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Foreign Divorces and Canadians |
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Written by The Editors
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Wednesday, 24 June 2009 17:40 |
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You and your spouse have separated and now your spouse has left Canada and obtained a foreign divorce. Is this divorce legal in Canada?
A divorce obtained in a country other than Canada is a valid and effective divorce in Canada as The one-year residence rule eliminates “quick divorce” havens.long as one of the spouses had a “real and substantial connection” with the country granting the divorce.
The Canadian Divorce Act requires that the person getting the foreign divorce has been “ordinarily resident” in the country granting the divorce. This means that the foreign country has been his or her place of usual residence for at least one year immediately before starting the divorce proceedings.
If that requirement is not met, then Canadian law does not recognize the foreign divorce and considers the spouses to be legally married. Neither one of the spouses can get remarried in Canada.
It’s the law
In some provinces or territories, you may be required to get a lawyer’s opinion on the validity of your foreign divorce in order to get a licence for remarriage.
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