Filing for Divorce When Your Spouse Lives Elsewhere

If your spouse lives in another state when you file for divorce, this can add certain complications to the process. The most pressing challenges you are likely to face include persuading the court to take on your case and convincing your state to legally recognize your divorce.

You do not necessarily have to file for your divorce within the same court that issued your marriage license. Instead, you are required to file for your divorce within the state you live, or where your spouse lives. There are different residency requirements for every state.

In most cases, states will recognize orders and other official documents that come from other states. There may be an exception in your divorce if you failed to provide notice to your spouse, for example. But if you go through the process legally, you should be able to have your divorce recognized in other states.

However, it’s important to note that only the court that issued your divorce decree can go back and make changes to it. Once your divorce is finalized, there may be occasions in which you need to modify the terms of your divorce, such as new child custody arrangements, visitation rights, spousal support agreements and otherwise. Again, you will also need to inform your spouse of the new terms of the divorce decree before other states will accept those modified terms.

Finally, divorces that occur in foreign countries may not necessarily be recognized right away in the United States. In this case, at least one of the spouses must have lived in the country in question at the time of the divorce, and the spouse in the United States must have received proper notice of divorce proceedings happening outside of the country.

To learn more about issues related to getting a divorce outside of your home state, speak with a knowledgeable Long Island divorce lawyer at Bryan L. Salamone & Associates.

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