Lahore
Divorce and Khula Lawyer in Lahore
Talaq, khula and the disputes that follow — dower, maintenance and custody.
Ending a marriage is rarely one legal question. Alongside the divorce or khula itself there are usually questions about dower, maintenance, the children, and the return of dowry articles — and how the first step is taken affects all of them.
Global Law Company acts in divorce and khula matters from its Lahore office on Fane Road, Mozang Chungi. We act for husbands and for wives, and for overseas Pakistanis whose marriage has to be dissolved in Pakistan.
Who we help
We act for wives seeking khula, for husbands pronouncing or responding to talaq, and for either party in the maintenance, dower and custody claims that usually accompany a dissolution. We also advise clients who are not sure they want to proceed at all, and who want to understand their position before anything is filed or said.
Discretion matters in these matters more than in any other area we handle. Your file is not discussed outside the team working on it.
Pakistan law · reported authority · practical assessment
Divorce Law in Lahore: applicable law and case brief
What decides this service
A dissolution claim is heard by the Family Court under the Schedule to the Family Courts Act 1964, after the pre-trial hearing under section 10, at which the court attempts a compromise. Which route the marriage ends by — cruelty under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, or khula — is not a formality: it decides what happens to the dower. And because the Act provides no second appeal, the findings made at trial and on first appeal are usually the end of the matter.
Applicable Pakistani legal framework
These are the principal enactments to test at the start of a divorce law in lahore matter. Amendments, rules, special regimes, and provincial application still depend on the facts and location.
- Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939
- The statutory grounds for a wife to have her marriage dissolved, including cruelty under section 2(ii)(ix). Khula sits alongside it as a right under Islamic law rather than a ground under this Act.
- Family Courts Act 1964
- Sets the procedure from institution under section 7 to evidence under section 11. Section 10(5) is the operative provision on khula: where reconciliation fails the court passes the decree immediately, and may direct the wife to surrender up to 50% of her deferred dower or up to 25% of her admitted prompt dower.
- Family Courts (Amendment) Act 2015 (XI of 2015)
- Substituted section 10(3) and (4) and inserted 10(5) and 10(6), which are what now govern the dower consequences of a khula decree; it also inserted section 17-A on maintenance.
- Constitution of Pakistan, Article 199
- The only route to the High Court after first appeal, and a narrow one: it is not a substitute for an appeal, and reaches findings of fact only where evidence was misread or left unread.
Statute titles checked in PakistanLawSite on 11 September 2026; descriptions are original editorial summaries.
Mst. Ayesha Hanif v Additional District Judge, Rawalpindi
2026 CLC 1312
- Court
- Lahore High Court (Rawalpindi Bench)
- Decided
- 13 January 2026
The legal question
If a wife sues for dissolution on the ground of cruelty and fails to prove it, can the Family Court dissolve the marriage by khula instead?
What the Court held
Yes, where the evidence shows a fixed aversion and a marriage broken down beyond reconciliation — but never on the court's own initiative. Following Khurshid Bibi v Baboo Muhammad Amin (PLD 1967 SC 97) and Muhammad Arif v Saima Noreen (2015 SCMR 804), khula is an independent right of the wife that needs no proof of fault, cruelty or misconduct; intense aversion making harmonious married life impossible is enough. But following PLD 2024 SC 645, a court cannot convert a cruelty claim into a khula decree unless the wife herself puts that offer before it. Her consent is vital. Here the decree dissolving the marriage on khula, subject to surrender of dower, was upheld.
Practical implication
Plead khula in the alternative from the outset, and in terms. A petition resting on cruelty alone can end in a decree the wife never asked for, on dower terms she never accepted — and with no second appeal available, the record made at trial is usually the whole case. On dower, section 10(5) caps what a wife can be directed to surrender at 50% of deferred or 25% of admitted prompt dower — but decrees have gone further in reliance on the Federal Shariat Court's judgment of 17 February 2022, as happened in this very case, so the position has to be advised on specifically rather than read off the section.
What we establish first
- The nikahnama, columns 13 to 16 read closely — prompt and deferred dower decide what a khula decree really costs.
- Whether the plaint expressly offers to waive dower and seek release, or pleads cruelty alone and leaves the question open.
- A dated record of the reconciliation attempts, including the court's own effort at the section 10 pre-trial hearing.
This is an original editorial summary of a reported decision verified in PakistanLawSite on 11 September 2026. It is a research starting point, not a prediction or legal advice; outcomes depend on the current law, evidence, and facts of each matter.
Speak with a lawyer at Global Law Company
Need help with divorce law in Lahore? Book a confidential consultation. Reach us directly and we will respond within 4 business hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
The whole point of khula is that it is a route available to the wife, and a husband's agreement is not what decides it. What matters in practice is how the matter is presented and what is being claimed alongside it, which we will go through with you at the first consultation.
Yes. We regularly act for overseas Pakistanis in family matters and can be appointed through a properly executed power of attorney, so you do not need to travel for every step.
Yes. Discretion matters more here than in any other area we handle, and your file is not discussed outside the team working on it.
We quote before we act rather than after. Defined tasks are priced at a fixed fee wherever that is possible, and contested work is scoped stage by stage so you know what each step costs before it starts.
You deal directly with the advocate running your matter, not with a clerk, and we tell you at the outset who that is.