destone

Can someone recommend an experienced divorce solicitor/lawyer or firm who has experience with both England and the US (California)? I suppose they need to be based primarily in England.

My situation in a nutshell:

• Married in '17 in England (we're both British)
• Child born in '19 in England
• Moved to the US (California) in Q1' 20 on L1 (me) and L2 (my wife + my child)
• All the 3 of us applied for US Permanent Residency in Q2 '20
• My wife and my child moved back to England at the very end of '20 ("abandoning" our California home)
• Our US Permanent Residency succeeded in Q2 '21 for all the three of us
• My wife hired a solicitor in England this week and her solicitor informed me that "[...] she has instructed us that she considers that the marriage has irretrievably broken down and it is her intention to issue a petition for divorce over the next few weeks"

Any help is appreciated!

petitefrancaise

I got divorced last year. Assets spread over 3 countries and pensions subject to 3 different legal systems.
You need a lawyer based in the UK. If your wife is filing for divorce there then you will need a UK lawyer - your divorce will be subject to English ( I assume) law. If you have joint assets in California then they will be evaluated and added to the joint pot with your UK assets, ready to be divided between the two of you. You may not need a US based lawyer at all, just someone who can tell you how much your US assets are worth and how to split them/liquidate them.
Sorry. It's horrible, you'll get through it and hopefully all of you will be happier.

S Folinsky

OP may want to process the dissolution in California. A California court can take jurisdiction inasmuch as one spouse resides in California. The child complicates things.

petitefrancaise

Why would he want to do it California?

Giantaxe

Community property state that pretty much guarantees equal division of what California considers community property.

S Folinsky

I don’t really know his facts. All I am saying that it appears that OP has a choice as things now stand. Which jurisdiction is preferable for OP involves questions which may be worth exploring. I wonder if the UK solicitor is doing what is best for his client. For example, if support issues are involved, it is a hell of a lot easier to enforce a California order in California. Is real property involved?

I see potential issues. The answers I have no idea.

petitefrancaise

Based on my experience and those of friends....
I was advised to divorce where the majority of the assets are - to avoid cross border enforcement of a decree ( difficult and expensive).
For the OP - if visitation for the child might be an issue then I would divorce in the UK because, again enforcement would avoid a cross border wrangle.
ETA - the wife's solicitor may not know anything at all about international divorce issues and probably bugger all about California law.
OP at the end of the day, a divorce is simply about dividing out the assets and sorting out the kids so that they are best cared for. It's ending a contract - not getting even.
Do your best to get an agreement you can live with and move on

S Folinsky

I agree with your conclusion - it is best practice for any dissolution (FWIW, when California instituted no fault divorce back in 1969, in order to make a clean break with prior law, the term “divorce” was replaced with “dissolution of marriage.” Hence us California legal types use “dissolution.” Same thing, different name). I know that if a California dissolution reaches a Judge, there is an awful lot of arm twisting to reach an agreement.

There are times when jurisdiction might be split. A long time ago a college BFF married an Italian in Italy. When they separated 10 years later, the legal separation was done in Italy and I handled the dissolution in California. We limited the issues to the marriage only expressly noting the Italian decree. Why did we do this? Italian law provided a five year waiting period to divorce while California needed only six months. Also, Italy gave faith and credit to the California dissolution.

destone

Our only joint asset is a London property which we intend to sell within a year. Would there still be any benefit in engaging a California lawyer with regards to child maintenance and parental rights?

petitefrancaise

Not if your wife is filing for divorce in the UK - then your divorce is subject to English law. Assets and family are in the UK too. Unlikely that a bog standard CA lawyer would know anything at all about English law.
On the other hand if you and your wife are not going to be in agreement about parental rights I might have a consult with a CA lawyer BEFORE your wife files in the UK to find out what about such situations in CA law. If it's more favourable then you could file first and force her to have CA divorce. But overall costs would go up for both of you and enforcement would be expensive.

S Folinsky

Both the US and UK are parties to The Hague Convention on Child Abduction. The convention provides that jurisdiction should be governed by the principal residence of the child. I became personally interested in the area of law during the Elizabeth Morgan/Erich Foretich custody dispute over their daughter Hilary back in the 1980’s. I find it disturbing that the Morgan Family acted in contempt of the US Courts after having had their day in court and lost. Later the New Zealand courts acted contrary to the US Courts.


New Zealand did not accede to The Hague Convention until 1991. I wonder if that would have made a difference in New Zealand.

petitefrancaise

I have friends that have been directly affected by the Hague Convention and not in a good way. You never think that it will apply to you but honestly I think that everyone who moves countries with their children should be counselled about it.
Anyway so there's no point the OP consulting with a CA lawyer then? Since his child lives in the UK .

SanDiegogirl

Wife and child have been in UK since December 2020 .......

morpeth

Quite agree best to work it out as quickly as one can and move on.

Not knowing all the circumstances, I actually would say best to discuss with a California lawyer as soon as possible. Yes enforcing a judicial order even under Hague convention can be costly and very time-consuming, but could provide leverage in negotiations. The manner of the 'abandonment' could be a factor, and while the property in UK, from what I understand OP income earned in USA. Many cases end up being determined by the financial wherewithal of either party, who files first, and if one parent willing to take a child so far away from the other parent I suspect reaching an agreement might be more complicated that initially might appear. Unfortunately some sort of UK representation as well also necessary. If it were me I would insist all summer vacations spent with OP, and alternating Christmas and other vacations each year, Depending on the personality of the other parent visitation might end up a trade-off of how proceeds from property sale handled. Figuring out/comparing child maintenance obligations under UK or California law would be helpful to know- and of course to the degree possible negotiating paying some expenses direct always preferable.

A divorce lawyer in the states once told me that the difference between divorce and criminal law, is that criminal defendants often bad people on their best behaviour, and in divorce good people often with worst behaviour over time.

I wish the OP good luck, sure to be a trying time.

morpeth

There could be an argument that the OP should file immediately in California before other spouse files in UK, surely in California there will be lawyers who have dealt with similar cases.