Where separating parties have connections with more than one country there is a possibility of more than one country having jurisdiction to deal with the couple’s divorce.
- If there is a possibility of a competing jurisdiction between England and Wales and closely related jurisdictions, see jurisdiction between England and other closely related jurisdictions.
- If there is a possibility of a competing jurisdiction between England and Wales and contracting states to the Brussels IIA Convention, see Brussels IIA.
- If the competing jurisdictions are between England and another country that is either not connected closely to England and Wales or is not a European country which contracts to Brussels IIA, the position is as follows.
It is important to remember in cases such as this that divorce law is not always based on the national law of a country, but can be state based.
So, for example, in the United States divorce law is based on state law rather than federal law. The possible competing jurisdictions could therefore be between England and Washington State, USA.