Should You Consider A Quick, Overseas Divorce?
Nobody looks forward to the time involved with a divorce — and many people wonder if it would just be simpler and easier to hop a plane and head somewhere overseas where they can get a "quickie" divorce.
Some of the most popular "divorce destinations" are Mexico and the Dominican Republic. People can usually get an uncontested divorce in the space of a long weekend. Before you even consider such a thing, however, you need to consider the following issues:
1. Is due process going to be followed?
There's one important thing you need to remember about foreign divorces: your divorce abroad will generally only be recognized in the United States if due process was observed. That means that you can't head to a foreign country and divorce your spouse without bothering to giving your spouse advance notice — or time for an appropriate response — and expect the decision to be valid in the United States.
2. Will your state recognize the divorce at all?
States will usually recognize a divorce abroad that was given due process on the basis of comity — which is an agreement between countries to each recognize the laws of the other. However, each state has specific rules about what they will and won't recognize when it comes to both foreign marriages and divorces. You need to check with your state attorney general's office to be certain your divorce will be legal if you obtain it out of the country.
Once you have confirmed the divorce will be recognized, you also need to make certain that you have all the right paperwork in order to register your divorce once you return to the United States. You'll need your foreign divorce decree authenticated for official use in the United States. If the decree isn't in English, you will also need a translation. That translation must be completed and notarized once you are back in this country.
3. Are you trying to skirt the law?
Some people have tried to use a foreign divorce to get around the laws in the United States in ways that are entirely unacceptable. For example, people have tried to obtain foreign divorces in order to get around custody issues with their children. They've also tried to use foreign divorces to cheat a spouse out of a fair share of the marital assets. Don't try it. Those situations rarely end well for the spouse that engages in such behavior.
4. Is it really a smart choice?
Unless your marriage was pretty short and you have no real assets to split (and no children between you), a foreign divorce might not be the best choice. While it might free you up to move on with another relationship faster, it could still leave you tangled in a legal quagmire as you try to sort out other important details — like the division of property, which has to be done fairly.
Before you make any hasty decisions, talk to a divorce attorney about your situation for solid, practical advice.