On one day in the national press there were two stories regarding international divorce in England.
In one, the former Miss Malaysia is reportedly using big time legal representation in an attempt to have her divorce dealt with in England rather than Malaysia; in the other, the Court of Appeal ruled that England had no jurisdiction for the divorce meaning a wife could make no financial claims against her husband here.
So, why are so many people facing divorce desperate either to have their divorce in this country or avoid this country’s Courts depending on whether they are the financially weaker party or not?
Well, compared to most other countries in the world, England tends to offer the non-working partner of a rich spouse a far better deal from divorce.
Most European and other non-English speaking countries have the concept of a 50/50 split of assets that are created during marriage. Broadly speaking, we do in England too.
However, England is far more likely to get to the bottom of what the assets really are, including trust assets, offshore assets and those that are held in the names of others, including companies.
English Courts might allow financial hearing arising out of divorce to last two or three weeks in cases that involve a lot of money or complicated financial matters. There will be many interim hearings that deal with disclosure, valuations and other directions, plus there can be days of cross-examination and many bundles of documents.
Elsewhere in Europe, you might get one or two hours in front of a Judge, but cross-examination is unheard of in many countries in divorce cases.
Plus, for spousal maintenance whilst at the discretion of the court it is not presumed there is a need for ongoing support, and if any support is granted, the maintenance is usually at a very low level and for a shorter period than is ordered here.
As recent news has shown, a key concern for high value cases is jurisdiction. As much time can be spent sorting out jurisdiction as on the division of assets.