If you were married in England or Wales but you have decided to get a divorce, however you may live in a different area of the world, then you would then have to file for an expat divorce. This is where a person who lives in one area of the country but legally resides in another. Unlike an immigrant, you will find that Expatriate spouses will not live in the country as you therefore making it particularly hard to file for divorce. If you must get an Expat Divorce you will need to know how the process works in the United Kingdom.
The first thing you will need to know is that you will need to be from England or Wales in order to file for divorce if you are living in another country and you want to be able to use the courts in the UK for your expat divorce. You can also file for an expat divorce if you have not lived in the UK for a few years and you have only just returned. If you have been living in the UK for several years and you come from somewhere else you will need to file for an expat divorce. Lastly if your spouse lives in another country and disputes the terms of your divorce then you will need to get an expat divorce. These are just a few of the rules you will need to address when you are trying to find out what kind of divorce you will need to get in the UK.
Besides having the correct domicile for you to get an English divorce you will also need to have the right solicitor for the job, they will know whether or not you are able to get your divorce in the UK and will give you the consultation to ensure that you know what the procedure is and how to proceed with all the paperwork and filing all of the information with the correct court. By suing a solicitor and the courts in the UK, you will be able to get this done fairly quickly, especially since it usually takes a long time to get an Expat divorce, so knowing the proper procedure makes it much easier.
There are a few very important things you will need to consider when you get an expat divorce in the UK, such as important items such as property that you may own in another country. You will need to realize that your divorce in the UK may not cover whether or not you have assets in another country or the property may not be equitably split in the UK for that country. You may also have some issues with child support and alimony type payments for the country other than the UK. Other than these issues you can get property owned in the UK split between the two spouses if the property is located within England.
For more information you can check out Fact Sheet - Can I Divorce in the UK.
