QUICK DOMINICAN DIVORCE: CASE OF SPOUSES LIVING IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

What happens when the parties involved in an international Divorce reside separately and more particularly in different countries?

The signature of documents involved in a divorce process may be signed separately by spouses, no matter if they reside in different cities, states or even countries. The same document will just be signed by wife in front of a Notary Public and then this document will be legalized by the Foreign Relations Ministry (The Department of State in the United States and so on) with the Apostille legalization (or by Consulate of Dominican Republic where no Apostille is possible) and finally sent to us in Santo Domingo for filing divorce petition. Exact same procedure will be made by Husband, who will do this signature and legalization of the same document on his end. www.wdalaw.com

This way, we have successfully completed divorces of U.S. spouses where the wife was residing in California while the Husband was living in China or U.K. spouses where husband was living in Germany and wife was living in her hometown in Russia. www.wdalaw.com

INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE LAW ON DOMINICAN DIVORCE

Well, what International Private laws say about getting a divorce in Dominican Republic? This is the question I receive every day of my professional life while on the phone with a new client.

International law treaties involving many countries around the world, including United States and Canada have specific provisions on the regulation of Marriage, Divorce, Adoption, Alimony and Child Support. States have made decisions for making sure their citizens get appropriate and just treatment in any foreign country of the civilized world they may move in.

In this sense, it has been provided, for instance, that people can get married anywhere in the world and such marriage should be fully recognized and protected under legislation of any country in the world where the couple decide to move to. In the same order, Divorce will be recognized, no matter where the couple decided on divorcing UNDER THE CONDITION that the divorcing couple complies with the RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS of the country effecting the divorce process. www.wdalaw.com

Special law 142, enacted 40 years ago (1971) in Dominican Republic and creating a new legal institution (Rush Divorce) specifically designed for foreigners wanting to obtain a quick and legal divorce, provides a WAIVER to the residency requirement and on the basis of international law, a divorce sentence granted by a Judge will be fully recognized, homologated and accepted in the country of origin of spouses. On this particular, Supreme Court of the U.S. and others around the world have convene and issued many decisions and have established that in order to recognize a Dominican Republic Divorce, the parties involved in the process should make sure the following aspects of due process are followed:

Process should be BI-LATERAL and UNCONTESTED

Divorce Decree granted should expressly DISSOLVE MARRIAGE BOND between spouses.

At least one of the spouses should be present during the divorce hearing in Dominican Republic

The spouse not present in court should sign a POWER OF ATTORNEY expressly agreeing on divorcing in Dominican Republic and appointing an attorney to represent him/her in court.

The decree granted should be translated into English Language by Supreme Court-Certified Translator and then legalized by Apostille (Convention of the Hague on legalization of documents) to be fully accepted in United States, Canada, United Kingdom and many other countries around the world. For countries not member to the Hague Convention on Apostille, a Consular legalization should be made to Divorce Decree.

Finally, making sure the person taking care of your divorce is a LAWYER with practice in Dominican Republic will assure you the "Due process" is being duly followed and that you shall not encounter any unpleasant surprises in the country of origin of spouses. www.wdalaw.com