Ask Me Help Desk - International Divorce

Hi, I got married to a New Zealander in 97 and stayed in New Zealand until April 06. We have been separated since 1/06 and I have been back in the states since. Does anyone know if there are any specific requirements for divorcing in California? We have no children, property to split, or outstanding moneys owed to each other or anyone else for that matter, and no disputes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanage

Hi, I got married to a New Zealander in 97 and stayed in New Zealand until April 06. We have been seperated since 1/06 and I have been back in the states since. Does anyone know if there are any specific requirements for divorcing in California? We have no children, property to split, or outstanding moneys owed to eachother or anyone else for that matter, and no disputes.

Don't have an answer to your question I'm afraid Seanage, but have a similar quandry myself.

Married a Greek girl IN Athens in 1998, lived there together until I moved back to the UK on my own to live in 2001.
We have been apart since then & haven't even seen each other in that time.
We also have no children, property or monies owing between each other, & no disputes at all.
How do I go about filing for divorce? Can I do it from the UK? She seams to think I must visit Greece in order to sort this out since that is where we married, I find this hard to believe.
What costs are likely to be involved? Will there be any difference in cost due to the international nature of this?
What time scales would therre be, if any now, due to us having been separated for 6 years.

Thanks in advance.

G'day
From everything I have read about it, it seems that the country you have residence in is the ruling country. I have also been told that as far as the US is concerned my NZ marriage is not even valid, but need to be taken care of. For example, the NZ laws say you have to be separated for two years before you can even file for divorce, while California says 6 months. I can legally get divorce in California, from my NZ wife as long as I have been back in the country for6 months as well. I have not helped you any mate, but I guess you could take what you possibly already know as every different place has different laws. The only godsend for you and I is that we have no children and no money problems. The cultural stuff took some getting used to didn't it?

I know what you mean seanage! Totally took some getting used to. I love the Greeks to death, but it did become tough in lots of respects being there as a foreigner, even though I was married to a Greek & had learnt their language fluently!!

Thanks for your quick response & sorry that I too probably didn't help your plight too much!
Personally I'm not worried about any cost or timescale issues, just the fact that I may have to go back there to get it sorted. Hopefully not!

Good luck to you!
:D