Divorcing Somebody Who Lives in a Different Country
My question involves a marriage in the state of: California where my friend an international student married a U.S citizen but the man she married disappeared from her and she decided to get back to Africa. There is no communication between the two parties since 2006 and they did not live together. How can my friend process the divorce/ annul the marriage while in Africa though she does not have a marriage certificate from the U.S? What would be the procedure since the marriage is in the U.S marriage records and not in Africa.
Re: Divorcing Somebody Who Lives in a Different Country
You can divorce in the U.S. based upon your residency. Service of process in another country can be tricky and potentially expensive. If the marital estate is wholly or partially located overseas, it may be necessary to file a subsequent action in relation to those assets, depending upon how cooperative your spouse is and whether he consents to having those issues resolved by the U.S. court. If for some reason you need to produce your marriage license and it's not in English, you can obtain a certified translation to submit along with a copy of the original; but that's probably not going to be necessary. You will have to research the extent to which the foreign nation will respect a U.S. divorce, although in most cases it's not an issue.