Our law firm’s New York attorneys handle many divorce and family matters for our international clients. The major issues that arise are, typically, jurisdiction of the New York courts, service of process and the grounds for the New York divorce. We wrote an article on the Grounds for a New York divorce and will be posting an article soon, also, on International Service of Divorce Documents in New York soon.
New York’s Domestic Relations Law Section 230 allows New York courts to have jurisdiction over the parties in a divorce matter if and only if:
“1. The parties were married in the state and either party is a resident thereof when the action is commenced and has been a resident for a continuous period of one year immediately preceding, or
2. The parties have resided in this state as husband and wife and either party is a resident thereof when the action is commenced and has been a resident for a continuous period of one year immediately preceding, or
3. The cause occurred in the state and either party has been a resident thereof for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding the commencement of the action, or
4. The cause occurred in the state and both parties are residents thereof at the time of the commencement of the action, or
5. Either party has been a resident of the state for a continuous period of at least two years immediately preceding the commencement of the action.”
If you fall into one of these categories, you may be able to divorce in a New York court. Please beware that many local New York attorneys are not aware of international services issues. Many believe that New York formalities will allow one to enforce a New York divorce abroad and guarantee the enforcement in New York. The reality is far from this understanding. We see this issue too often and need to fix issues caused by this issue – too often.
In order to enforce a divorce judgment abroad or to ensure that a New York court does not reopen a NY divorce judgment it is necessary to properly serve your spouse under the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters. If you are considering retaining an attorney in NY to assist, please make sure the attorney is adept, also, at international law issues related to NY divorces.
Similar Posts:
- International Divorces in New York Courts: Grounds for Divorce in New York
- New York Divorce: Residency Requirements and Permissible Grounds for Divorce in NY
- Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in New York Courts
- Recognition and Enforcement of a Foreign Divorce Decree in New York
- Enforcing a New York Judgment Abroad: Service under the Hague Service Convention
- Filing a Contested Divorce in a New York City or County Family Court
