Wife allowed to go ahead with divorce despite proceedings in Egypt

It is not unusual for there to be a dispute between a couple as to where divorce proceedings should take place. This can occur in particular when one party believes that they will achieve a more favourable outcome if the divorce were in a certain jurisdiction, as we discussed here recently in this post.

When divorce proceedings are issued in two different countries then the court will have to decide which jurisdiction should deal with them, as obviously the court of one country cannot make a divorce order if the marriage has already been dissolved by the court of another country.

Often, the decision as to where the divorce should be dealt with will boil down to a simple question of where divorce proceedings were issued first, but that is not the only factor, as was shown by a recent case that took place in the Family Court at Bristol.

The background to the case was that the parties were both Egyptian nationals, and had married in Egypt in 1996, where they had two children, now aged 24 and 19. However, the wife and the children moved to the UK in 2013, and the husband moved here in 2020. The marriage broke down, and the parties separated in November 2023.

The husband issued divorce proceedings in Egypt, and shortly thereafter the wife issued a divorce application in England. The husband opposed the application, stating that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear it, on the basis that he had made an application for divorce to the courts in Egypt.

The judge hearing the matter found that England was clearly the place where the parties had the most real and substantial connection. Both parties were habitually resident here until after the separation, when the husband decided he wanted to get divorced in Egypt and moved back to that country. Both parties committed themselves in practical terms to this being their home, which is where their children have resided and were educated. Further, this is where the bulk of the assets are. The wife remains habitually resident and domiciled here.

In addition to those matters, if the parties were required to attend court hearings in Egypt this would involve further expense in a case where the bulk of the assets are here.

In view of these matters the judge found that England was plainly the appropriate forum for the divorce. Accordingly, the wife was allowed to proceed with her divorce here.

You can read the full report of the case here.

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