Mizoram: Court divorce certificate mandatory for remarriage under amended law

A court-issued divorce certificate will be mandatory for anyone seeking to remarry after separation from a spouse under Mizoram’s amended marriage law, the Review Committee on the Mizo Marriage and Inheritance of Property Act said on September 3.

The committee, chaired by Law and Judicial Department Additional Secretary Zahmingthanga Ralte, met to review customary practices and provisions under the Mizo Marriage & Inheritance of Property (Amendment) Act, 2026, enacted by the state Assembly in February.

The committee said the responsibility of verifying the divorce certificate has been placed on the person solemnising the marriage under the amended law.

Churches may continue to regulate marriage and remarriage within their respective jurisdictions. However, a divorced person seeking to marry again must establish that the previous marriage has been legally dissolved, the committee said.

A person who remarries without producing a divorce certificate could face imprisonment of seven to 10 years, depending on the circumstances, it said, urging those planning or arranging such marriages to exercise caution.

The committee also requested churches to replace the word “Divorce” in marriage certificates with the wording, “In accordance with the Mizo Marriage & Inheritance of Property Act, 2014.”

Representatives of the government, churches, civil society organisations, the Mizoram Women Commission, Mizoram University and other experts attended the meeting.