Q: Hi. I have a question regarding international divorce. Please refer to the additional information.
I’m a US permanent residence. I live in California. I want to file divorce and my spouse currently lives in her home country and she has never been to USA. We got married in 2007 and we got 2 kids whic is currently living with her. The last couple years our relationship has been escalated and it’s not working out and finally i have come to conclusion to divorce her. I’m wondering if i can file a divorce from here? If i can, i would like to know the step by step process. Also I’m concerned about my kids that how is the divorce procedure from USA is going to be taken for my kids? Please help. Thank you so so much!!
A: You need to consult with a California lawyer, because jurisdictional questions are different in different states. As to an international perspective and US Constitutional standards, the California court could take jurisdiction over you and over the divorce, because it has you. It cannot take jurisdiction over the children residing outside the jurisdiction with her and it could not take jurisdiction over her. So, the issues potentially before the court -- if California allows it -- would be the divorce. Division of property, alimony, child support, and custody could not be before the California court. You are better off divorcing her where she and the kids are unless the law there is extremely unfavorable.
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