Advice re irish -usa divorce

riclad

MY friend wants to get a divorce.
Her husband lives 80 per cent of the time in the usa.
He lives some of the time in the family home, in ireland.
He built a large 5 bed room house on a farm, about a mile from house 1.
He owns property in the usa ,runs a thriving business there in a us city.
The family home is 12 years old with a mortgage on it of 150k.

Any advice ,re can she get a divorce in ireland,
HIS business ,is in the usa,he,s a usa citizen,
born in ireland.
He pays tax in the usa.
HE employs about 10 people in the us.
HIS income is like 10 times her income at least.
She works for a average wage .

Does she have to move out of the house,
in order to live separately for 2 years .
HE spends maybe 1 week in 4 in ireland,

HE intends, to move in to the new house
,it,ll be finished in 3 months time.
new house cost 300k plus to build,
not counting cost of buying land and demolishing old house .

I think he, is still paying the mortgage.
She told him i intend to get a divorce.
HE said ok, get yourself a lawyer.
They have 2 kids ,
which are now living, in the usa , over 21.
SHE has small savings,
she was told it, would cost around 10k,in legal fee,s
to get a divorce ,
since he lives in the usa.

Any advice would be welcome.
I don,t know if the present family home will be sold ,
its worth 230k.

i know other people who got a divorce, but they both lived in ireland.

riclad

I,m looking for basic info,
will she need to get an american lawyer,
will she need to move out of the house,
or ask him to move to the new house he owns.
IN order to live separately for 2 years .
She will be getting a lawyer ,
to handle the divorce.
I know there,s a rule here ,re giving out legal advice .

Pro Hoc Vice

The are all,
questions better answered,
by a solicitor.

Peregrinus

You don't say
where your friend is living
but
if she is resident in
in the family home in Ireland
then yes, she can get a divorce in Ireland
and she should speak about this
to a
solicitor.

FreudianSlippers

It's irrelevant where the husband lives for the substantive question regarding divorce (note: it is extremely relevant in relation to assets, etc. which I advise getting a good solicitor/lawyer who does complex divorces) - you can get divorced in Ireland or the state in which the husband resides.

There is no registry of marriage in the US, so your marriage is Irish. The only people who will care if you are legally married are the IRS - they would ask for proof of foreign marriage - and the divorce court. Presumably your husband is paying taxes in the us and filing with the IRS every year, in which case, you will either have filed jointly or your husband is filing separately (which I think you would need to declare that you are filing separately; but I'm rusty on this info). I'm no expert on US tax law, but I would imagine that he would need to be declaring Irish income and property as well.

You haven't said what state the husband resides in and divorce law varies dramatically from state to state, but a solicitor or lawyer in the state would be able to tell you which laws are more favourable (usually Ireland is better for the non/lesser-earning spouse, but if most of his assets are in the US and the bulk of the taxable income is there, it's a toss up depending on the state and whether there is 'fault' in that state).

You would also need to consider whether your marriage is valid in that state before embarking on a divorce in the state; for this you check the Attorney General's website for that state - I'd imagine that a standard Irish marriage would be valid in all US states, but it's worth a check.

TL;DR: you can get divorced wherever you want really, but you will at the very least need to discuss with a solicitor to assess your options and weigh the pros/cons of divorce in Ireland vs the state in which the husband resides.

dukeraoul

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

It's irrelevant where the husband lives for the substantive question regarding divorce (note: it is extremely relevant in relation to assets, etc. which I advise getting a good solicitor/lawyer who does complex divorces) - you can get divorced in Ireland or the state in which the husband resides.

There is no registry of marriage in the US, so your marriage is Irish. The only people who will care if you are legally married are the IRS - they would ask for proof of foreign marriage - and the divorce court. Presumably your husband is paying taxes in the us and filing with the IRS every year, in which case, you will either have filed jointly or your husband is filing separately (which I think you would need to declare that you are filing separately; but I'm rusty on this info). I'm no expert on US tax law, but I would imagine that he would need to be declaring Irish income and property as well.

You haven't said what state the husband resides in and divorce law varies dramatically from state to state, but a solicitor or lawyer in the state would be able to tell you which laws are more favourable (usually Ireland is better for the non/lesser-earning spouse, but if most of his assets are in the US and the bulk of the taxable income is there, it's a toss up depending on the state and whether there is 'fault' in that state).

You would also need to consider whether your marriage is valid in that state before embarking on a divorce in the state; for this you check the Attorney General's website for that state - I'd imagine that a standard Irish marriage would be valid in all US states, but it's worth a check.

TL;DR: you can get divorced wherever you want really, but you will at the very least need to discuss with a solicitor to assess your options and weigh the pros/cons of divorce in Ireland vs the state in which the husband resides.

If he has a brain he will avoid ridiculous Irish divorce laws and get a divorce in the US, a country that treats people like grown ups. If I were her I'd avoid Irish courts which have zero hold on him (he'd most likely laugh at them) and lawyer up in the USA

FreudianSlippers

dukeraoul wrote: »

If he has a brain he will avoid ridiculous Irish divorce laws and get a divorce in the US, a country that treats people like grown ups. If I were her I'd avoid Irish courts which have zero hold on him (he'd most likely laugh at them) and lawyer up in the USA

There is no federal law regarding divorce in the USA, so I'm not sure what you are basing this advice on... as I mentioned, the laws are extremely varied from state to state. Ignoring the huge question of asset positioning, issues like: Fault v No-Fault, Community Property v Equitable Distribution, COBRA, Alimony, Mediation Requirements... the list goes on as to differences state-to-state in law, so I couldn't accept an unqualified recommendation to divorce in the US over Ireland.

riclad

SHE lives in ireland in the family home,
he lives most of the time in the us.
Maybe 1 week in four in ireland.
THE children have left home,since, 2011, now live in the us.
Going to college, over 20 years old now.
I,D say the us laws are more strict,on the person on higher income,
eg pay x per cent of your assets, plus earnings etc to the wife.
I know every state has different laws.
She works in ireland, has say 4k savings,
it would be hard for her to afford to go to the us, travel, and pay an american divorce lawyer.
she was told it would cost at least 9k to get a divorce in ireland.
due to her husband working in the us,
having most of his assets in the us.
SHE has half ownership of a building,in the usa.
building worth 700k.
SHE is named on the deeds as a co owner.
That,s her only asset ,plus 4k in the bank.
building would be worth 700k approx.
HE rents out the building .
HE pays the mortgage, esb bill,heating,etc on the family home.

SHE would like to be given the family home,
plus x amount .in a financial settlement .



ie she is not trying to get every single cent from him.

LETS say an irish divorce,court judge,says pay her 200 euros a week,
does that have any force in us law,
could he just live in the us and ignore the court order.

I think in general the divorce courts in ireland are more fair,or more flexible than a usa court.

i know a woman got divorced ,she gets a small amount per week,50 euro,
she was told you could get much more,if you wish,
she said i,m happy with that.
I Have no wish to put him under financial pressure .
HIS income is like 10-20 times her income per year.
You can go to an irish court ,say we have mutually agreed on a financial settlement,
and the judge will probably give you a divorce ,if he thinks its a fair settlement .

FreudianSlippers

riclad wrote: »

I know every state has different laws.

You say that, but I don't think you understand based on your follow-up questions.

riclad wrote: »

I,D say the us laws are more strict,on the person on higher income, eg pay x per cent of your assets, plus earnings etc to the wife.

Firstly, there is no "US law" on divorce. As I listed above, there are a number of factors to consider regarding the law in that particular state: In a contested divorce in a no-fault state with community property I would say Ireland could be considered "stricter".

riclad wrote: »

She works in ireland, has say 4k savings,
it would be hard for her to afford to go to the us, travel, and pay an american divorce lawyer.

She wouldn't necessarily have to travel to the US to instruct a lawyer there.

riclad wrote: »

due to her husband working in the us, having most of his assets in the us.

Why aren't they their assets?

riclad wrote: »

SHE has half ownership of a building,in the usa.
building worth 700k.
SHE is named on the deeds as a co owner.
That,s her only asset ,plus 4k in the bank.
building would be worth 700k approx.
HE rents out the building .
HE pays the mortgage, esb bill,heating,etc on the family home.

This is the kicker for me that pushes me to say not to get divorced in Ireland. It is very likely that there could be issues with the IRS that need to be considered. The wife could be liable for any unpaid state and federal taxes that are owed.

riclad wrote: »

SHE would like to be given the family home,
plus x amount .in a financial settlement .

That's potentially achievable in Ireland or the state in question (depending on local law); if that's all she wants, she would still need to bring the Irish court a full list of assets AFAIK.

riclad wrote: »

LETS say an irish divorce,court judge,says pay her 200 euros a week,
does that have any force in us law,
could he just live in the us and ignore the court order.

No, there are international laws which govern the enforceability of maintenance orders and alimony. There are some exceptions though and you'd need to ask a solicitor who specialises in international divorces.

riclad wrote: »

I think in general the divorce courts in ireland are more fair,or more flexible than a usa court.

Again, I don't think you understand that there is no federal law regarding divorce.




I don't know how you're managing to format your posts so poorly, but could you please try to make them a bit easier to read and quote?

riclad

OK, i understand each us state has its own divorce laws,
ie there is no federal divorce law in america.
I understand there
are state taxes in the usa,
eg if your house is worth 100k,you may have to pay 10k property tax.per year.
eg each state has its own taxes , mainly on property .



And you pay federal tax to the irs,internal revenue service, on your personal income
which is like the tax system in ireland.

Thanks for the advice , that,s very helpful.

I think she would prefer to get a divorce in ireland ,
and maybe instruct a usa lawyer to get details on assets and income
in regard to her husbands estate in the us.