I am trying to figure out which direction to take with an international divorce. My husband and I have been married for over 25 years with three children. We had a traditional marriage living in another country, he worked outside the home and I managed the household and children. He is not a citizen of Canada nor does he reside here. The children and I moved back to Canada a few years ago with my husband visiting regularly but I decided recently to ask for a divorce. Since that time he has blatantly lied concerning family assets which are owned in his country of residency and which years ago he put in his name only, purportedly as a tax write-off. I am currently unemployed, having been supported by his income over the years. He has typically managed the household funds alongside the business funds and seems to want to dictate any financial support that he may offer.
With the idea of balancing expenses with optimal outcome, I am wondering if I should hire a lawyer and register the divorce in the courts here in Canada and attempt to proceed with a potentially expensive collaborative approach of divorce to work out a fair division of property. The laws in his country are barely enforced and I don't know that anything the courts decide here in Canada can be enforced in that country, so it seems like throwing good money after bad. Would I be better off requesting an uncontested divorce and attempting to negotiate with him personally, perhaps through a mediator, concerning finances?
He shows little interest in the children, but has agreed verbally to pay child support. If he becomes irritated by the divorce proceedings and I have not registered the divorce in the courts here in Canada, could he, simply as an act of revenge, register in Trinidad and force the kids to be returned to him there?
With the idea of balancing expenses with optimal outcome, I am wondering if I should hire a lawyer and register the divorce in the courts here in Canada and attempt to proceed with a potentially expensive collaborative approach of divorce to work out a fair division of property. The laws in his country are barely enforced and I don't know that anything the courts decide here in Canada can be enforced in that country, so it seems like throwing good money after bad. Would I be better off requesting an uncontested divorce and attempting to negotiate with him personally, perhaps through a mediator, concerning finances?
He shows little interest in the children, but has agreed verbally to pay child support. If he becomes irritated by the divorce proceedings and I have not registered the divorce in the courts here in Canada, could he, simply as an act of revenge, register in Trinidad and force the kids to be returned to him there?
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