Where to get divorced and how and what to expect financially

Hi All,
Wow, this is weird; it was less than a year ago I started posting on here asking about marriage visas and spouse visas and all the rest.  Now, i'm asking about divorce.  it's great, isn't it.

My wife and I got married in Cornwall in September (2010) and then in february decided things weren't working so we split.  I moved back to the USA immediately thereafter and we went our separate ways.

My wife and I explored UK divorce law and decided that since irreconcilable differences were not an option in the UK, we would wait the two years from separation (February 2013), but if we met someone in the interim [we had each others' blessing to do so as all we want is happiness for both parties] then one of us would claim adultery on the other person, and take things from there.

WELL, i recently started seeing someone and it has become serious; my wife knows about this [not that it's relevant but she's happy for me], so we are hoping to file in september since she can claim adultery on me. 

What I need to know is this:
I am a resident of Massachusetts; she's a Brit.  Where do we file? 

FINANCIALLY: I have about $90k in the bank.  We were only married 4 months prior to separation, never bought property, and i probably spent, (excluding rent) nearly $6k on new items for our life together including $2k on visas.  She has never been a vindictive person but I don't want her going after money that never even entered into our short relationship.
Honestly, we weren't even planning on hiring solicitors and were just planning on filing in the cheapest way possible, but i am just slightly worried she might make an efort and then i'm going to have to lawyer up from overseas.

I was wondering what people thought in terms of where to file, whether it makes sense to be super safe and just hire a solicitor to represent me in the UK, if we can even file there, if we can file in boston under irreconcilable differences (if this is more expensive than filing in the UK but proves easier in the long run financially then that is worth it in my book); again we were only married 4 months and my girlfriend who has a legal background says that there's no way that that's enough time to define what I have as community property; however she is a Yank and we're talking the UK here I expect. 

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.  Much appreciated.  And if you are in the UK< please have a roast dinner for me as that's the one thing I miss most

I could be wrong, but I think you can just file in the US. Does Mass have irreconcileable differences as an option? If so, I don't think you need to wait. It just depends on the State law.

I'm speculating how it works in MA... but here in MD, I know I can file after a year and I'm pretty sure the other person doesn't even need to show up in the US unless they contest it. FYI, I was married in the UK and will be filing in MD when I can gather the funds.

As for the money, again, it may vary from state to state, but I don't think she'll have much cause to claim any of it.

You can usually get a free consult with a lawyer so I'd do that to be sure you're on the right track and then probably do it on my own. I've got kids so I will have a lawyer.

HTH

I honestly would not have thought that you can divorce in the US if the marriage was in the UK.  who would've thought it.  UK divorce is cheap so who knows.  uggggh.

Thanks for the advice. 

I honestly would not have thought that you can divorce in the US if the marriage was in the UK.  who would've thought it.  UK divorce is cheap so who knows.  uggggh.

Thanks for the advice. 

It has to do with where you are resident, not where you got married.

A US divorce CAN be cheap... provided no one is contesting things. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure there are 'do it yourself' kits for each state available online.

My divorce (no real property, we had mutually agreed to splitting what we did have, and no kids) cost $450.  That was all-inclusive and through a lawyer.  The only reason I hired a lawyer was because the state laws (in VA) required that you have an affidavit affirming how long you had been separated.  I would have had to pay close to that fee just for the affidavit so paying a small amount extra and having everything taken care of was worth the cost.  Neither one of us had to go to court, we just signed the papers and the judge issued an official divorce decree.  As balmerhon says, check your state laws as they all have differences. 

If I had $90K in the bank, I wouldn't be worried about spending a few hundred to have a lawyer protect my assets.  Legally, she *might* be entitled to half so you probably want to get a professional accessment of that!

This is all great info everyone; thanks so much.
The UK will recognize a divorce filed in the states for her [british citizen], right?

This is all great info everyone; thanks so much.
The UK will recognize a divorce filed in the states for her [british citizen], right?

I can't say, hand on heart, that the answer is yes. But I think you are overthinking this. People move all the time all over the world. Forcing someone to divorce only in the place the got married isn't practical. I'd venture to say you might run into issues if you married in a very conservative or religious country (i.e. some Islamic countries might not recognize a divorce issued from another country) but I can't see that the UK would be one of those.

It might be useful for your ex to check that out with her own solicitor for peace of mind (again, I think she can have a free consultation) but I'd be surprised if the answer is 'no'.

The UK and US acknowledge marriages performed in the other country so it would be really bizarre if they didn't equally recognize divorces.
 

Hi

THe UK and USA recognise each other's divorces.  Although there was a Hague convention in 1970 re: divorces, the USA was not a signatory.  It decided it didn't need to be.   There is a legal principal of comity (see wikipaedia) between different countries, which holds for things such divorces - The USA applies this principal.

There is also no need to worry about the finances - even if your wife were to apply to Court for a financial order, the basis of any court imposed settlement is always fairness.  You don't need to be a lawyer to appreciate an unfair situation when you see it.  It would clearily be unfair for the court to make any order against you after such a short marriage.  If the divorce is going through in an English Court, then I'd suggest that you both file a consent order that provides that there be a clean break between you with no chance of any further applications in the future. 

BTE