International divorce is when you apply for a divorce in a country other than where you are living, or where your permanent home is. This might happen because you live abroad for work, or because you and your ex end up living in different countries or because you have different nationalities.
Countries where you can get divorced in:
You can only get divorced in another country if your marriage is legally recognised in the country where you want to apply for a divorce. You can only get a divorce in a country where your marriage is legally recognised. For example, if you are a same-sex couple and you married in England (where same-sex marriage is legal), you may not be able to get a divorce in Russia (where same-sex marriage is not legal), even if you or your ex have a connection to that country.
To get divorced in another country
Here you must show that you or your ex has a connection to it. A court only has the right and legal power to deal with your case if you can show this connection. The law calls this ‘jurisdiction’. Different countries around the world have different rules to work out if their courts have the legal power to deal with a case when other countries may be involved. It is imperative that you get legal advice from a lawyer who is an expert in divorce law in the country where you are thinking about getting a divorce.
Nationality
To be a national means you have the official right to be a member of a nation-state. You can acquire nationality by birth, the nationality of your parents, adoption, or marriage (the rules vary from country to country). So, for example, if you were born in France and both your parents were born in France you will be a French national.
Habitual Residence
‘Habitual residence’ means that you live somewhere regularly. To prove habitual residence, you have to show that you are settled in the country or that you are planning to stay there for a while, even if it is not your permanent home.
How to show you are habitually resident varies from country to country.
For example, in England and Wales, the kind of factors that are often taken into account when deciding if you can show habitual residence include:
- Where you usually or always live, work, study, and/or enjoy your leisure time,
- If any move out of a country is only temporary,
- Where you have property, even if rented out, and where you keep your furniture,
- Where your car is registered,
- Your mailing address,
- Where you are registered with a doctor, dentist etc,
- Where your mobile phone is registered,
- Where your financial arrangements are based, for example, your bank accounts, your tax status, where you pay National Insurance (NI) contributions,
- Your nationality.
Some of these factors may be accepted under other countries’ rules about habitual residence too. But if you plan to rely on this rule to show you are connected to a country you need to get legal advice from a lawyer who is an expert in divorce law in the country where you are thinking about getting a divorce.
Domicile
Different countries have different rules about what being domiciled means. So, again, if you plan to rely on this rule to show you are connected to a country you need to get legal advice from a lawyer who is an expert in divorce law in the country where you are thinking about getting a divorce.
In England and Wales ‘domicile’ is where your permanent home is. This doesn’t have to be a permanent address. For example, you can live abroad for work but not plan to stay in that country permanently and as such your birth country remains where you are ‘domiciled’. You will be able to get a divorce in a country if it is your permanent home. It can be the country that you were born in or a country that you have moved to if you have made it your permanent home.
You can only have one domicile at a time – a domicile of origin, domicile of dependency or a domicile of choice:
Domicile of origin
For most people, their domicile of origin will be the country they were born in.
Domicile of dependency
This is the domicile that you acquire from another person when you are dependent on them. For example, from your parent when you are under 16 years old.
Domicile of choice
This happens when you live in a different country from your domicile of origin and you intend to make that new country your home permanently.
The kind of factors that are often taken into account when deciding on your domicile include:
- Where you usually or always live, work, study, and/or enjoy your leisure time.
- If any move out of a country is only temporary.
- Where you have property, even if rented out, and where you keep your furniture.
- Where your car is registered.
- Your mailing address.
- Where you are registered with a doctor, dentist etc.
- Where your mobile phone is registered.
- Where your financial arrangements are based, for example, your bank accounts.
- Your nationality.
Deciding which country to be divorced in:
The law and divorce vary from country to country in factors such as:
- the types of financial orders the court is likely to make in your favour,
- the costs involved,
- the length of time it takes to get divorced and settle finances and arrangements for your children (if you have any),
- how you sort out arrangements for your children,
- how easy it is to enforce orders made by the court, in that country or another country.
You may find that getting divorced in one country will financially benefit you more than getting divorced somewhere else. Some countries may favour men over women in the way their court deals with divorce cases. It may be more expensive or take a lot longer to get divorced in one country than in another. So, if you have a choice of countries when it comes to starting your divorce it is important to work out which country will bring you the best outcome.
You also need to think about if it is practical for you to get a divorce in a different country. Divorce is often a very stressful and upsetting process, so it is important to think about things such as the length of divorce proceedings in the country that you are considering applying for a divorce in if you speak the language and the costs of divorcing overseas.
It is highly advised that you speak to an international family law solicitor or a lawyer in each of the countries you might want to divorce in, and if it would benefit you to get a divorce there.
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