Family
Cross border divorce between UK and USA
A couple who lived in the USA but had previously lived in the UK several years prior were getting divorced but had assets in both countries which needed dividing.
29 May 2015
Our client’s husband issued divorce proceedings in England, stating grounds which he argued the English court had jurisdiction to deal with. If the English court was asked to deal with the financial consequences of the divorce, this would’ve meant that our client wouldn’t be able to claim spousal maintenance.
We advised our client to defend the English divorce proceedings and drafted and lodged the necessary documents at court to advise the judge that our client didn’t believe that the English court had jurisdiction to deal with her divorce.
At the same time, our client issued matrimonial proceedings in the USA and we worked closely with her USA lawyer.
As part of the negotiations in the USA, it was agreed that the husband’s English divorce would proceed, but the USA court would deal with all financial matters.
Despite this, the husband issued financial proceedings in the English court but we persuaded him not to.
Our client was then able to negotiate a financial settlement in the USA that she was very happy with, and which included spousal maintenance payments for her benefit.
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Related practice areas:
How to start divorce proceedings
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All information was correct at the time of publication.