| MJMLagoon |
| (recently joined) |
| 05/10/12 06:57 PM |
Married overseas, divorcing in CA?
|
Hello, this is my first post, and I wish I didn't have to be making it. My marriage is on the rocks, probably heading for divorce, and I have a question.
I am a U.S. citizen, and I was married in Japan to a Japanese national 12 years ago. We were married under Japanese law. A few years later, we moved back to the U.S. and now live in CA (Contra Costa county).
Getting a divorce under Japanese law is fairly simple - in our case, if we agree to the separation (and we will), we sign some Japanese documents from the Japanese city office where we registered our marriage (don't worry I can get those) and it's all over.
My question is, if all the legal paperwork needed to separate is in Japan, would I still need to file anything here in California? Since our marriage in Japan is recognized under U.S. law (my wife has a green card), we filed no legal documents here in the U.S. pertaining to our marriage.
Appreciate answers from anyone with good insight or experience with this sort of thing.