Divorce with Overseas Assets

What Counts as an Overseas Asset on Divorce

An overseas asset is anything of value held outside England and Wales: a house or flat, a bank or investment account, a pension built up with a foreign employer, shares in a foreign company, or an interest in a trust, whether in one name, in joint names or held through a company or nominee.

A court in England and Wales can deal with these assets if it has jurisdiction over the divorce itself. Section 5(2) of the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973 sets the grounds, which turn on where each of you is habitually resident or domiciled on the date of the application, with some of them available only after a period of residence here. A marriage of a same sex couple is covered by Schedule A1 to the same Act, and for a civil partnership the grounds are in section 221 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, with the court's financial powers and criteria in Schedule 5 to that Act. Our international divorce page explains them; where another country's court could also hear the case, see jurisdiction and forum disputes.

Once the court is dealing with the finances, it looks at everything. Section 25(2)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 directs it to "the income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future". Nothing in that wording limits the court to assets in this country. If you were divorced abroad rather than here, see our financial claims after an overseas divorce page.

How the Court Treats Assets Held Abroad

The court applies the same section 25 factors to an asset abroad as to one here: first consideration to the welfare of any child of the family under 18, then each party's resources, needs, standard of living, age, health, contributions and, where it would be inequitable to disregard it, conduct. Since the Supreme Court decided Standish v Standish on 2 July 2025, the sharing principle applies only to matrimonial property. Our high net worth divorce page covers that distinction.

The orders are the ordinary ones: a lump sum under section 23, a transfer or settlement of property or the variation of a nuptial settlement (which can include some trusts) under section 24, and a pension sharing order under section 24B. In Goyal v Goyal in 2016 the Court of Appeal accepted, on common ground between the parties, that a judge had been wrong to treat an annuity held in India as beyond the court's reach: its location there was "not an automatic bar" and the court "might, depending on the specific legal and factual circumstances", have made a pension sharing order. The annuity in that case was said to give effect to rights under two UK personal pension schemes, and an order still needs the arrangement to be a pension arrangement within section 46 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, so a purely foreign scheme may not qualify. The court added that the policy terms, the scheme's likely reaction and enforceability abroad would need to be considered, possibly with expert evidence. Land abroad raises the same question: an order made here binds your spouse, not the foreign land registry, so we check what the local system will recognise.

In Prest v Petrodel in 2013 the Supreme Court held that section 24(1)(a) reaches only property to which a spouse is "entitled", so a company's assets are not the spouse's just because they control the company. That control still counts when the court assesses their resources under section 25(2)(a), and property a company holds on trust for the spouse can be transferred. Our business assets on divorce page covers valuation.

Disclosure, Valuation and Common Problems

Both of you must give full disclosure. Form E states that you have "a duty to the court to give a full, frank and clear disclosure of all your financial and other relevant circumstances", and it asks for "ALL assets held both within and outside England and Wales". Practice Direction 9A adds that the duty continues until the final order is made, so later changes must be reported. Form E also warns that an order made on incomplete disclosure may be set aside; our hidden assets and non-disclosure page covers what follows.

The problems we see most often are:

• documents that are slow to obtain from a foreign bank, registry or pension scheme, or need translating
• valuations in another currency, so the exchange rate date and the valuer's basis matter
• tax in both countries, where a transfer or sale may be taxed here and abroad
• questions of foreign law, such as forced heirship or matrimonial property regimes, that decide what your spouse actually owns

Expert evidence is controlled by Part 25 of the Family Procedure Rules: the court gives permission only where the evidence is "necessary to assist the court to resolve the proceedings", and it can direct a single joint expert.

How the Process Works

A contested case follows the standard financial remedy timetable, with extra work on disclosure and enforcement at each stage:

1. Attend a mediation information and assessment meeting, which GOV.UK says you must do before applying to the court unless an exemption applies, such as domestic abuse. Our MIAM advice page explains the exemptions. If you are in immediate danger call 999; the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247.
2. Issue Form A for a financial order. The court fee is on the GOV.UK court fees page, and the help with fees scheme may reduce it.
3. Exchange Form E, with the foreign statements, title documents, pension valuations and accounts it calls for, not less than 35 days before the first appointment, and file a chronology, statement of issues and questionnaire at least 14 days before it.
4. At the first appointment the court defines the issues and gives directions on questionnaires, valuations and any foreign law evidence.
5. At the financial dispute resolution appointment both sides negotiate with a judge's guidance, and agreed terms go into a consent order.
6. If no agreement is reached, a final hearing follows. We draft every order, agreed or imposed, with enforcement abroad in mind.

The hearings are described on our financial remedy proceedings page.

Enforcing an Order Where the Asset Is Abroad

Protection can start before the order. Section 37 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 lets the court restrain a spouse who is about to make a disposition "or to transfer out of the jurisdiction or otherwise deal with any property" with the intention of defeating a financial claim, and set aside a disposition already made. Our freezing orders page covers the urgent application.

After the order, the route depends on its type. A maintenance order made here can be sent for enforcement to a reciprocating country under the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972 where the payer lives or has assets, and GOV.UK publishes a list of the countries where a child maintenance decision made in a UK court can be enforced. Part 34 of the Family Procedure Rules sets out more than one reciprocal route: the Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act 1920, Part 1 of the 1972 Act, with modified rules for the Hague Convention Countries named in the 1993 Order and for the United States of America, Part 2 of that Act for claims for the recovery of maintenance, and, where the 2007 Hague Convention applies between the United Kingdom and the other country, recognition and enforcement of a maintenance decision under that Convention. Which route is open depends on the country, so we check it before the order is drafted. Section 21(1) of the 1972 Act defines a maintenance order as one providing for a lump sum or periodical payments towards the maintenance of a person the payer is liable to maintain, so a lump sum that capitalises maintenance can be sent the same way. A lump sum that divides capital rather than providing maintenance, and an order over foreign land, have no such scheme: recognition depends on the law where the asset sits, and a fresh application there may be needed. Where the facts allow, we favour a lump sum secured on assets here, an undertaking, or a transfer completed before the final order is sealed. Our enforcement of financial orders page covers enforcement within England and Wales.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where:

• your spouse has started, or threatens, proceedings abroad, because the court here may be asked to stay its own case
• an asset abroad is in a company, a trust or a relative's name and you need to show whose it really is
• a foreign pension is the largest asset and you need to know whether sharing, offsetting or a lump sum is realistic

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

We act for people divorcing in England and Wales who own or suspect assets abroad, from our office at 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, a short walk from Tower Bridge, and we work with local lawyers where an order has to be carried out abroad.

RakLAW Solicitors does not offer legal aid; we are privately funded and our charges are on the family law fees page. The first 15 minute consultation is free. Call 0203 345 2000 or book an appointment to talk through the assets and countries involved. Our international family law hub covers the related services.