CrossNation Divorces in Europe

In the European context, the confusion has been much more as people of different nations are coming together to get married, but when they are falling apart, they cannot do it smoothly and peaceably. The idea of having a single law for at least five EU nations or across Europe has been under consideration for some time. Efforts are being made in this regard, and there is a heated debate as to this should be uniformly applicable in the case of all religions as well. The Laws of 2006 The European Commission declared two new laws in this regard last year. The press release from Brussels on the 17th of July, 2006 formally declares the aims of these two legislations.

A summary of both from the more detailed legal discussions is given below:

• You are from Germany and your wife is from France, but both of you have been living in the UK, and your children have been born there as well. The first law formulated by the Commission will be aimed at providing couples with a certain number of legal choices in matters like this. In cases where there are no choices, the procedure to be followed would be noted clearly and would apply to all applicants irrespective of nationalities, depending on their situation. This would make it much more simple for those who wish to go for a no-faults or amicable divorce. Once they have chosen the procedure that applies to their case, they can go on to draw up most of the documents themselves or just buy a DIY package.

  It would be a good way of saving money, causing less bitterness, and speeding up the process in general. These cases had been causing much friction not only among couples who are already unhappy enough, but also among law courts in various countries.

• The most disputed matter that prolongs and complicates the process of an international divorce is property. According to the Commission report, 2.5 million properties are owned by spouses who live in another state.

  Known as the Green Paper, it deals with legalities concerning such non- resident marital property and what to do with it after divorce. It also has a section devoted only to legalities pertaining to cohabiting couples, given the great rise in the number of live-in relations all over Europe. This is quite inclusive, and deals with those who live in one state but own property in another, are married to someone of another nationality and owning property in a non-parent country, or have joint property in a third nation.

Laws pertaining to marriage and divorce are a sensitive matter, and the government of the UK has backtracked every time it had thought of implementing any 'common law' in this matter. There are some advantages as well as disadvantages of having common laws across national, communal and religious divisions.

• The biggest advantage is the huge reduction in terms of confusion. There are cases where the matters are hopelessly muddled and multiple religious and national laws would be applicable. The couple would be wasting a lot of time and money, and go through a great deal of hassle to have answers to all their queries, and might actually end up continuing their loveless match out of sheer necessity.
• The greatest disadvantage is that you may be both so entirely different that common laws would make it more complicated as no consensus would be reached on any matters.

  This may end up causing more communal, religious or national tension, and even lead to violence.

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you want to find out more about a solicitor managed divorce see http://www.managed-divorce.co.uk