In today’s global economy, cross-border marriages are common – as is owning property in another country. However, when such marriages end, overseas property can add an element of complexity to financial settlement and legal proceedings.
Here at IMD, our solicitors are experts in divorce with an international element. We can advise you fully on how best to protect your financial position and how to proceed. In this article, we look at how assets held overseas are divided in divorce when divorcing in England or Wales, to help you understand what might come next.
How do the courts consider foreign assets?
If you are getting divorced in England or Wales, assets such as property, money or investments overseas are treated like any other assets for the purposes of financial settlement. Both parties have an obligation to disclose all property they own, including that which is held overseas. The only exception is where certain assets were owned prior to the marriage, and they may be excluded from the financial settlement.
However, there are several difficulties with overseas assets that can make the process more difficult, including the time and cost involved, whether the property can be traced, and whether the assets held abroad are matrimonial property.
Accounting issues and documentation for foreign assets
If one spouse is not forthcoming about assets held overseas, or the right paperwork or documentation cannot be found, financial settlement cases can go on for a long time. A case that lasts a long time can, of course, be more expensive, so both parties must take steps to ingather all documents pertaining to assets they hold. Having all the necessary documentation can make the process much more straightforward. Also, it can avoid accusations of hiding assets abroad.
Hiding assets overseas
When one party attempts to hide assets that they hold overseas, this can make financial settlement significantly more complicated. If you suspect your spouse has assets overseas that they have not disclosed, our solicitors can help you to ensure all property is accounted for. We can utilise the skills of a forensic accountant to find any signs of hidden assets and take action to compel your spouse to disclose hidden assets.
If you are successful and hidden overseas assets are located, your spouse may receive a lesser settlement as a result of their attempt to hide property. The property may form part of a financial order from the court. However, it may not be possible to retrieve the property as some overseas courts may not recognise the financial order or even an enforcement order.
Enforcement of the court’s financial order
After property, investments, businesses, possessions or other assets held overseas have been identified as part of the court’s financial order, you still need to enforce the order. Enforcing a financial order in relation to assets held overseas can be challenging. However, the UK has arrangements with many jurisdictions to recognise and enforce orders made by the UK courts. Our solicitors can work with lawyers in the relevant jurisdictions where the property is located to ensure that your financial order is upheld.
What is matrimonial property?
When assets are divided in divorce, spouses can make a claim to what is known as ‘matrimonial property’. Matrimonial property is any money acquired during the marriage and any assets enjoyed as part of the marriage. Matrimonial property may include things such as the family home. However, any assets held overseas that one spouse acquired before the marriage will generally not be considered matrimonial property.
International couples should always seek the advice of a divorce solicitor with experience and understanding of financial settlement where assets are held overseas. Our solicitors can fully advise you before you even begin divorce proceedings as to whether the court will have the power to enforce the financial order in relation to overseas property, depending on the country where the property is held. Furthermore, certain jurisdictions may not recognise any prenuptial agreements if they were drafted in a different country.
There are many matters which make divorce with international property complex, but we strive to make things as straightforward as possible for you.
Contact Our UK International Family Law 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.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.
By clicking "Accept", you'll be letting us use cookies to improve your website experience.Accept
Talk to us today 
CONTACT US TODAY
0330 107 0107