Divorce in Peru

[BewitchedBotheredandBewildered]

Bit of a shot in the dark . Not sure how much info to put.
My daughter married a Peruvian man, in Peru, after a 2 year relationship. 3 weeks later she discovered his multiple infidelities, so she left.
The 2 year anniversary is 26th Nov. 2012.
We have asked the Peruvian Embassy in London and the British Embassy in Lima for help and advice. They have said they cannot advise or help in any way other than to say we need to get a lawyer in Peru, and have sent us a list.
We don't anticipate any resistance from the husband, but neither can we rely on him being pro-active.
I feel that it would be ideal to engage a lawyer in the UK that had a branch in Peru. Fairly unlikely I guess.
Any advice would be very gratefully received.
TIA.

No idea about divorce in Peru, other than what a quick Google throws up, which suggests it's a lengthy and time consuming process.

Where does your daughter now live? If she is residing back in the UK, she may be able to get divorced here (even if he is still in Peru) which could be very straightforward as regards bringing the marriage to an end. She would have much more difficulty sorting out any joint assets from here, or making arrangements about any children.

In general, the only types of lawyers who have offices in different countries do work on international contracts. The everyday High Street divorce lawyers don't tend to have overseas branches. Why not an English speaking Peruvian lawyer, if she needs to pursue the process there?

Thank you so much for responding.
There are no assets joint or otherwise, and no children.
She has been back in the UK since 18th Dec. 2010.
No one else has suggested that it would be possible for her to get divorced here. That would be an ideal avenue to pursue.
I think we may have to go with an English speaking lawyer in Lima. That just sounds very expensive and difficult to manage.
I'm doing as much research as I can in order to find the easiest path for her to take. She has recovered brilliantly, I just want to try and make this process as pain free as possible for her.

Because your daughter is habitually resident and domiciled in England and Wales she simply needs to issue a petition here in the usual way.

The only complication I've come across with Respondents outside the UK is in proving service; some countries don't have postal addresses as such. But once service has been established it's exactly the same as a bog standard English divorce.

I suggest that she gets in touch with a local family specialist via www.resolution.org.uk

I'm a recently retired divorce lawyer and have dealt with many cases in which the respondent was in countries ranging from Namibia to Moscow, Finland to Australia and the all were sorted out once service was established.

Again, thank you very much for answering.
I'm not familiar with the terms. Does "proving service" mean being able to serve papers to the husband at a proper address?
I had a quick look at your link and, with my daughter, we will act on your suggestion tomorrow.
Your post is very reassuring so, again, thank you.

Yes. The court needs to be satisfied that the husband has been served. So if Peru is one of those places with little or no postal service as we know it, your dd would have to arrange for a private investigator to hand deliver the papers to him, and they would have to provide a statement swearing that they'd done so. If there wasn't an English speaking process server available, they'd get a Spanish speaking one to swear an affidavit and produce a translation into English.

It would be a bit of a hassle but nothing insurmountable.

The court can specify another method of service (eg email) but beware the laws of individual countries. I dealt with a divorce where the Respondent was in Brazil. The law in Brazil says that you must serve someone personally, even if the court proceedings are foreign, and that the must be translated in to Portuguese. Haven't the foggiest if Peru has anything similar.

Agree with mumblechum and collaborate, issue here and try to serve him in Peru

Thank you all for your replies. DD has just emailed him to see if he has done anything about it or is planning to. I feel it would be easier and maybe cheaper to instigate the process there, but, as I said, don't know if we can rely on him.
May take you up on that MOS! But it may be more complicated as he is a bit of a nomad and has been living in Argentina.
However, his aunt lives in Lima and his father in Arequipa, southern Peru.
all round.

Bewitched really think it is better if your DD petitions here in the UK rather than rely on him to possibly commence proceedings there which may not be valid.
Was half joking about my visit but am going to Lima in May then Cuzco and trekking Machu Picchu to raise money for charity and if it is a case of something needing hand delivering out there might be able to help (assuming I don't die during the trek which seems very likely at this point in time!)

Good point, thanks.
I was completely joking about involving you! Lima is a nightmare and Auntie is less than helpful so I wouldn't involve anyone else except on a professional basis.
Hope your trip goes well. Take care on the trek, I gather the altitude can be a problem for some people. Sounds fantastic.
Barranco is a nice area of Lima if you have mooching time, down the hill towards the sea.