Divorce: Should I, the USC file in Philippines or in USA?

[222halo 0]

So my Filipino wife and I have decided we will divorce amicably. I read some where that if we file here, I should file or else the Philippine courts will not recognize it. Some of the things I also read lead me to believe that the Philippine courts may not recognize it anyway. Should I file it in the Philippines instead? Can some one please point me in the right direction here?

Thanks in advance,

Andrew

[Robb&Ann 101]

As far as I know, you can file a divorce in the US. but, you also need to process an annulment in the Philippines.

[Artisan 138]

This is a tricky issue. While the USC will be free no matter how the divorce proceeds the Filipino citizen is going to have some issues. Based on the Family Code a Filipino may only remarry if the foreign spouse is the one that initiated the divorce proceedings.

One thing I have had related to me was an incident where the divorce decree did not specifically spell out that the foreign spouse was able to remarry and that a judge had ruled the Filipina in question was unable to contract another marriage in the Philippines. This is due to the wording of the section of the law in question and is in part why there are legislative processes taking place at this time to change Article 26 as it is discriminatory towards the Filipino spouse in a foreign marriage.

Are there foreign divorces that are recognized under Philippine law?

Answer: As a rule, divorce is not recognized in the Philippines as a mode of dissolving marriage. In cases however where a Filipino citizen contracts a marriage with a foreigner, a divorce validly obtained thereafter in a foreign court by the foreigner spouse, i.e. the foreigner spouse initiated the divorce proceedings, such a divorce will be recognized under Philippine law (Article 26, paragraph (2), of the Family Code). The foreign divorce will have the effect of capacitating either the foreigner spouse or the Filipino spouse to remarry under Philippine law.

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/FAQs/FAQS-legal.htm#4

Edited June 29, 2013 by Artisan

[Robb&Ann 101]

see these links: these might give you some ideas

http://jlp-law.com/blog/judicial-recognition-of-a-foreign-divorce-decree/

http://jlp-law.com/blog/divorce-annulment-philippines/

Edited June 29, 2013 by Robb&Ann

[Scot_Roselyn 7]

A friend of mine just went through this mess. Little bit of background. My friend and his ex wife (filipina) was married in the USA. She became USC. He filed for divorce here in USA and was given final divorce decree. She (ex wife) stayed in the USA. He went back to the Phils to retire and get married there. He visited the local office to get his marriage license but was told that his divorce decree was not valid in the Phils. After talking to many officials and explaining that his ex wife was a USC they finally gave him the marriage license and he was able to marry in the Phils. Lesson learned from this was that his ex was a USC. If she was not a USC then it would have been a problem for him I guess. Just my .02 cents worth.

Scot

[Artisan 138]

A friend of mine just went through this mess. Little bit of background. My friend and his ex wife (filipina) was married in the USA. She became USC. He filed for divorce here in USA and was given final divorce decree. She (ex wife) stayed in the USA. He went back to the Phils to retire and get married there. He visited the local office to get his marriage license but was told that his divorce decree was not valid in the Phils. After talking to many officials and explaining that his ex wife was a USC they finally gave him the marriage license and he was able to marry in the Phils. Lesson learned from this was that his ex was a USC. If she was not a USC then it would have been a problem for him I guess. Just my .02 cents worth.

Scot

This goes back to the oddity of how most US divorce decrees do not specifically state that you are able to remarry. Filipino judges can be quite temperamental when adjudicating the marriage statutes, especially if they believe they can somehow uphold the honor of a Filipina by denying a foreigner the ability to remarry.