Warring across waters

If you think your marriage is failing, it's time to contact a lawyer; but the country in which you file for divorce could make all the difference to your settlement. Mark King explains.

Breaking up may be hard to do, but for married expats it can be fraught with danger. Where couples choose to divorce can have a major impact on both parties' financial health, so getting it right is crucial. Despite advances in gender equality in recent decades, the partner with the least assets remains the wife in most divorce cases, so do not be surprised to hear lawyers talk mainly of women as the potential victim.

In expat circles, the wife may have fewer assets than the husband, for example if she moved abroad when her husband's work took them there. Marilyn Stowe, a family law expert at Grahame Stowe Bateson, believes many women are even coerced into moving abroad by husbands intent on protecting their wealth. She says: 'It is not unknown for moves abroad to be the central component of a carefully planned campaign to divorce in the most financially advantageous way possible and start a new life with the other party in an extra-marital affair.

via Warring across waters | Money | Guardian Weekly.