International divorce

benjus

Sadly my marriage appears to be over after an extended period of separation. I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to deal with the international aspect of a divorce, i.e. which country/countries we can use for the divorce proceedings, and what factors we should take into account when deciding where to divorce.

The facts are:

• Me: British
• My wife: Bolivian (since 2004 also British citizen)
• We met in Bolivia, got married there in 2001 and then moved to the UK where we spent almost all our married life. We own a house in the UK which is currently rented out - this is our only financial asset of any importance.
• Two children, born 2003 and 2005 in the UK
• My wife & the children temporarily went to Spain in Jan 2007, then decided to stay there and live separately from me (I am still in the UK). In Sep 2008 they moved to France and are now living there.

mookiandco

Only one of you needs to be domiciled/habitually resident in the UK. If you are starting divorce proceedings in needs to be done through UK courts. You may need to get your marriage certificate translated before it is lodged with the court with your divorce peitition if its not in english. It is better for you to start the divorce as the former matrimonial home is here and I do not know whether or not the law in France would be fair to you when it comes to dealing with property and financial matters.

biscotte

i'm not qualified in law at all but having lived in France and heard of a number of friend's divorces/break ups the French courts are very even handed and consider the father as equal in importance when it comes to raising children.

i don't know whether the fact that you are all non-french will influence the court at all.