There are several reasons why it is important to consider where a divorce should take place early on in the process of separation if it is an international divorce.
It would be easy to assume that, if you are to divorce, then the appropriate place for the divorce to take place would be the country where:
- the marriage took place;
- the couple are citizens or lived their married life; or
- the couple are living at the time of the breakdown of the marriage.
However, this is too simplistic and it would be wrong to make any automatic assumptions. There are many international families who will find that more than one country may be able to deal with the issues arising on divorce. See also can I divorce in England? and can I divorce abroad?.
The time and legal costs involved in getting divorced differ greatly from country to country. Different countries also approach the financial arrangements between couples on divorce in very different ways. Procedures also vary from country to country particularly in relation to disclosure of financial affairs.
This means that a couple with the same financial resources (house, other capital, income and pensions) could end up with very different financial arrangements if their divorce is dealt with in England than if it were dealt with, for example, in France or one of the US states. Essentially, yes, it does matter and if there is an international divorce, it is important to seek legal advice at an early stage.