Even if you and your ex divorced abroad and a financial order has already been made in that country, there are some circumstances in which you can still bring a claim for a further financial order in England and Wales.
Divorce financial order
Obtaining another divorce financial order as a result of an overseas divorce can help you to overcome any financial hardship you may be suffering because the financial order you originally received was inadequate.
What is a financial order?
To be able to apply for a further financial order, you need to be able to show that you or your ex has a connection to England and Wales.
Your foreign divorce must also be recognised as legally valid in England and Wales and you must not have remarried.
The scope and amount of any financial order you receive will depend on your level of connection to England. Where connections are very strong, there may be no reason why your application should not be treated as though your overseas divorce took place in England. However, where the connection is not so strong and you have already received financial provision from a foreign court, you may have a more limited financial award or none at all.
Bringing financial proceedings in England following a foreign divorce can be particularly useful where the law of the country in which the divorce took place does not allow financial orders to be made in respect of offshore property. We have recently obtained awards in these circumstances for clients who have previously gone through overseas divorces in California, Germany and New York.
The process can also be used to obtain pension sharing orders which may be necessary because foreign pension sharing orders made in a foreign divorce are not valid against English pensions. We are known internationally for our particular expertise in these highly specialist claims and regularly receive requests for help from the USA, Canada and New Zealand.
