us citizen Divorce
 

In Brief
I live and work in UK
Married a us citizen in sc.
Married primarily to look after Her 2 children if she passed away as She had cancer.
Travelled twice a year ,2 or 3 weeks at a time to states to support until I was supposed to be moving later this year. All totally legal visits.
Did not apply for visa etc.This was to happen when I actually moved to states.
Married just under 2 years.
She has now met someone local in SC so I'm surplus to requirements.
No joint Bank acc. No property in Joint names.
She is filing and wants a quick divorce obtained and paperwork online which she has said she will forward.
She is suddenly saying she could have half my home in UK?
Do I have to do anything or is this all rubbish talk.
Any advice appreciated. I was told I actually could be difficult and not sign anything. I'm not that bitter,YET :)

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

The divorce can be quick if you don't contest what she wants. If you do, you'll probably need a lawyer to counter what she wants.

Rene

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

A negotiating ploy, divorce her in the UK?

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

You can file where you live, no matter where you married.

Generally in the US and the UK spouses split assets approximately 50:50 unless there is a pre-nup; generally this is true no matter what assets each spouse brought into the marriage and no matter how long the marriage lasted. You may have made a very expensive mistake.

(i) you need legal advice, and you need it now!

(ii) after having obtained competent legal advice, the best alternative may be to offer $x,000 for a quick settlement, or threaten to contest the divorce and drag it out as long as possible.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

See a lawyer. Don't sign anything or agree to anything until you see a lawyer.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

You don't need to register the marriage in the UK - the treaty between the UK and US means a marriage in one country is valid in the other.

- She is filing and wants a quick divorce obtained and paperwork online which she has said she will forward.
- She is suddenly saying she could have half my home in UK?

Is she only saying that as you are not obliging her with a quick divorce?

Based on she could have half your home in the UK - I would be giving her the quick divorce she wants.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

As long as you're legally married in the US, there's nothing to register in the UK.

Not having applied for an immigration visa would have worked against you if you were planning to move and then file anyway. You MUST remain in the UK for the application (although you could still visit), but all that is moot now.

By the same token, noit having applied could work in your favour as it proves that the marriage was not completely 'normal' and may well have an effect on any entitlement.

This is clearly a job for a lawyer and I suggest you find one asap. The circumstances are not 'normal', so it's almost impossible for anyone to give advice outside of someone with professional or actual experience.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

Usually the issue is increase in values, which may be nothing.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

The OP definitely needs legal advice. Having said that a house owned before the marriage (not sure whether that is the OP's situation) that is still titled to one person probably isn't marital property that can be divided on divorce. Assuming "SC" means South Carolina:

South Carolina Marital Property Laws - FindLaw

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

Unless this advice was from a divorce lawyer I wouldn't believe a word of it. I have certainly never seen anything that you only get out what you put in, and a number of high-profile counter examples, which is why pre-nups are still as common as ever in the US.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

If your mom is still alive, then I suggest you get her to slap you silly... because if what you've written is true, then you're a complete fool.


They aren't your children... that responsibility should have fallen to the children's father!


She has played you like a violin from day one. The children, by the way, are now your stepchildren... so if you don't want her to claim half your house in the UK, I suggest you file for custody of the children. You can drop your claim when she drops hers!

Ian

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

love is blind ian. Plus there was a serious possibility she wasn't going to be with us so I thought I was doing the right thing. Dad is absent no where to be seen at mo. Yeah get your point though

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

while I second all the calls for you to get legal advice in both the U.K. and US, I just wanted to comment on the 50:50 rule from a UK perspective. For short lived marriages, where there are no children, there is a current trend for the courts to divide the assets to return the two parties back to where they were before the marriage. Or as close as possible. This is what the government says: https://www.gov.uk/money-property-wh...-splits-assets It very well may be in your interests to get divorced in the UK if it really was a marriage of convenience and you can prove that.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

I'm awaiting on papers in post. She is now saying she just wants it to be sorted by papers she's got online. Of course ill have checked but she's skint so I am hoping she will just be happy for a straight forward no crap divorce. I am hoping she's just happy she will be able to get on with life. I did nothing wrong but she couldn't wait I guess This thread has got me more worried than I was

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

Thanks for advice. I'm hoping she will be content at it being straight forward. She wont want legal fees either. This thread got me more worried than I was
All I had is in my name only and yes I had it before I married.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

You say she has completed forms she obtained online. When you receive them, have them reviewed by counsel to ensure there are no catches. When I was divorced I was served with forms bought at the stationery store, just to get it done fast. Neither of us wanted anything from the other. If you are lucky, she just wants to get out of this situation rapidly and is threatening what she might do if you don't sign and set her free, and is not actually asking for anything. Don't get too worried until you actually see the papers.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

That's what I'm Hoping . I'm awaiting forms. Thanks for some words of hope :)

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

has she ever been to the UK, or lived in the house?

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

She Lived in uk a couple years but in a rented place. Never Lived with me in my place .We were just seeing each other. Then moved back to states. Any words of wisdom. All turned crap . So broken heart and could be stung it seems

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

I think the words of wisdom so far have been good.

Sounds like she has been a jerk, which has made your initial action of marrying a large mistake.

So like others have said, put yourself as #1 and get good legal counsel who are experienced in US/UK assets.

Time to win this battle and come out on top. Screw any feelings you've had for her, it's game time.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

Yeah. I know I know. I loved her and her kids. Everything was ok but then bingo. Don't move over as I'm with someone new. BTW I want a divorce. Yep. A dummy I was but tbh didn't think about anything as was just too concerned about her cancer.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

I was quite looking forward to moving to the states lol
Don't think that will be happening any time soon :)

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

One thing I don't quite understand is that you married 2 years ago but weren't going to do any paperwork to immigrate until later this year....but your purpose in marrying was to be with her kids if she passed away.

If she had passed away sometime in the past 2 years, you wouldn't have had any way of immigrating to the USA to stay with the kids anyway.

Rene

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

I was going to bring the kids back here if the worst happened before I made it to states to get a visa. I would of had a fight on my hands with visas etc in Uk but she has no family what so ever so options were limited. Like I said when your in love It was very complicated and would of been tough . Very unique situation. Anyway shes doing fine now. Its me that has been used. Live and learn I could actually write a book on it all. That is if my grammar and spelling wasn't so sh**
I also couldn't go out before this year as I would of lost out on money from work commitments which I was to use to support until I found work and a lawyer for visa etc. Nothing was straight forward.

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

Basically I'm going to have to wait on the forms and play it from there. She hopefully wont want anything. If morality actually kicks in

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

Does she actually have cancer?


If you were to have legally adopted the children, then perhaps that might have worked. As a stepparent, however, I doubt you would have the right to remove them from US jurisdiction.


Really? No sibling? No parents? No aunts, uncles, cousins? No godparents to the children? No one?


Pedant Ian notes: unique means "one of a kind". Something can't be "very unique". :)


So again, it begs the question of whether or not she actually has cancer!

Anyway - good luck to you! :)

Ian

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

Ian sometimes has the reputation of being 'as subtle as a sledgehammer' and I am known to be blunt myself, so it may come as no surprise that I'm wondering a lot of the same things he is. The skeptic in me wonders...

1. Did she ever really have cancer in the first place?
2. You loved her, but did she actually love you or did she see this as a meal ticket?
3. Was the someone she 'met' in the picture from the very beginning?
4. It seems to me that you were being used from the off.

Side note, being 'very unique' is like being 'a little bit pregnant'! Unique is an absolute and there are no degrees of it. It's almost as much of a bugbear to me as the use of the word 'literally' in the wrong context, such as "I literally died on the spot"!!!!!

Re: us citizen Divorce
 

:goodpost:

I concur with other suggestions (in addition to this great point I quoted), did you ever see any proof of cancer diagnosis?