Divorce can be difficult domestically, but when one or both spouses were married in America but divorced somewhere else, the process can become even more difficult. While not impossible, international divorce can be logistically challenging to resolve, and if either spouse lives in the U.S. it may not be treated as valid stateside.
For a spouse living in a foreign country, it is recommended that they seek advice at the U.S. embassy or consulate as to how to proceed. In most cases, the United States will accept a foreign divorce as long as procedural components, like notifying the spouses in the proper manner, are observed.
International divorce can be especially challenging if children living in the U.S. are involved, or U.S. government pensions are involved. When these issues arise, the foreign court is unlikely to issue a ruling on them in order to respect the lack of jurisdiction that country has over U.S. citizens. Issues of child custody and child support will then need to be adjudicated by the local court in the U.S. that can oversee the matter.
If the spouse filing for divorce lives in the U.S., that also leads to a complicated matter. The international divorce will need to observe all of the local and state laws in the U.S. regarding divorce while potentially also being subject to international codes of laws such as the Hague Service Convention. Questions of how to serve the divorce and who has jurisdiction over the divorcing spouses can significantly impair proceedings.
If you are attempting to divorce a spouse who is a resident of another country, you will need an experienced divorce & family law attorney. A divorce & family law attorney can help to navigate the tangled webs of procedure and bureaucracy in order to expedite your divorce as efficiently as possible.
The best place to find a divorce & family law attorney is Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of attorneys and law firms allows us to match you with a divorce & family law attorney in your area. Our partners have the resources, legal expertise, and experience to untangle the most fraught divorces and secure you the priorities in your divorce.
In addition to a distinguished case record, our partners also excel in client care. At AAL, we understand the difficulty of going through a divorce. That’s why our partners make sure to keep you up to date and in the know while they seek to bring about a quick and equitable separation.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a free, no-obligation consultation and assert your marital rights.
Divorces can happen for a number of reasons. The most tragic of these can be because of spousal abuse. During the proceedings, there is a certain amount of divorce protection that the court can afford to victims of spousal abuse and their children.
There are several steps the court can take to provide divorce protection inside the courtroom and beyond. Within the courthouse, security forces and bailiffs will not allow violent or threatening behaviors. Outside the walls of the court, judges can issue a series of temporary orders including temporary restraining orders (TROs) and temporary protection orders (TPOs).
If the judge finds that there is ample cause for concern from a potentially-abusive spouse, they may grant a temporary restraining order for the protection of the other spouse or children. Reasons given for a TRO can include aggressive behavior such as:
The court may require some evidence of these abusive behaviors before granting the order. Some things the court may consider can include hospital records, police reports, photographs, screenshots of threatening messages, or other physical evidence.
If the order is granted, the abusive spouse will not be allowed near the other spouse under threat of enforcement from police and court reprimands. Additionally, a temporary order can be issued to give the spouse alimony, child support, custody, possession of the house, or possession of the bank accounts in order to secure the safety of the abused spouse and any children.
If you are a victim of spousal abuse and are seeking to separate from your spouse, you will need a divorce & family law attorney. An experienced divorce & family law attorney can discreetly arrange the necessary paperwork for a TRO, a TPO, and divorce papers to simultaneously provide you with the protection that you need and separate you from your spouse.
Additionally, your divorce & family law attorney can advocate for your needs in court without you having to confront your spouse directly. The best place to find a divorce & family law attorney is Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of attorneys and law firms allows us to match you with a divorce & family law attorney in your area. Our partners have the resources, legal expertise, and experience to help you through your divorce and give you as much protection as the law allows.
In addition to a distinguished case record, our partners also excel in client care. We ensure that we only partner with firms that place clients at the heart of how they operate and ensure that your experience is as stress-free as possible.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a free, no-obligation consultation and begin your journey to assert your marital rights.
Most couples seek to dissolve their marriages quickly and equitably with arbitration when compromise is difficult. With a military divorce, however, the issue can become complicated by the mobile nature of a soldier’s career. In these cases, it may first be necessary to find where the couple must get divorced before they can proceed.
The question of “where?” is far more important in a military divorce than a civilian divorce. For the average citizen, they simply get divorced in the state they live in. Presumably, this is also the state they are an established resident of, and may even be the state they got married in. However, in a military divorce, the couple may have recently relocated because of a spouse's service obligation, which would mean they are not yet residents of the state they are currently living in. The couple may own property in a different state, or be living outside of their residential address.
One of the most important issues that depend on location is the fate of the military pension. While military procedures do exist relating to divorce, they often default to the local state laws for specifics. Additionally, federal law states that in order to make court orders, including divorce rulings that impact a military pension, the court must meet certain special jurisdictional requirements. Part of the jurisdiction requirement is that the divorce must be filed in:
Depending on the state or territory that is chosen, the spouses may have differing amounts of leverage or laws that benefit either the military spouse or the civilian.
If you are looking to get a military divorce, you will need the help of a divorce & family law attorney who specializes in both military and local civilian laws to make the process as streamlined as possible.
An experienced divorce & family law attorney can ensure that you are meeting all the requirements of the military and the state. Additionally, a divorce & family lawyer can help you preserve your visitation rights, military pension, or spousal support by deftly negotiating on your behalf. The best place to find a divorce & family law attorney is Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of attorneys and law firms allows us to match you with an experienced divorce & family law attorney in your area. Our partners have the resources, legal expertise, and experience to handle the most contentious divorce proceedings.
In addition to a distinguished case record, our partners also excel in client care. We understand that a divorce can be stressful and time-consuming. That’s why our partners work hard to handle as much as possible, keep you up-to-date, and take steps to make the proceedings as quick and painless as possible.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a free, no-obligation consultation and begin the process of asserting your marital rights.
Divorce is a messy but necessary process. Those serving in the armed forces often find that a military divorce can be somewhat more complicated due to the service member’s situation. Many military divorces hit snags when dealing with military pensions, spousal support, and childcare or custody.
In most divorce proceedings, the court will assume that if one spouse is unemployed, underemployed, or not formally educated, that it was through their own will or volition unless otherwise shown. In a military divorce, however, the transient nature of deployment can move the non-military spouse frequently, preventing them from being able to take classes consistently or hold down a job.
These factors will be taken into consideration when it comes time to decide spousal support amounts. If the non-military spouse argues that they gave up career or education opportunities to support the career of the military spouse, then the judge may increase the spousal support to allow the non-military spouse the opportunity to pursue those ventures.
When it comes to deciding child custody and child support payments, the military spouse often loses out. Due to the nature of military life, the judge is unlikely to give primary or full custody to a parent who may be shipped out overseas with little notice. In fact, service members may end up with only occasional or limited visitation rights if they frequently deploy or move around.
Since most service members will not end up with primary child custody, they will often end up paying child support to their former spouse. If the spouse argues that they were forced to be a stay-at-home parent due to the military career of the service member, this may also result in an increase in either spousal or child support payments.
Any service member who serves for 20 years or more will receive a lifetime pension in the form of a monthly allowance. This allowance has been ruled to count as a marital asset along with any other military pension or government-sponsored financial assets. As a result, a military divorce can shear these benefits in half.
If you are facing a military divorce, you should consult with an experienced divorce & family law attorney. A divorce & family law attorney well-versed in local and military divorce law can help you protect the things that matter most to you in the divorce process whether that is your assets, your retirement, or your parental rights.
The best place to find a divorce & family law attorney is Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of attorneys and law firms allows us to match you with an experienced divorce & family law attorney in your area. Our partners have the resources, legal expertise, and experience to mediate the most contentious divorces.
In addition to a distinguished case record, our partners also excel in client care. We understand the stress and difficulty of muddling through divorce proceedings. That’s why our partners prioritize keeping things quick, efficient, and to the point.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a free, no-obligation consultation and assert your marital rights.
The word “divorce” often conjures images of stone-faced couples in a courtroom showdown. While some divorces can be a lengthy and painful legal duel, some processes exist to make divorce a smoother, more civil process. One legal solution for an amicable divorce is collaborative divorce.
Collaborative divorce is a legal process designed to help couples sort out the major details of their divorce without having to have a formal legal battle in front of a judge. Collaborative divorce works through a combination of mediation and negotiation. The collaborative divorce process seeks to settle major areas of contention such as:
The key part of a collaborative divorce is the cooperation of both spouses. If either spouse is unable or unwilling to compromise on the things that they want out of the divorce, a collaborative solution will not be possible. Attorneys will still be present for a collaborative divorce, but they should specialize in alternative dispute resolution like mediation so they don’t rush to place every point of issue in front of a judge to rule on.
If you are considering a collaborative divorce, you will need a divorce & family law attorney who has experience in these alternate dispute resolution skills. The best place to find a divorce & family law attorney who specializes in collaborative divorce and mediation is Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of attorneys and law firms allows us to match you with an experienced divorce & family law attorney in your area. Our partners have the resources, legal expertise, and experience to negotiate through the most contentious divorces.
In addition to a long track record of success, our partners excel in client care. They are devoted to representing your interests in a way that is sensitive to your specific wants and needs and they will ensure you are always cared for and up to date in your case.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a free, no-obligation consultation and assert your marital rights.
In the best of circumstances, a couple will proceed through a divorce in a civil matter. There will be compromises to make but ultimately a mutual consensus will be reached on matters of asset division, child care, and custody. However, when one or both partners refuse to agree on an issue, the proceedings become a contested divorce, and a judge must adjudicate each issue in the divorce that the couple cannot agree on. Common issues that cause a contested divorce include:
A contested divorce allows each former spouse to present their case for why the judge should find in their favor. The judge is not required to agree to either spouse’s proposal in its entirety and possesses the ability to only partially grant any spouse’s requests.
One drawback of a contested divorce is the increase in time and cost. Typically, a contested divorce must pass through more procedural hurdles including the disclosure of financial statements, filing of motions and counter-motions, discovery, and hearings. Where an uncontested divorce can be resolved in as little as a month, a contested divorce could take years to fully and completely resolve any of the issues before the judge.
If you are entering into a contested divorce, you will need a divorce & family law attorney to advocate for your interests in the proceedings. An experienced divorce & family law will be able to negotiate with the judge and opposing attorney in an unbiased way to achieve your specific goals in the divorce.
The best place to find a divorce & family law attorney is Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of attorneys and law firms allows us to match you with a divorce & family law attorney in your area. Our partners have the resources, legal expertise, and experience to handle the messiest divorce cases with ease.
In addition to a distinguished case record, our partners also excel in client care. We know how trying a divorce can be. That’s why our partners keep you fully informed about developments in your case and work to achieve a fast and equitable outcome for you.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a free, no-obligation consultation and assert your marital rights.
It’s common knowledge that during a divorce, the formerly married couple’s assets are divided among the newly separated couple. What is less well known is that debt division also occurs during the divorce proceedings.
Debt division can be the most significant part of divorce proceedings. This is particularly the case in marriages that lack substantial assets. In most states, both partners are responsible for the individual debts that they have incurred prior to their marriage. However, when they divorce, the former spouses will divide all debts acquired while they were married. This includes not only joint purchases and investments but also all individual debts incurred by either spouse.
If the spouses use money from a joint account to settle an individual debt from before the marriage, this may be reimbursable but will depend on the discretion of the judge and arguments made by the spouse.
Additionally, some debts accrued before the divorce but after the couple lived apart can be considered “separate and apart” and therefore may not be included in the debt division process. Also, if the debt was acquired while immoral conduct such as an affair was taking place, the judge may rule that only the spouse who incurred the debt is responsible for settling it.
When it comes to the actual division, there are a few ways that it can be decided. Spouses could be required to split all assets and debts with exactly equal amounts. This would mean each spouse is responsible for 50% of all debts. States following the equitable division principle may divide debts according to each spouse’s ability to pay.
If you are facing an unfair debt division process, an experienced divorce & family law attorney may be able to help you. A divorce & family law attorney can represent your interests in a neutral manner and can expertly back up your objections to protect your interests. The best place to find a divorce & family law expert is with Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of law firms and attorneys allows us to match you with a divorce & family law attorney in your area. Our partners have the resources, legal expertise, and experience to get the best outcomes for their clients.
In addition to a distinguished case record, our partners also excel in client care. We understand the stress that comes with separation and legal battles over assets. That’s why our partners strive to keep you fully informed and bring proceedings to a fair and rapid conclusion.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a free, no-obligation consultation and assert your marital rights.
