Divorce in USA

[Raksha]

Hi,
If married in India & want to take divorce in USA what is the procedure & will it be a valid divorce?

[140jibjab]

Originally Posted by Raksha

Hi,
If married in India & want to take divorce in USA what is the procedure & will it be a valid divorce?

Sorry to hear that, But any way here is an attempt to answer ur question.

If you are a resident of any state in the US for 6 months, You can apply for divorce in the state you are leaving in.
The Divorce decree will have the clause saying "The divorce is obtained , the pantiff or the respondent will not be allowed to go to another court to challenge the divorce". -- So it will be Valid divorce from US perspective, and you can produce this document for all immigration purpose.

Indian Law accepts the Divorce Decree obtained in the USA.You can produce the divorce decree to take posession of properties/Lockers/Stocks/bank accounts as agreed in the Divorce settlement.

If you do not get a "mutual agreed upon"/Settlement Divorce. Then The other partner is eligible to apply/challenge the divorce in India.
Indian Law states as follows:
The Divorce can be challenged in the Indian court if the divorce is obtained
1. In another country with out the knowledge one of the parties.
2. In another country if one of the parties was threatened.

Take care and all the best.

[baldev.thakur]

Well in case you are TOO NAIVE let me tell you...
If you divorce in US , you can get an ex-partite judgment in your favor probably because your wife cannot challenge the divorce but When you re marry , you can re marry ONLY in US. The minute you land in India that re-marriage is considered illegal and your relationship with your 2nd spouse in US considered - bigamous. Bi gam y is not allowed in Hinduism .
If you prev wife finds out she can sue you and do many more things in India to make life the hell for you .
Can you post some more specific details abt ur case ?

[sunny1000]

Originally Posted by Raksha

Hi,
If married in India & want to take divorce in USA what is the procedure & will it be a valid divorce?

Sorry to hear that your marriage did not work out. If there is a way to work it out, please do via marriage counseling.

If not, give us some more details about your present situation to give you a qualified answer. I am attempting with what I have.

I assume that you both are Indian citizens.

If you and your spouse consent to the divorce mutually, you can obtain it here in the U.S (in your state of residence) as per the state law since divorce in the U.S is a state subject OR get it in India by mutual consent (it takes 6 months to obtain a divorce by mutual consent).

If your divorce is going to be contested and you both live here in the U.S, then, you can file here provided you believe that your spouse will not take refuge under the Indian laws by going back at any point during the start of the process (once you serve her/him with the Notice of action and she/he responds to it in the Court here in the U.S, that court has the jurisdiction usually).

If your divorce is going to be contested by your spouse AND if he/she is moving to India OR if already living in India, you are better off filing there. But, believe me, in this scenario, there is no good answer as you are in the lose/lose situation. Here is why:
1. It is very difficult to get a divorce in India, if contested (especially if contested by women) and it takes a very long time (average is 3 years in the Family court and it takes another 5-8 years to go thru the appeals process in the High court and the Supreme Court, if one of you choose to do so).
2. He/she can counter your divorce by filing what is called "Restitution of conjugal rights" (yes, India is one of those countries which still has this section) which entitles him/her temporary maintenance until the cases (both Restitution and Divorce) are settled, if he/she is not working (it runs in the average of Rs.35000 to Rs.40000 a month for you, if you are a working spouse from the U.S). Based on the final judgement, you will be responsible for a final settlement which may include property, monthly/one time alimony, child support etc.
3. You will have to appear for every hearing in person which is every 15 days to a month (exception is Karnataka where you can give power of Attorney to a relative. Even in that case, you will have to fly in every 6 months).
4. If her/his lawyer is a scumbag, he/she can harrass you by threatening to file false charges against you.

Please note, getting a divorce ex parte in U.S is very difficult and is also not valid in India. Your spouse can contest that in the Indian Supreme Court and you will be issued with a subpoena/summon. Failure to appear will lead to an arrest warrant.

Do a lot of research if your divorce is going to be contested in India and PLEASE consult a VERY qualified attorney in divorce law who can also handle international laws about divorce. This gets even more complicated if you have children. If any lawyer tells you that it will be over in 2-3 hearings, don't believe that unless it is a divorce by mutual consent.

From my personal experience, please try the best to get an out-of-court settlement (by hanging the pride and ego outside the door) as it saves a lot of time,money and agony for you and your family. Contested divorce is one of the most painful experiences in one's life and it does leave a permanent scar.

Good luck.

[ivgclive]

Originally Posted by Raksha

Hi,
If married in India & want to take divorce in USA what is the procedure & will it be a valid divorce?

Extremely sorry to hear that in this forum.

If there are valid reasons (believe me, 99.9% of time they are worthless issues) and you fall in that 0.1% (both of you are aware and willing to go separate), please go to India get it settled.

If you fall in 99.9%, talk to your spouse, take few days off from work, go out alone and get it settled within your home.

As others said, it is an expensive process and headace you don't want to go thru.

For me, I still believe you both can figure out and get back on track before it derails.

If you have kids, young kids, please please please, think 99999 times before you do this. It is worth going thru this pain for them.

If you are 30 years old, just think that its going to be another 20 to 25 years of active family life.

USCIS is creating problems in our everyday life, we take that pain and ready to wait another 20 years for GC, why not for a spouse who is living with us everyday?

Good Luck.

Bottom line : 99.9% time it is WORTHLESS arguments that leads us to get frustrated...

[peacocklover]

In marriage it is common to have differences. When both parties dont yield and stick to their guns, it leads to rifts that may buildup over time and lead to the possibility of divorce. If both of you can clearly site 3 points on why you'd like divorce (articulate), then the problem is solvable.

If one of you is not sure why its happening (either you are too ignorant or you are totally missing other's point), obviously its your problem to know what keeps a marriage going. And if one of you just is hell bent on divorce, just coz "you felt like/were told -- like you deserve more than what you got", that is foolishness.

Young (immatured rather) people are quick to jump into divorce thoughts when things are not going well (when the initial attraction fades). You just hope that they stick around long enough through thick and thin, which will help them to discover the value of the other partner. Grass is always greener on the other side isnt it ? At the same time petty problems (for some people) such as bedroom troubles, can lead to divorces. Extra marital affairs happen often in this situation.

Indian culture makes marriage such a big ritual with so many ties that offers immense support (by social pressures or family obligations..) to fend off these manageable problems.

Take a break, pray god , be open with out any 'EGO', try to share your feelings and understand his feelings with your fresh mind. Also Try to have your respectful elders like your grand parents or your mom or father or his parents or his grand parents at home. Please don't take this worthless decision of divorce quickly unless he is a criminal trying to kill you.. it's very easy to break and very very hard to construct your relationship or very hard to face another relationship, we Indians give top most value to that relationship. Today's Western media which runs on the consumption, influences everybody's thoughts to go for consumption based system which forces to divide families and gain more from it. This is the idea of capitalists to loot from an individual. here is West, this damn media focuses to break the relationships to boost their consumption based economy with out thinking about their future generations.

As a last attempt, Please try to live with your parents for sometime to think fresh and make the decision.

See this video and try to understand what Mr.Venkatesh tells about the west and it's media strategy, think about Goddess Lakshmi what he is talking about in the end of this video .

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