International divorce makes up approximately 24,000 of the 150,000 annual divorces across England and Wales. Couples who live outside of the UK, or are not originally from the UK, need to be aware of the extra issues they may face with variation in jurisdiction in different EU countries.
To be able to start divorce proceedings in a certain country, both parties must have a connection with that country. (excluding Denmark) In the UK and Ireland, the country you treat as your permanent home can be used for divorce proceedings instead of nationality, otherwise known as domicile.
Meeting the criteria for divorce jurisdiction
There are two main EU regulations dealing with jurisdiction which affect family cases within the EU. Brussels II “BIIR” Regulation 2201/2003 and EU Maintenance Regulation 4/2009.
Before you decide to start divorce proceedings in an EU country, you need to check that you meet any of the following criteria:
- Both spouses are habitually resident there;
- Both spouses were last habitually resident and one still resides there;
- The respondent is habitually resident there;
- The applicant is habitually resident, and either has resided there for at least a year preceding the application, or is domiciled (or a national) there and has resided there for at least six months preceding the application;
- Both spouses are domiciled (or nationals)
Deciding whether you meet the criteria for jurisdiction can be tricky and it is an area of law that requires expert and specialist advice.
What if you don’t meet the criteria?
If neither spouse has a connection with an EU country, the party requesting the divorce can look to other rules of the member state. This can be where divorce proceedings can be started based on the domicile of one of the parties, instead of the nationality.
How Nelsons Can Help
If you need advice on any international divorce related matter or have any other family law related queries, please contact a member of our team on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form who will be happy to discuss your circumstances in more detail and give you more information about the services that Nelsons family law solicitors can provide along with details of our hourly rates and fixed fee services.