Married in UK; do divorce laws follow if you’ve relocated abroad?

[mamatothreebunnies]

Cut a long story short, DH and I are most likely getting a divorce as we cannot see eye to eye on life values. Married 14 years. Together 20. 3 kids (3-10 years). The last year we’ve been discussing as a family to move abroad to help ease the pressure of our life, in a tax free country where we would also have house help etc and hoped this would help improve our family life and in then marriage (a lot of our stressors are related to kids and managing life with them).

the last month lot changed and I think divorce is imminent so I’m just trying to prep myself.

however, just thinking, what happens if we move abroad and we divorce there? Am I better off or worse? Do UK laws still apply or will he have more rights over kids there etc? If we bought a house there would that fall under “assets” still or do they have to be in UK to count towards ?

Legal proceedings follow the laws of the jurisdiction you are in.

Abroad/taxfree/househelp = sounds like the UAE.

Don’t do it. Divorce in the UK.

Advice will vary depending nowhere you move to.

The place you are living counts. If you are in some countries, women have less rights and in most countries you cannot remove the children without the other parents permission. I would consider all the implications carefully and if you are wanting to return to the U.K. it would be highly preferable if you returned as a family before you file for divorce

I thought this would be the case. Thank you for your help.

I don’t even know how to navigate this new future! What a shit show I’m in.

This is wrong.

You can potentially still get divorced in this jurisdiction even if you are living abroad. It depends where your ex-spouse is living and if you are domiciled elsewhere etc.

It's not straightforward but could potentially be argued for here if it's more beneficial for you to use the system here.

You'll need to get advice on likely outcome from lawyers in both jurisdictions and then decide.

Matters concerning children are often decided based on the laws of the country where the children are living.

This is different to divorce and finances.