UK/US Divorce
 

Hello

My wife (US citizen) and I (UK cit) were married in MA, lived there for 6 years then moved to the UK. After 6 mths we separated, a year later she moved back to the US.

Now I (and I'm sure she) wants to divorce and wondered how best to do this. I have a UK lawyer who sorted out the custody of the kids who live with me but don't know if I need to do this in the US as she lives there and we married there. Obviously it would be easier for me to do things from here but don't know if it would be valid? There's no assets to split, kids are settled and I don't want maintenance so it should be straightforward.

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

Sorry to hear of your situation. The divorce does not need to take place where you were married (I know someone personally who was married in the UK but divorced in the US), so I am fairly sure that you will just need to file locally. So long as you have an address for your wife where the papers can be served, you shouldn't have a problem.

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

It will be valid.

Ian

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

Thanks. I hoped that'd be the case, it's just a bit awkward - if I want it to happen she may be evasive even though she wants it as much as me.

Cheers again.

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

It may be a little more complex than that - if you only remained 18 months in the UK before she returned to the US, you may need an expat divorce. A free chat with a legal should be able to clarify things a little for you.

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

Sorry to hear about your situation. As others say stick with the UK divorce. If I had children regardless of however amicable the divorce situation is I would not be subjecting myself to US jurisdiction. That could become time consuming and very costly. That would include for whats its worth once you initiate this process not physically placing yourself in the US as you never really know what kind of shenanigans your future ex and or her attorney might employ, I'm thinking serving you with court papers here but there are darker alternatives. Not trying to be over reactionary just forearmed is forewarned and all that, don't approach it with the it could never happen to me....divorce makes people do very strange things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ebv3i_9Ltc
Good luck

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

Agreed. So get your action for divorce started in the UK before she starts a divorce action in the USA.

Regards, JEff

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

Some general comments on "U.S." law ["U.S." in quotes because dissolution of marriage is in the provinces of the individual states].

The "res" or "situs" of a marriage for purposes of jurisdiction in a dissolution action is where one of the spouses lives.

As to the children, U.S. law favors the jurisdiction of the children's residence.

It is possible to have split cases -- I once represented a college friend who had married an Italian in Italy. When they separated, my friend moved back to California. The property division and support was taken care of in Italy. As for dissolving the marriage, we did a status only dissolution proceeding in California given the very restrictive requirements at the time in Italy for dissolution of marriage. Italy recognized the California dissolution.

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

I might be unique. After 18 years of marriage my wife decided to trade me in for a better model. She made the shock announcement on Nov 5th. We were divorced on Jan 18th and we didn't pay a cent to any attorney!!

Could this be some sort of record?

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

I got Jan 1st to April 1st. But I'm not bitter.

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

That's swift:) I wasn't bitter either. Funny thing my EX moved off to Tampa!!

You're not him are you?? LOL..

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

I divorced a no-good ex in 60 days by publication. It required putting a notice in the local paper for four weeks plus an additional week for him to respond, plus a somewhat sparse court docket, no kids, and no significant property. Of course he had been gone for a while by then and I honestly did not know his whereabouts.

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

Congratulations!! :D and if your location is Florida! I think I would be buying many lottery tickets.

Its not for nothing that Carcharodon carcharias inhabits the Florida coastline.

Wipe your brow and consider that you have had a very very lucky escape :amen:

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

LOL, Thanks for those words of encouragement. My status as a single man didn't last too long. The Sean Connery accent was in great demand. And I was snapped up by a Cuban lassie. A Scotsman and a Cuban, can't be too many of those pairings on the go!!:)

Re: UK/US Divorce
 

That would be the Shammy leather accent then:
http://youtu.be/EX98LGnvc1E

At 1:36 if you don't want to watch the whole clip? Hope you don't mind I actually think the his description of Scousers and Geordie's is even better.

Latin spouse - got the T shirt already thanks :rofl:

Congrats