I Don't Live in England or Wales. Can I Apply for a Divorce There?

The jurisdiction where your divorce takes place can substantially impact your financial settlement.

Each jurisdiction has its own set of rules for resolving finances on divorce, and you may end up with vastly different outcomes depending on where you issue your divorce proceedings.

The time and costs involved in obtaining a divorce can also differ between jurisdictions.

You will need careful advice to ensure that your divorce proceedings take place in the jurisdiction that most benefits you.

England and Wales will often be the jurisdiction that is most advantageous to the financially weaker spouse; as compared to other jurisdictions, courts in England and Wales have a duty to ensure fairness and to ensure that each party's needs are met on divorce, with wide discretion to make orders for spousal maintenance.

Spousal maintenance is a payment made by a former spouse to the other spouse over a specified period following the divorce or for their lifetime.

Other countries may not recognise the right to apply for spousal maintenance, or if they do, it may only be in restricted cases for a limited period.

You are habitually resident in England and Wales if you have established your permanent or centre of interest here.

To satisfy this, you usually will need to live or spend most of your time in England and Wales.

You may only have one habitual residence at any one time.

The key to demonstrating a habitual residence is to establish that you organise your domestic, financial, and business affairs and organise your healthcare and bank facilities in England and Wales.

Essentially, if you have moved from overseas, you must be able to show that you intend to remain in England and Wales, having transferred your life and your affairs here.

You must, therefore, demonstrate that you intend to establish your life in England or Wales and have a stable presence in the UK.

Prior to Brexit, a rule existed which provided that the country where the divorce application was first made was the country that dealt with the divorce.

Accordingly, couples would race with their spouse to commence proceedings in the jurisdiction most advantageous to them.

This rule no longer exists. Rather, the country with the closest connection to the couple will deal with the divorce.

However, there may need to be a contested preliminary hearing to determine which country is most appropriate and more closely connected to the couple for the proceedings to continue.

It is, therefore, still important to be quick when issuing divorce proceedings.

It is advised that you take urgent advice to protect your position in England and Wales, particularly because the country where divorce proceedings were first issued can be relevant in determining which country has the closer connection.