The court needs these to divide matrimonial assets and decide maintenance (Sections 76 and 77 of the Act).

• Bank statements for every account either of you holds, including joint accounts and fixed deposits. Aim for three to six months.
• EPF (KWSP) statements for both of you. EPF savings built up during the marriage can be divided. You can get yours at kwsp.gov.my or any EPF branch.
• Payslips for the last two to three years, EA forms and tax returns.
• For a business: SSM registration, recent accounts and tax filings.

Property, assets and debts

• For land or a home: the title, sale and purchase agreement, loan agreement and recent loan statements[2].
• Vehicle registration cards (grant).
• Insurance policies with a cash value, unit trusts, shares and other investments.
• Debts: credit card statements, personal loans, hire purchase agreements and any guarantees you gave for other people’s debts.

The court looks at both assets and debts when it divides property.

Extra evidence for a contested divorce

• Adultery: photos, messages or emails, private investigator reports or witness statutory declarations. The court decides on the balance of probabilities, meaning “more likely than not”.
• Unreasonable behaviour: a dated record of specific incidents, police reports, medical reports and records of complaints to counsellors or social workers.
• Domestic violence: police and medical reports, any interim protection order (IPO) or protection order (PO), photos of injuries and relevant messages. These also support an application under the Domestic Violence Act 1994.

Documents for custody

• School reports and messages with teachers, showing who manages the children’s schooling.
• Medical records and vaccination cards, showing who handles their health.
• Childcare contracts, tuition and activity registrations.
• Receipts for school fees, medical bills, clothes and daily needs. These show what the children actually cost.
• If you seek sole custody: photos, school pick-up records and statements from teachers or carers about your parenting.

Under Section 88 of the Act, the court’s main concern is the child’s welfare.

How to organise it all

Keep everything in a labelled folder, grouped as above. Make copies and store them apart from the originals.

Get certified translations of any document not in Bahasa Malaysia or English before your first consultation. Translation takes time, so start early.

Looking to engage a divorce lawyer? If you are unsure which of these documents your case needs, request independent lawyer contact via WhatsApp: Request Lawyer Contact. For general information, use our guides and tools.