Divorce Unwilling Spouse from Overseas

Howdy folks. So, I desperately need s divorce from my Taiwanese wife. She’s physically violent and very unpredictable. She will never agree.

I am moving back to the United States. Does anyone know if there is a way to legally divorce her from America even though she is unwilling? Since America doesn’t have the same issues with mutual agreement, I’m hoping it might be straightforward. We never registered our marriage in the states.

Thanks.

Not a lawyer, but I would think if you have documented evidence of physically and violent behavior that would be grounds for divorce.

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The United States Federal Government has no legal authority over a marriage that was performed in Taiwan. The US can’t undo what you did over here. That would be like you buying something at Family Mart and then walking into 7-11 asking for a refund. You can’t do that. You need need to divorce in Taiwan to undo your marriage or see if your state will allow you to sue for divorce.

Step 1
Find your spouse’s current address.

Step 2
Research your state’s “long-arm” statute, if the divorce is not consensual, to find out if it empowers local courts with personal jurisdiction over a spouse who lives out of state or overseas. If the long-arm statute does not authorize personal jurisdiction over your spouse, you cannot obtain a divorce in a state court unless your spouse agrees to divorce.

Step 3
Complete a divorce petition. You must supply the date and place of your marriage, your address and your spouse’s address. If the divorce is not consensual, you may have to allege grounds for divorce, depending on state law. Include any desired property settlement and child custody arrangements.

Step 4
Fill out the summons in duplicate. The purpose of the summons is to notify your spouse of the divorce proceedings and the date and place of the divorce hearing. If the divorce is consensual, prepare an affidavit of waiver of service of process instead, with a space at the bottom for your spouse to sign.

Step 5
Prepare an English language translation of your marriage certificate, if it is printed in a foreign language. Use a licensed translator who will include an affidavit guaranteeing that the translation is accurate.

Step 6
Prepare a translation of the divorce petition and the summons or the waiver affidavit into the language of the jurisdiction where the marriage took place, if this is required by the law of that jurisdiction. Use a licensed translator.

Step 7
Deliver both language versions of the divorce petition, a copy of your marriage certificate, and the summons or the waiver affidavit to the county court in the jurisdiction of your residence. The court will forward a copy of these documents to your spouse’s overseas address by international registered mail, return receipt requested.

After all of this is done, it is up to the courts in Taiwan to determine if they will honor the divorce or not that you petitioned for from the US.

It sounds like you do have grounds for a non-consensual divorce here in Taiwan. Here in Taiwan, In the case of infidelity or abuse, you can file for divorce without your spouse’s consent. But you need documentation (proof) that the abuse is happening.

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I love this analogy so much.

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This is wrong. Every state has its own laws–so get thee to a lawyer from the state in which you reside, or intend to reside–but in general, if you reside there, you can file for divorce there. As for whether Taiwan will recognize this divorce, or the terms of this divorce–maybe somebody more knowledgeable can chime in? (If that matters.)

I corrected this above.

OP, find a lawyer in your state who specializes in international divorce law. You can certainly divorce in the USA. Check your state for no fault divorce laws. Though it’s possible you might not be able to register the divorce in Taiwan and might be considered married in Taiwan and divorced in the USA.

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What this fella said.

Basically, if it’s an option, try to move to a state that actually makes this kind of divorce easy for you.

The problem will be that Taiwanese courts will only recognize a divorce performed overseas that could have been performed in Taiwan. In other words, all the usual Taiwanese reasons (infidelity, abuse, abandonment etc…) or a consensual divorce would be recognized (eventually, I don’t know the process to get the courts to recognize this) in Taiwan, but a unilateral divorce for “irreconcilable differences” or some such would be disregarded.

I guess this is only a problem if you care what Taiwan thinks your marital status is.

Btw, if you find lawyers expensive you can make an appointment at the Legal Aid Foundation for a free brief consultation. www.laf.org.tw

You can also find free (non-English speaking) lawyers at Taipei City Hall.

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This is where it gets confusing.
The OP said:

This means that in the US, right now he is considered single until he or his wife registers their Taiwanese marriage at a local county court house in the State they wish to reside. Just because you get married outside the US does not mean the US automatically considers you married.

If the OP had registered his marriage in his state, then he could file for divorce in the US and the US would no longer consider him married once the divorce was approved. However, that does not mean the divorce in the US would automatically annul the marriage that was originally done in Taiwan.

To do that the OP would have to file for divorce in Taiwan.

The OP’s situation is different because the only place the marriage is registered is in Taiwan. He would have to use the steps I outlined above; Research your state’s “long-arm” statute, if the divorce is not consensual, to find out if it empowers local courts with personal jurisdiction over a spouse who lives out of state or overseas. If the long-arm statute does not authorize personal jurisdiction over your spouse, you cannot obtain a divorce in a state court unless your spouse agrees to divorce.

To make it simple: The US can’t undo what it does not know is done. The US can’t force another country to honor things that happen in its own courts back in the US.

The Hague Convention covers the issue of marriage and divorce internationally, but only 19 member nations joined. Taiwan is not a member nation.

The Hague Convention that compels Contracting States to recognize divorces and legal separations obtained legally in another contracting state is the Hague Convention on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations concluded on 1 June 1970 and entered into force 24 August 1975.

Article 1 of the Convention states, “ The present Convention shall apply to the recognition in one Contracting State of divorces and legal separations obtained in another Contracting State which follow judicial or other proceedings officially recognized in that State and which are legally effective there.”

There are 19 states that are parties the Convention, all of which are in Europe.Many states, including the United States, which is not a Contracting State to the Convention, recognize divorces obtained abroad through the above-mentioned legal principle of comity, but not in reverse.

It all boils down to which State in the US the OP wants to sue for divorce in. If that State uses “Long-arm Jurisdiction in regards to marriage” then the OP is in luck.

Here is a state by state PDF on Long-arm Jurisdiction:
http://euro.ecom.cmu.edu/program/law/08-732/Jurisdiction/LongArmSurvey.pdf

If I’ve not remembered wrongly, US citizens do not need to resister marriages done out of the US to most if not all states. They are considered as married by the certificates issued from most of foreign authorities. One can get a green card for a spouse using the foreign issued certificate without resister their marriage to the US. I guess the same to the divorce.

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What Tando said (above).

While recognition is not “automatic” (as it would be for marriages performed in other states), most likely the judge would accept a translated, notorized, apostiled official document from Taiwan attesting to your married status, should anyone (like your wife) seek to establish this legally in your state. And what’s your excuse going to be? “It didn’t count, your honor, because ___________?” (Although Steven Seagal apparently got away with this–he married another woman before getting properly divorced from his Japanese wife.)

It does not matter if a state accepts a foreign marriage certificate or not. What matters is that the OP wants to get a divorce. To do this he cant just sure for divorce in a US court without going through the steps outlined above first. And, because Taiwan is not a member state of the Hague Convention, any divorce he does sue for in the US may not have any affect on the marriage in Taiwan.

This part I agree. If the OP needs a divorce which is effective in Taiwan, a divorce in the US means nothing.

Which leads to the natural questions,

(a) where are the assets? In which country? and

(b) are there children whose custody is an issue?

No real assets. No house, vehicles, no stocks, bonds, gold, offshore accounts, etc. I’m leaving Taiwan with suitcases filled with clothes and books. That’s it. No substantial savings either.

No children. And I will be in California.

Also, I mainly need the divorce legal in the States. I have a video of her screaming and threatening me with a knife (the neighbors once called the cops on her screaming). The only other ‘documentation’ I have of her behavior are messages I sent to friends and family complaining. I’m leaving Taiwan without going through the divorce process because I’m honestly scared of how she will react. If I have to come back and take care of this later I will, but I mainly want to make sure she won’t be tied to me in America.

This sounds awful for you. I don’t have any knowledge about overseas divorce, but good luck.

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