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Ireland
divorce law
In Ireland, the
Divorce Act requires that (a) the parties have lived apart for at least
four of the five years before proceedings are issued. This does not
necessarily mean that they were living in separate houses; (b) at least
one of the parties is domiciled in the Republic of Ireland or has lived
there for a year before starting the action; (c) there is no reasonable
prospect of reconciliation and (d) both parties, as well as any
children, are properly provided for.
Another possibility is to seek a decree of nullity, which means that
the marriage never existed. The most common ground for a decree of
nullity is that, at the time they married, the spouses were unable to
"enter into and sustain a normal marital relationship". Such a claim is
normally based on the psychological condition of one or both spouses. A
decree of nullity allows people to marry other people, as if the former
"marriage" never existed. There is no minimum waiting time and it may
provide a way to avoid the financial burden of a divorce.
DOMICILE AND RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN DIVORCES ACT 1986
SECT 5
Recognition of foreign divorces.
5.?(1) For the rule of law that a divorce is recognised if granted in
a country where both spouses are domiciled, there is hereby substituted
a rule that a divorce shall be recognised if granted in the country
where either spouse is domiciled.
(2) In relation to a country which has in matters of divorce two or
more systems applying in different territorial units, this section
shall, without prejudice to subsection (3) of this section, have effect
as if each territorial unit were a separate country.
(3) A divorce granted in any of the following jurisdictions?
( a ) England and Wales,
( b ) Scotland,
( c ) Northern Ireland,
( d ) the Isle of Man,
( e ) the Channel Islands,
shall be recognised if either spouse is domiciled in any of those
jurisdictions.
(4) In a case where neither spouse is domiciled in the State, a
divorce shall be recognised if, although not granted in the country
where either spouse is domiciled, it is recognised in the country or
countries where the spouses are domiciled.
(5) This section shall apply to a divorce granted after the
commencement of this Act.
(6) Nothing in this section shall affect a ground on which a court
may refuse to recognise a divorce, other than such a ground related to
the question whether a spouse is domiciled in a particular country, or
whether the divorce is recognised in a country where a spouse is
domiciled.
(7) In this section?
"divorce" means divorce a vinculo matrimonii;
"domiciled" means domiciled at the date of the institution of the
proceedings for divorce. |
See
Domicile law in
Ireland
Ireland - Financial
Settlements in Divorce Cases Can be Re-negotiated at any Time
A MOTHER of five has won an extra €2
million in a shock divorce ruling that could force ex-partners to pay
their former spouses additional monies if their wealth increases after
they split up.
The High Court judgment means financial settlements in divorce cases can
be re-negotiated at any time and also means ex-partners are liable for
maintenance even after they die.
Last night, legal experts said the ruling creates a new precedent in
Irish divorce law, obliging ex-partners to support their former spouses
for life, making full and final agreements impossible.
“In the past it was
suggested that the opportunity for further provision in a divorce
settlement ended with the granting of the decree of divorce,” said
family law expert and solicitor Geoffrey Shannon. “This case suggests
that this might not necessarily be the position. This means parties in
divorce cases can effectively get another bite of the cherry after their
divorce and it will send shivers down the spine of those who think their
settlements are final.”
The case centres on a
pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who married in 1979, had
five children and divorced in 2000. At the time of their divorce, the
court ordered the businessman husband to pay £48,500 a year to his wife
and children. The settlement was based on his wealth at the time of the
divorce but after the split he sold his business and became richer. The
High Court ruled the man must pay his wife a one-off lump sum of €2m to
reflect this increase.
Previously, parties in
marriage breakdowns could come to a financial settlement at the first
stage of splitting up — the decree of judicial separation — or the final
step called a decree of divorce. The agreement made at the time of a
decree of divorce was thought to be final but the High Court has now
said settlements can be re-negotiated as ex-partners have an obligation
to support their spouses for life.
Mr
Shannon, whose book on 10 years of Irish divorce law comes out this
year, said the ruling would benefit ex-wives struggling to support their
families. “What you are looking at is divorce Irish-style and it’s
different from the reality in other jurisdictions because we have a
life-long spousal support obligation,” said Mr Shannon.
Irish Examiner 18
May 2007
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"Ireland's Divorce Courts
a Shambles"

Ireland's divorce courts are
overloaded and need a complete overhaul to make breaking up fairer
and less of a bank-breaking ordeal, an expert report on the
secrecy-shrouded system concluded Tuesday.
The
government-commissioned report, which offered 45 recommendations to
fix the system, faulted the government for doing much too little
since the 1997 legalization of divorce in this predominantly Roman
Catholic country. Justice Minister Brian Lenihan vowed to make
improvements a priority.
The author, Irish
Times reporter Carol Coulter, was the first outside expert permitted
to witness divorce cases, which are typically conducted without
transcripts or detailed written judgments. She spent a year
gathering data and testimony on proceedings normally barred to media
and other spectators.
Her 82-page report
said it was common for crowds of breaking-up couples and their
lawyers to be kept waiting around court all day — only for their day
in court to be put back for months, even in cases involving a
child's welfare. "They must then steel themselves to go through it
all again," she said.
Coulter said the
problems and potential miscarriages of justice were greatest in
provincial towns, where courts set aside time for matrimonial cases
only four days out of every month, or less.
"The pressure on the
lists forces judges to try to cram as many cases as possible into a
day. In such circumstances it is impossible for written judgments to
be given, or even for an outline to be given of the judge's reasons
for making his or her orders," she wrote.
Throughout the
country, she said, the system discouraged people from solving their
cases through mediation or other means short of a courtroom
confrontation. High legal costs forced some people to represent
themselves, slowing down business further.
"According to some
practitioners and court staff, in places where delays are very long,
people can end up settling on terms they are unhappy with, just to
bring an end to the proceedings," she said, adding that some judges
worked marathon sessions from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. to try to catch up.
The wishes of
children often were not taken directly into account, even though
internationally it is common for children's views to play an
important role in determining custody, she said.
She said judges,
hobbled by a lack of written judgments for reference, "expressed to
me their own frustration at the lack of education and training for
judges, and at the difficulty in discovering what their colleagues'
understanding and practice of family law is."
Irish law permits a
couple to file for divorce only after they have been separated for a
minimum of four years, a rule intended to give them time to
reconcile. Divorce lawyers say this rarely happens. But the delay
does encourage more protracted court proceedings involving separate
court hearings for separation and divorce.
The
Associated Press,
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
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