Re: how does this work

Posted by: Suzanne Kingston, partner, Dawson's Solicitors
07/07/08 at 1:54 pm

The first thing you will need to do is to establish which jurisdiction you could get divorced in, eg: can you issue divorce proceedings in Spain as well as England, and if so, which country would it would be better for you to get divorced in. As well as the practical aspects of having to travel to the country and get translations of documents etc if necessary, you need to consider which jurisdiction is likely to get you the best outcome financially.

You will need to take legal advice which is specific to your circumstances to decide where you would be best to issue proceedings. England is generally seen as a generous jurisdiction for the weaker economic party, but you would need to take advice which is specific to your circumstances, and find out from a Spanish lawyer whether you could issue proceedings in Spain and whether you could get a better financial result if the case were heard there.

What you need to be fully aware of is that, because England and Spain are European countries, wherever divorce proceedings are first issued is where the case will be heard. Therefore, for example, if your husband is likely to get a much better financial result in Spain than England (which means of course that you would get a worse outcome), and he issues divorce proceedings in Spain before you issue in England then the case will be heard in Spain. So you do need to take advice urgently.

In general terms, if you do issue proceedings in England, it does not make a great deal of difference that your husband is in Spain, save from a practical point of view in terms of serving him with documents and enforcing any order that is made. Your lawyer will be able to advise you fully about this.

You should get proper legal advice, which is specific to your circumstances. A good place to look for someone suitable would be from the Resolution website which is an organization of family lawyers.