Spouse filing for divorce outside Canada: Will it be honoured in Canada?

[Fancypants]

My estranged husband is a Bangladeshi national as well as a naturalized Canadian. I sponsored him to come to Canada in 2005. We have been separated since November 2013, and have a legal separation in place. He returned to Bangladesh 9 months ago. He has decided to re-marry, and I am happy for him. Trouble is, we never got around to divorcing.
After doing some googling, it appears that if I filed here in Canada it could take a number of months, which is fine by me, but he has gotten himself in a bit of a pickle by setting a soonish wedding date without realizing that divorce is a long process. I suggested that it might be faster on his end, and after talking with a lawyer, informed me that he can get the divorce much, much faster in Bangladesh. I have scanned and sent him the docs he requested to get the process underway.
On the one hand, I am happy at the prospect of getting this done quickly, but on the other hand I am worried about possible snags and pitfalls that may result. Am I wrong to assume that the divorce will be valid in Canada? Also, I have no idea about divorce laws in Bangladesh - if we untie the knot under Bangladeshi law, how might it affect me (e.g. Would the separation document become void, etc.)

I really hope that someone out there can answer some of these questions!

Thanks

 

[taffy7]

If you have a separation order in place which you have and you have been separated for over a year it won't take very long to get your divorce here in Canada.I think personally i would like to know that it was done right and i wouldn't have to worry. Once my divorce was filed it took 30 days by the courts to sign it.

 

[taffy7]

The other thing to consider is that if you ever decide to re marry and your divorce was done through another country you will have to get a lawyer involved to verify it is legal in Canada. My husbands divorce was done in the U.K and we had to do this. It cost us a few hundred bucks.

 

[vania]

What i know is that : if one of the coupe leave permanently in the home country- devorce wuld be recognized in Canada. If both of you live in Canada and divorse abroad-not. My husband divorced with previos wife- but her residence was not in Canada.
Good luck

 

[PMM]

Hi

What i know is that : if one of the coupe leave permanently in the home country- devorce wuld be recognized in Canada. If both of you live in Canada and divorse abroad-not. My husband divorced with previos wife- but her residence was not in Canada.
Good luck
[/quote ]

There maybe some difficulty as the op's ex is a Canadian citizen/resident and probably has a greater connection to Canada. For the Pakistan divorce to be recognized in Canada, he would have to be resident in pakistan for 12 months. See http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/d-3.4/ Section 22

 

[Monna]

I was in similar situation with my ex-husband. He left back home, and we didn't have a chance to divorce. I did file for divorce in Canada, and it took about 9 months to get it over with (filed in Feb, divorced in Nov). We did have a separation agreement and were separated for over a year as well, before he moved away.

Since I wanted to re-marry, divorce in his home-country wouldn't work for me.

As you can see, time is quite long, but at least you know there is going to be no issue later on.

Good luck!

 

[Fancypants]

Since I wanted to re-marry, divorce in his home-country wouldn't work for me.

Why did you feel that if your ex-spouse were to do the divorce in his country, it would prevent you from re-marrying? I am also worried about this, and that I am naive to assume that a divorce is a divorce is a divorce regardless of the place where it is done.

Also, my ex and I severed our financial ties ages ago with our Canadian separation agreement. Now I am somewhat worried that this settlement agreement may be revisited during the Bangladeshi divorce process. I am probably worried about nothing, but what do I know about divorces that involve courts from different countries?

 

[Monna]

Well, I did some research and realized that it's very complicated. There are certain conditions divorce needs to meet to be recognized in Canada (for example, person has to live at least 1 year in a country where divorce takes place, etc).

I was very worried, just like you It's quite normal. I ended up hiring and paying a lawyer. But at the end I felt safe and secure that nothing would be screwed up.

Do you have any children together?

 

[Fancypants]

No, we didn't have children together, which should make the process much less complicated.

From my research, and from what some responders to my post say, my ex would have to have a) ties to the country of divorce (no problem there) and that b) he would need to have lived there for a year, which also may not be a problem even though he has only been there for 9 months. The one year rule seems to often be waived if ample ties can be proved, which they most likely will be.

 

[taffy7]

Your separation in Canada starts from the day you were out of a relationship .... My lawyer who I paid $550.00 per hour , told me if I wanted to it could start from the last time you were intimate. Once the year has passed from being separated you can file and get it done within 30 days. E.G. my divorce was presented in court on the 29 May and it was dissolved by the 29th June. By the way your separation agreement is not force able unless its written on your divorce agreement. That's why my lawyer told me.

 

[Mapleson]

Bangladesh also has different divorce laws for different religions. Muslims are the only ones that are codified in law, while Hindus are not codified at all.

Notice of Divorce in Bangladesh assumes Dower Money (Mohrana)/Den-mohr has been paid in full. Make sure you get the financial support that you are entitled to, or that you are giving up the prospect of it.

 

[Fancypants]

Thanks for the good advice...I did not expect a dowry when we got married as I was born and raised in Canada, and this is not the custom here. As long as the Bangadeshi courts honour the financial agreement we have in place, I will be happy.

 

[Mapleson]

Thanks for the good advice...I did not expect a dowry when we got married as I was born and raised in Canada, and this is not the custom here. As long as the Bangadeshi courts honour the financial agreement we have in place, I will be happy.

Dower is a term for an ex-wife/single previously married woman. The Bangadeshi status quo is to assume no ongoing financial agreement, so unless your soon-to-be-ex is very honest or you have a lawyer there, you might just get cut off without recourse.

 

[Fancypants]

Oh! Thank you for clarifying, and for warning me against this possible danger. I did some quick research on what you had advised re: dower, and was interested to find out that there are dower laws here in Canada, too.

I am actually now in a much better financial position than my ex and he does not solely own any property I would feel entitled to, or interested in.

When we split, I gave him a sizable cash pay out to gain sole possession of the house we jointly owned. We no longer have any joint possessions or property.

Given these considerations, I do not think dower rights would be an issue, but thanks again for giving me a heads up!

 

[shortyp2000]

I think if you want everything to go smoothly for you, do it in Canada. If you want it to go smoothly for him and possibly cause you stress, headache and money later on, let him do it there.