If you are part of an international family unit, divorce or the dissolution of a civil partnership can be complicated. When you have a connection to a country outside of the UK, or to a different part of the UK to where you currently reside, you may have considered starting divorce proceedings there. Choosing where to begin proceedings can also be challenging and you need a team of understanding and specialist international family lawyers to guide you.
We understand that you may have some questions and in this article, we look at how to choose where to start divorce proceedings, and how your choice affects both the process and the impact it may have on your financial settlement.
International divorce or dissolution proceedings
If you or your former partner chooses to begin divorce or dissolution proceedings outside of the country that you live in, your next steps will depend on where the proceedings have started.
How do I know where I should start divorce proceedings?
Working out where you can start divorce or dissolution proceedings can be complicated for many couples. We would always recommend taking advice on this matter from an experienced solicitor who will be able to advise you on both legal and practical matters. Factors which may have an impact on whether you can get divorced or dissolve a civil partnership in a particular country include where:
You or your partner were born
You own property in the country
Your parents were born
Your marriage or civil partnership was registered
You currently live or where you lived during your marriage or civil partnership
You should discuss your concerns with a solicitor, who will be familiar with the laws of the country in which you wish to begin proceedings. We would advise you to do this before negotiating or entering into mediation with your former partner, as you could risk losing control of where proceedings take place if they begin proceedings first.
Divorce or dissolution proceedings in the UK
Although proceedings may have started in the UK, the process for divorce or dissolution is slightly different across the UK. England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland all have different systems, and before beginning proceedings in a different part of the UK you will want to seek advice on the impact this may have on financial settlement.
Divorce or dissolution proceedings in the EU
You may have the legal right to divorce or dissolve your civil partnership in an EU country. Where this is the case, you should seek legal advice at the earliest opportunity as a result of the ‘first in time’ rule. The first in time system means that where the first person chooses to initiate proceedings is where the proceedings will take place. Where proceedings take place can have a huge impact on your financial settlement, so you must be mindful of this rule if you plan to divorce or dissolve your civil partnership.
Divorcing or dissolving your civil partnership in a non-EU country
If you or your partner have a connection to a non-EU country, you may be able to divorce or dissolve your civil partnership there. Law and process varies greatly across countries outside of the EU, so you should take advice from an experienced lawyer.
Does it matter where we choose to divorce or dissolve our civil partnership?
In short, yes. You will firstly need to ensure that you meet all of the legal requirements for divorce or dissolution in the country before considering the financial impact of the jurisdiction you choose. The process for divorce and dissolution and financial settlement rules vary greatly between jurisdictions. In many countries outside of the UK, partners are not required to disclose all of their assets as part of the process which could have a massive impact on the financial settlement awarded to each party.
Are prenuptial agreements enforceable?
Prenuptial agreements are still quite uncommon and are not legally enforceable in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, the court will take a prenuptial agreement into account as one of the circumstances of the case when making financial settlement decisions.
Contact Our Expert International Divorce and Dissolution of a Civil Partnership Solicitors
Our offices are based in the UK and are located in Manchester, London and Birmingham. Contact our specialist international family law team today on 0330 107 0107 or request a call back.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.
F v F - Acted for a German husband in a complex financial remedy matter. He decided to instruct IMD Solicitors after he had lost trust in his previously instructed solicitors and feared that he would not achieve a favourable outcome from the proceedings. The relevant assets were spread across the globe with some located in the UK (including a multi-million pound business), Gibraltar, Spain, Dubai, and Poland. The overall value of assets exceeded £24 million. The husband had been cut off from the matrimonial assets and excluded from control of the business that had been established by his family. The case involved the instruction of numerous experts, for business valuations, Capital Gains Tax reports, and opinions on the enforcement of orders in foreign jurisdictions, and dealing with several applications, including applications for orders to freeze assets, prevent the disposition of assets, for the joinder of parties, and to litigate conduct issues. The final result exceeded the client’s expectations.
L v L - We were instructed by a mother in a complex international children matter. She was required by orders of the UK courts to return the child to the UK from Poland. She had travelled with the child to Poland but, following unsuccessful application to extend her stay there in August 2017, she decided not to return to the UK because the child disclosed sexual abuse by a member of the paternal family and the father. In September 2018, the Polish court dismissed the father’s Hague Convention application for the child's return on the basis of Article 13(b), a decision which the father appealed. In March 2019, the father applied to the UK High Court for an order for the child’s return pursuant to the procedure set out in Article 11(6) – (8) of the Brussels IIA Regulation. Despite the father's unsuccessful Hague Convention application in Poland, the UK court ordered the return of the child. Article 11 does not allow the court of the returning country much discretion. After all of this, the mother instructed IMD Solicitors to apply to discharge the orders of the UK Court for the return of the child. Even in the face of the fact that most applications to discharge such return orders fail, we succeeded. We are currently awaiting a decision in the UK courts on a further application for the transfer of jurisdiction to the Polish courts where the mother resides with the child.
G v P - We represent a Spanish mother in respect of an urgent application for a Child Arrangements Order and Specific Issue Order in the UK seeking the relocation of the child to Spain. This was after the return of the child to the UK under Hague Convection proceedings which this mother lost in Spain.
She was asking for an order for the relocation of the child back to Spain and an urgent interim Child Arrangements Order to allow her to see the child pending the final outcome of the UK proceedings. IMD successfully argued that, regardless of the return of the child to the UK under the Hague Convention, the mother should be allowed unsupervised overnight contact with the child. We were delighted to be able to secure her contact with the child for Christmas and she said that it was the best Christmas gift she could have wished for. The outcome of the application for the relocation is pending.
S v V - We currently represent the father in Child Arrangements Order proceedings issued by the mother in relation to variation of a UK order made in the face of numerous other international proceedings. He is an Italian National who has been living in France for the last 20 years and the mother is a Lithuanian national. The child is now 11 years old and proceedings concerning the child have been ongoing in various jurisdictions for the majority of the child`s life. Contested divorce proceedings including child arrangements took place in Monaco. The French Court and authorities were also involved, and various proceedings had been ongoing between parties since 2013 in France and Monaco.
The parties’ divorce was pronounced in Monaco. Thereafter, in December 2020, the mother submitted an application to relocate to England with the child, and the relocation took place in June 2021. Upon relocation, the she lodged a child arrangement order application, seeking to register a judgment made in Monaco and to vary the same in respect of the contact arrangements between the father and the child. The father seeks for the child’s return to Monaco.
Due to the parties’ mutual allegations and the associated international elements, various authorities and courts that have been involved in the case, the local authority has become involved with the family and a guardian has been instructed to represent the child in the UK proceedings. At present, these proceedings in England are ongoing and the outcome of the professional reports regarding the family are awaited.
P v P - We have acted for the Respondent Husband in relation to the financial remedy proceedings in the UK. The parties had various assets in the UK and Romania consisting mainly of the portfolio of properties but conduct issues were raised by the Wife due to a business of the Husband over which she had lost control and her allegations of dissipation of assets. The value of assets excluding the business were in a region of £3 million.
K v K - We act in financial remedy proceedings for a wife who is a Polish national. The matter's complexity mainly comes from a dispute between the parties around land in Poland. Its value was initially in dispute but was then assessed by a joint expert to be in the region of half a million pounds. The total assets in this case are estimated to be worth over £1 million. The land in Poland is a subject to contract with a third party and is being leased as a photovoltaic (solar) farm. The division of the land to achieve an equal share of the assets is complicated due to the contract in place and plans for the future use of the land. Currently the parties are awaiting a final hearing but efforts are being made to reach a settlement with the aid of alternative dispute resolution and in order to save the parties money and avoid further delays.
R v O - We acted pro bono and worked together with a law firm in Poland to ensure that the Costa Rican Mother regains access to her child. The Mother's only child was abducted from the UK in 2014. The Mother was successful with the abduction case and the UK family courts ordered the return of the child. The orders were recognised in Poland but unfortunately due to various issues with the Mother's immigration status and court's delays in Poland, the orders were never enforced. The Mother was facing removal from the UK and prospects of never seeing her child again. We have corresponded with various courts in Poland dealing with international abduction matters and we decided that an application for contact should be issued rather than any proceedings for further enforcement of the orders, as the Mother had not seen the child for around 7 years. At the same we secured the Mother's stay in the UK making successful outside of immigration rules application to extend her stay. We now receive regular photos from the Mother with her daughter, as face to face contact is taking place. We helped to secure an order of the Polish courts for the Mother to see the child regularly in person, whilst when she instructed us she was facing a prospect of never seeing her child again and being deported to Costa Rica.
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