Foreign divorce but UK assets

Hi, I am a British national and resident but my partner is not a British national and no longer a resident in the UK.

We plan to proceed with a divorce in a foreign court where my partner now resides. However I have a property in the UK which is jointly owned and a mortgage in joint names (although I have been paying the full amount for mortgage for a year).

I wanted to understand how can I transfer the property (title) and mortgage in the UK if we do the divorce in the foreign court? Is that possible? Or does the divorce needs to be in UK for the transfer to occur?

The reason being it is cheap and quick to do in the foreign court and my partner is unable to travel to UK anymore.

Regards

Just to add further - we do not have any children and the marriage is for 2 years.

You can transfer the title of the property from joint names to your sole name regardless of any divorce if you are both agreed upon that. If you are not agreed upon it then that is a different matter. In that event you would probably find it better to get a divorce in the UK and have the property dealt with in the context of that divorce.

Thank you David, understand.

But if my spouse is unable to travel to the UK, that would mean difficulty in instructing a solicitor in the UK or coming to the court to participate in proceedings (if required). Would the UK divorce still go ahead and be feasible ?

Given that all the contributions in the property have been from me and it is a short marriage and no children, from your experience would the court look at contributions or a 50-50 splits.

Regards

Getting to the UK is your wife's problem. A divorce can go ahead here whether she can come here or not. As to the outcome, it is figures which matter. Also, of course, when you say 'contributions' you obviously mean money. However, a court does not measure contributions to a marriage in purely financial terms. Different spouses can contribute in different ways. Contributions are not limited to financial contributions.

Thanks David as always

Hi David,

Following on from my earlier question, what options do I have if the divorce does happen in foreign country ?

Can I initial financial settlement here even if the divorce decree is granted in a foreign court? Or do I ask court to make a decision ? Surely, there must be some procedure?

I understand if shes willing we can do with a foreign divorce, but I wanted to understand in situation where the spouse is non cooperative.

The property is in UK with joint names and mortgage but paid solely by me.

Thanks

I have already told you that if the issue is property in the UK and you live here then you would be well advised to issue divorce proceedings in the UK regardless of the wishes of your spouse. It is possible under the 1984 Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act to seek financial relief in the UK following a divorce obtained overseas. However, using that procedure is more complicated and expensive than issuing a divorce application in the UK in the first place. That is because you first have to seek permission in the High Court (not a simple Family Court) for leave to issue an application in the UK. It makes absolutely no sense to use that procedure unless it is forced on you out of necessity because you choose to ignore advice and let your wife obtain a divorce overseas when you could have obtained one in the UK.

Hi David,

Thank you very much. I do understand but I wanted to know the options I have if spouse issues a petition in foreign court and it is a contested divorce (ie. not willing to terms).


However if we are able to mutually agree terms of our a divorce and settlement where she's willing to co-operate for transfer (it will be a clause in divorce terms) then my preference is to get it done abroad and initiate transfer immediately.

As it does not have to wait till consent order (post decree nisi) like the UK.

Your preference is a mistake. I have already explained the reasons why. I am not going to do so again. It will be you who will live with the consequences of your decisions not me.

Hi David,

Many thanks for your continued patience. That makes this forum so great.

I concluded my understanding and interpretation from your valued advise in the 3rd post of this thread.

Hence I thought if we are agreed upon, foreign divorce was the preference for me (given my circumstances) with her signing the transfer docs. There is no concept there of court rejecting an agreement which could happen in UK where the court could reject the consent order if it deems unfair.

But if we arent agreed upon then a UK divorce is the second option. A contested foreign divorce is a worse case situation.

Unless I have misunderstood anything.

Thank you once again

Like I said, it is my opinion you should seek a divorce in the UK and settle any financial issues within the context of that divorce because that is where you are located and it is where the property is located. I have explained this at some length. You are free to ignore that advice. You are the one who will bear the consequences of ignoring it but you are an adult and free to make your own decisions.

edited for anonymity



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2019 05:07PM by metallica.

What you are proposing is not fair. You will forgive me but I really don't want to spend any further time on this. You are clearly intent upon ploughing your own furrow. If you want legal advice upon which you intend to rely I can see no reason why you should not pay for it because you are obviously in a position to do so. Any advice I have given you here has clearly fallen on deaf ears so I would suggest you seek your own advice and that you pay for it. Hopefully you will attach more weight to advice you pay for.

I understand, Thank you David. I have followed this forum and always valued the advice.