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Counting the cost of divorcing abroad

The Western Mail discusses the divorce case of Mrs Pell and how the decision to divorce in France has tipped the scales in her husband’s favour.

Brookman client, Sara Pell was denied the option of divorcing her husband in Britain after the High Court ruled that divorce proceedings are to take place in Mr Pell’s preferred location, France.

As explained in the Sunday Telegraph’s coverage of the story, Mr Pell, a former commercial director of Corus, has a £1.2 million pension held in Britain. Mrs Pell now has no rights to a percentage of these funds as the divorce will take place in another country.

The couple do share some assets in France, but to compound Mrs Pell’s plight, French settlements are traditionally far less generous than those awarded by the British courts.

Mrs Pell filed for divorce after learning that her husband was having an affair and that he was allegedly transferring funds into his mistress’ account. Though Mrs Pell filed for divorce first in the British courts, Mr Pell filed a counter-claim in the French courts. The High Court ruled that the divorce should not take place in Britain due the marriage collapsing while the couple lived in France, even though they were married in Wales and had lived in the UK for nine years.

The implications of the split are already becoming real for Mrs Pell, who now has to claim state support, is living in rented accommodation and has taken their children out of private school. Mrs Pell argues that she devoted her life to her husband, regularly moving around the country and Europe to support his career.

Julius Brookman, Mrs Pell’s solicitor, called for more protection for British nationals in the current legislation, commenting “Divorce settlements can vary depending on the country in which the divorce takes place. In this case, Sara Pell is left in an incredibly difficult situation as a result of be caught in the French divorce system”.

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