Recently published Court cases highlight the importance of seeking expert legal advice where this is an international element to family breakdown. International divorce is becoming increasingly common as people move more freely around the world.
In many cases the divorce proceedings can be started in more than one country, however, the rule of EU Law dictates that the divorce which commenced first will prevail. This can have very serious consequences as the financial settlement you may receive in one country could be substantially better than in another.
London is now increasingly being regarded as ‘the divorce capital of the world’. This is attributable to the size of the awards made to wives pursuing financial claims in the English Courts. This is illustrated by the recently reported case of Jamie Cooper Hohn, the American Wife of the top financier Sir Chris Hohn, who has received an award of £337 million following the breakdown of her 15 year marriage. This followed a number of big money cases resulting in large pay outs, including Heather Mills, the wife of Sir Paul McCartney, who after a 4 year marriage received £24.3 million, Phil Collins former Swiss wife Orianne Cevy being awarded £25 million, and Bernard Ecclestone reportedly paying to his wife Slavica £750 million in a private settlement.
So popular is London that former Ukrainian model Tatyana Farnchuk is currently applying to move her multi million pound case to the capital from Portugal, where she launched proceedings against her second husband, construction magnate Manuel Couto Alves. The couple married in Portugal in 2009. Her lawyers contend that as she has a house in the UK and two teenage sons from her first marriage who attend school here, she should be able to transfer the proceedings to England. She claims that she hopes to be treated ‘more fairly’ in England than in the husband’s native Portugal.
Although the English Family Courts do have the discretion to deal with financial divorces, where an order has been obtained in a foreign Court this discretion is very rarely exercised. Therefore it is extremely important to ensure that the divorce proceedings are issued in the jurisdiction which is likely to achieve the best outcome for you. Time is of the essence in such cases.
The cases above are all ‘big money cases’, however financial outcomes across Europe can differ dramatically, even in the case of average families, and issuing first may make a difference of many thousands of pounds.
Winston Solicitors is increasingly being recognised as the solicitors with expertise in International Law cases. Please contact our family department for further information on 0113 320 5000 or email @email.