How To Divorce Your Spouse If They Live In A Foreign Country

Feb. 1, 2013 - PRLog -- A client recently visited the offices of Trust Mediation to inquire about a divorce.  

The client's main concern was that she wanted to finalize a divorce in the United States, but she didn't know if it was possible because her spouse lives in South America.  The client had been to four attorneys before making her appointment with Trust Mediation and each either (1) quoted her an unreasonable fee or (2) told her it could not be done.

The client's question is one that is very common when filing for divorce because the initiating spouse has to be able to serve (deliver to) the second spouse a complaint by an acceptable means of exchange (for example personal delivery, mail, sheriff, process server) to assert personal jurisdiction.  

In layman's terms, the person you are divorcing has to know you are divorcing them for the court to recognize your claim.

TRUST MEDIATION

59 MAIN STREET, SUITE 341

WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY 07052

OFFICE: (862) 233-6228

ebiasotti@trustmediation1.com

www.trustmediation1.com

After a brief client-intake in our office the client made clear that her spouse would not contest the divorce.  After all, he had already found a love interest of his own in South America.  

It should also be noted that this was a relatively simple divorce because:

1)  The couple had not accrued marital property during their marriage;

2)  The couple had two children born of the marriage but both children were emancipated (over the age of 21);

3)  The couple had been separated for ten years;

4)  The client/plaintiff had means to support herself;

5)  There was no need for a court order awarding custody or visitation rights of children;

6)  There was no need for a court order compelling the defendant to support minor children.

However, after Trust Mediation filed the client's divorce papers in family court, the client still had to serve (deliver) the papers to the spouse to assert personal jurisdiction (validate the divorce suit) over him.

If the parties both lived in the same State and County within the United States, one party could personally deliver the complaint to the other because they were agreed that they both wanted a divorce.  However, since the spouse lives in South America, Trust Mediation had to motion the Court to accept international service by adhering to the principles of the Hague Service Convention.

There are two ways a person may serve their spouse a divorce complaint if that spouse lives in a foreign country.

The first involves requesting "letters rogatory" by the court to contact the courts in the foreign country and have their bailiff execute service on the defendant spouse.  This could take up to a year and would not be efficient in seeking a divorce decree.  In addition, certain countries are many times more bureaucratic than others and that can make a bad situation worse.

The second option allows the initiating spouse to effect service in countries signatory to the Hague Service Convention through their designated "central authority".  This process, if coordinated well with an attorney abroad, can take less than a month.  Trust Mediation, having access to a large number of international attorneys in the United States and abroad reached out to one of its contacts in the subject country and arranged for translated copies of all the relevant documents to be delivered, verified and authenticated with apostille as required by the Hague Service Convention.  

In the meantime, Trust Mediation motioned the court to accept such service.  The client was asked to report to the family court on a specific date, the court acknowledged and accepted the motion method of service.  A few days later, the documents were received from the foreign lawyer in the United States.  The client delivered the documents to the court and the court awarded a divorce decree.

The bottom line is the client was able to secure a divorce decree in two months for a reasonable fee.  Word to the wise, when your lawyer tells you something cannot be done, maybe he/she doesn't know how to do the work or is unwilling to do it for a reasonable fee.