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Marry in Singapore / divorce abroad (foreigner couple)

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fabio_roma
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Marry in Singapore / divorce abroad (foreigner couple)

Post by fabio_roma » Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:39 pm

Hello. I have a legal question, please.

I am an EU citizen and will marry an Indonesian woman in Singapore following the legal procedure at ROM (Registry of Marriages). We will both do it on touristic visas in Singapore - none of us works or lives here. We want to do that in order to avoid some technical (religious) difficulties related to Indonesian law.

The marriage will be legally accepted both in my country and in Indonesia and we will have legal marriage certificates and legal marriage registration done in each of our countries. However we will settle in Europe.

I am trying to understand what are the implications of a marriage in Singapore in case of a divorce.

QUESTIONS:
1. If after a number of years we decide to divorce and complete the divorce in Europe with all documents done will it be necessary to explicitely dissolve the marriage in Singapore as well? Or this is not mandatory? It's just an option for those who live minimum 3 years in Singapore.

2. If it's recommended that the marriage is dissolved in Singapore as well, will it be a headache or it will be straightforward considering everything has been done already once. I am trying to understand if it will be necessary to go again through hearings and so on in Singapore as well.

Thank you,
Fabio

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PNGMK
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Re: Marry in Singapore / divorce abroad (foreigner couple)

Post by PNGMK » Tue, 11 Mar 2014 3:22 pm

fabio_roma wrote:Hello. I have a legal question, please.

I am an EU citizen and will marry an Indonesian woman in Singapore following the legal procedure at ROM (Registry of Marriages). We will both do it on touristic visas in Singapore - none of us works or lives here. We want to do that in order to avoid some technical (religious) difficulties related to Indonesian law.

The marriage will be legally accepted both in my country and in Indonesia and we will have legal marriage certificates and legal marriage registration done in each of our countries. However we will settle in Europe.

I am trying to understand what are the implications of a marriage in Singapore in case of a divorce.

QUESTIONS:
1. If after a number of years we decide to divorce and complete the divorce in Europe with all documents done will it be necessary to explicitely dissolve the marriage in Singapore as well? Or this is not mandatory? It's just an option for those who live minimum 3 years in Singapore.

2. If it's recommended that the marriage is dissolved in Singapore as well, will it be a headache or it will be straightforward considering everything has been done already once. I am trying to understand if it will be necessary to go again through hearings and so on in Singapore as well.

Thank you,
Fabio
Talk about the cart before the horse.

In short the answer to your future divorce is it depends entirely on your countries of residence at the time of your divorce. If you're both resident in Italy... you get a divorce there. In some countries (such as Australia) you can divorce the person if they do not want to appear after an absence of 4 (?) years by placing a notice in the paper prior to the divorce action - once again - residence in the same country is assumed.

The only work around is the old "Rio Divorce" where you both fly to Rio to get a divorce on the spot and I don't know if that is even possible now.

You are well warned to keep a tight handle on your wife. I have a friend who has been trying to divorce his Indonesian wife for 10 years now and can't find her to issue her papers in Indonesia.... and that country does not allow your to divorce someone unless they physically are in court!

You might want to consider a pre nuptal agreement but once again.... you need to have it valid for the jurisdiction you plan to split in.

If you have any doubts... don't get married. It's harder to get unmarried than married and in today's society there are very few reasons (apart from moral or religious grounds) to marry. Occasionally on this forum I recommend people get married but that's for cases in Singapore where Marriage is supported in law by positive reinforcement (i.e .via visa and housing rules). In liberalphag loving Europa.... pffft - no need unless you need it so your 'wife' can immigrate to your home country.
Last edited by PNGMK on Tue, 11 Mar 2014 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

x9200
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Re: Marry in Singapore / divorce abroad (foreigner couple)

Post by x9200 » Tue, 11 Mar 2014 3:27 pm

fabio_roma wrote:Hello. I have a legal question, please.

I am an EU citizen and will marry an Indonesian woman in Singapore following the legal procedure at ROM (Registry of Marriages). We will both do it on touristic visas in Singapore - none of us works or lives here. We want to do that in order to avoid some technical (religious) difficulties related to Indonesian law.

The marriage will be legally accepted both in my country and in Indonesia and we will have legal marriage certificates and legal marriage registration done in each of our countries. However we will settle in Europe.

I am trying to understand what are the implications of a marriage in Singapore in case of a divorce.

QUESTIONS:
1. If after a number of years we decide to divorce and complete the divorce in Europe with all documents done will it be necessary to explicitely dissolve the marriage in Singapore as well? Or this is not mandatory? It's just an option for those who live minimum 3 years in Singapore.

2. If it's recommended that the marriage is dissolved in Singapore as well, will it be a headache or it will be straightforward considering everything has been done already once. I am trying to understand if it will be necessary to go again through hearings and so on in Singapore as well.

Thank you,
Fabio
W-o-w.

Consider: I am pretty sure the family courts in Europe that I believe still have some saying even after a divorce in Singapore will be alerted as probably anyone reading your post.

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Post by beppi » Tue, 11 Mar 2014 5:36 pm

Your divorce will be processed by the courts of the country you live in at the time of divorce and (unless you determined otherwise in a prenuptial agreement) under the laws of that country.
If you live in separate countries at the time of divorce, the courts and laws are used of the country that was more central in your married life. (This is often difficult to determine and might cause a long and costly legal conflict!)
There are international agreements about acceptance of marriage and divorce papers, which Singapore is member of, but not all other countries (e.g. Indonesia). It is possible to be divorced in some countries but still legally married in others!
You should get advice from a lawyer experienced in such matters (if you can find one - they are rare!) if you have any doubts.

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