Where/How to Divorce?

[CheeseQuavers 0]

My husband and I were married in Illinois in March 2005. He was the British Citizen and I, the American Citizen and we decided to move me over to the UK after our marriage. I moved back to the USA (Illinois) in the first week of September 2012 after separating from him in late June 2012. While we were separated and I was still in the UK, he changed the locks on me so I could not come by during the day time to take our other two dogs and thus, I also could also not access any of my possessions (including those two dogs that I had purchased and been the primary caregiver of). I am seeking information on filing for divorce while I am in the USA and he is living overseas. I can provide more information upon request!

Can anyone offer advice or guidance before I look into hiring a lawyer? I would be ever so grateful.

Edited January 22, 2013 by casandra

[smrowe 12]

In Illinois as long as you don't have children they will allow you to file and handle your divorce without getting the courts involved, but it sounds like this is of a contentious enough nature that you are going to need a lawyer on your side - who will probably also need to get the Sheriff involved so that you can access your belongings. Start asking friends for recommendations on a lawyer. Good luck.

[Caryh 5,206]

In Illinois as long as you don't have children they will allow you to file and handle your divorce without getting the courts involved, but it sounds like this is of a contentious enough nature that you are going to need a lawyer on your side - who will probably also need to get the Sheriff involved so that you can access your belongings. Start asking friends for recommendations on a lawyer. Good luck.

A sheriff isn't going to help, he's in the UK with the belongings, she is in the USA. She'll need to re-establish residency in Michigan before she can file for divorce there. Michigan requires she lives there for 180 days to gain residency. You can file and agreed upon divorce, where both are in agreement with terms and sign the papers. Or you can file and get a default divorce, where he never responds. But you'll need to prove he is aware of the divorce having been filed. A registered and signed for letter should work for that. If you can't get that. then you might need a lawyer to finish the process.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Is there some reason that he hasn't filed for divorce in the UK yet?

[CheeseQuavers 0]

A sheriff isn't going to help, he's in the UK with the belongings, she is in the USA. She'll need to re-establish residency in Michigan before she can file for divorce there. Michigan requires she lives there for 180 days to gain residency. You can file and agreed upon divorce, where both are in agreement with terms and sign the papers. Or you can file and get a default divorce, where he never responds. But you'll need to prove he is aware of the divorce having been filed. A registered and signed for letter should work for that. If you can't get that. then you might need a lawyer to finish the process.

I am living in Illinois. As far as I am aware, he is still living in our house in the UK and his parent's address is the same. I have looked in to serving via publication if in fact, he has managed to move both himself and his parents.

Is there some reason that he hasn't filed for divorce in the UK yet?

We were married in the USA, I am the one who started the divorce procedure, so I figured it was best to divorce here. Also, I had no means to live on my own in the UK, it took everything I had to come back to the USA where I now live with my parents again. He did not want the divorce until a couple months ago when he realized he couldn't change my mind on the matter.

[Villanelle 4,122]

Basically youre allowed to file for divorce in the US in whatever state youre a resident of.

So if youre a resident of Illinois, you need to meet the residency requirements of Illinois in order to be able to file for divorce. Then you have to meet the divorce requirements of the state. They vary by state as well. If the parties are in agreement to the divorce it can be granted immediately with no waiting period, or a minimal waiting period. If the parties disagree, there could be a mandatory period of separation, where you would have to prove you lived separate and apart from your spouse for a period of anywhere from 6 months to 1 year.

So looking at IL. The residency requirements for IL states you must be a resident of the state for 90 days prior to filing for divorce and the proceedings shall be had in the county where the plaintiff or defendant resides.

For a "No-Fault" divorce:

That the spouses have lived separate and apart for a continuous period in excess of 2 years and irreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and the court determines that efforts at reconciliation have failed or that future attempts at reconciliation would be impracticable and not in the best interests of the family. If the spouses have lived separate and apart for a continuous period of not less than 6 months next preceding the entry of the judgment dissolving the marriage, as evidenced by testimony or affidavits of the spouses, the requirement of living separate and apart for a continuous period in excess of 2 years may be waived upon written stipulation of both spouses filed with the court.

For a "fault" Divorce-

Fault:

(1) naturally impotent; (2) the respondent had a wife or husband living at the time of the marriage; (3) the respondent had committed adultery subsequent to the marriage; (4) the respondent has wilfully deserted or absented himself or herself from the petitioner for the space of one year, including any period during which litigation may have pended between the spouses for dissolution of marriage or legal separation;( 5) the respondent has been guilty of habitual drunkenness for the space of 2 years; (6) the respondent has been guilty of gross and confirmed habits caused by the excessive use of addictive drugs for the space of 2 years (7) the respodent has been guilty of extreme and repeated physical or mental cruelty (8) the respodent has been convicted of a felony or other infamous crime (9) the respondent has infected the other with a sexually transmitted disease. (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes - Chapter 5 - Sections: 401)

So what applies to you- the line in "no fault" " If the spouses have lived separate and apart for a continuous period of not less than 6 months next preceding the entry of the judgment dissolving the marriage, as evidenced by testimony or affidavits of the spouses," That means you and your husband would have to testify you have willfully lived separate for not less then 6 months (more then 6 months) and no longer wish to be married. It would be granted on the grounds of no fault, you would only have to show you were separated for 6 or more months but your husband would have to willingly agree to the divorce.

If he doesnt- then you have to have a 'fault divorce' "#4 the respondent has wilfully deserted or absented himself or herself from the petitioner for the space of one year, including any period during which litigation may have pended between the spouses for dissolution of marriage or legal separation;"