Increasingly there is an international element to all areas of family law. There are more relationships where the couple are from different countries. Also, individuals and couples have opportunities to work abroad, with children then being born in a country that is not the country of origin for either parent. If the relationship ends it is complicated to decide in which country the divorce or application about the children should be started – this is called the jurisdiction.
Sometimes there needs to be legal advice obtained from another jurisdiction to find the order that is available in that country. For example: one parent wishes to return to their country of origin with the children and the parent remaining in the UK wants to make sure they can have a mirror of the UK order, so they can continue to have a relationship with their child.
Dispute resolution is still possible, even if one or both of the couple live out of the UK. All the dispute resolution options (mediation, collaborative law and arbitration) can be used. Either one or both of the couple can use videoconferencing or dates can be fixed when both are in the UK.
