Ordering a bride on the internet may be costly

 

At best, marriage can be a bit of a gamble even more so when you are looking for love at a mail-order bride service on the Internet. A mail-order bride is a woman who lists herself in online catalogues and is then selected by a man for marriage. The majority of mail-order brides are mainly from Southeast Asia, countries of the former Soviet Union and from Latin America. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, large numbers of women from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova are looking to marry western men.

A leading marriage agency has told Sky News some time ago that the number of Russian and Ukrainian women joining online marriage agencies has tripled since 2005, while the number of Western men signing up as candidates has more than quadrupled in that time. So how does it work? Mail-order bride services are everywhere on the Internet. It is probably more accurate to call the industry the email order bride service with today’s technology. Finding a potential mail-order bride is quite simple, by logging on to one of the many websites, creating an account, and browsing the classified sections of women.

Once you have found the woman of your dreams, you go through the website’s specific process and contact the woman. After going through the necessary steps, you are given the contact information on how to communicate with your potential mail order bride. If after communicating you and the woman agree that you want to marry, you pay the service for the connection and move on with the marriage process. The image of a woman with a husky accent and a pair of legs that run all the way to heaven like the spy in a James Bond movie is tempting. This may also be the reason why many middle aged South African men browse the internet these days in search for a Russian beauty. As one of the mail-order bride sites state: “…The male to female ratio in Russia is 100 to 88 and the economy of Russia isn’t doing that great. Like every woman, Russian girls want to be married to someone who is financially sound and can take good care of the family. This is precisely why Russian women look forward to marrying men from different countries.

There is also a sociological reason behind the number of Russian mail order brides being on the higher side. In Russia, women who are above 30 years of age and are unmarried are looked down upon. So, Russian women who have not been able to find a match in their own country and are on the wrong side of thirty sign up as Russian mail order brides”. As a divorce attorney I have dealt with a couple of matters where the love that once blossomed ended in a nightmare, normally quite soon after the wedding.

The following facts in a recent divorce matter illustrate the possible dangers associated with choosing the wrong spouse. The names of the parties have been changed for sake of confidentiality. Norman divorced 5 years ago and was 65 years of age. He was the CEO of a successful financial services company prior to going on pension. Norman browsed various Russian mail-order bride sites on the internet and met beautiful 28 year old Tatiana fromRussia online. After 3 months of email exchanges Tatiana arrives with her suitcases in Cape Town. Norman is in seventh heaven he can’t believe his eyes. A month later, blinded by love, Norman and Tatiana got married on a wine farm, the wedding cost a staggering R 75 000. In addition Tatiana got a brand new BMW as a wedding gift. Norman was so in love that he forgot to register an ante nuptial contract /pre-nuptial contract and by default the marriage was in community of property. After the wedding they moved into Norman’s beach front apartment in CampsBay. Norman was in love, but for Tatiana it was more a matter of obtaining South African residence and experiencing the luxury of living in beautiful Cape Town. Six months later, one evening while Norman was watching television on the sofa enjoying a good glass of red wine, the South African Police services arrived unexpectedly at their home armed with a restraining order issued in terms of the Domestic Violence Act. Norman was restrained from certain areas in the house and was also prohibited from entering the main bedroom. He was interdicted not to talk to or stalk Tatiana. The reasons listed in the restraining order were inter alia that Norman abused Tatiana emotionally and physically. Norman felt like a prisoner in his own house and had to sleep in the guest room, Tatiana on the other hand armed with Norman’s credit card enjoyed the glamour and glitz of Cape Town’s night life. The following week a divorce summons arrived. Tatiana claimed half of Norman’s estate as they were married in community of property, maintenance of R 25 000 per month and half of Norman’s pension fund. If Norman had concluded an ante nuptial contract prior to his marriage to Tatiana and married her out of community of property without the accrual system or out of community of property including the accrual system with an exclusion of his assets, he would have been in a much better position. The ante nuptial contract is one of the most important documents that a person will ever sign in his or her lifetime.

The problem however is that people somehow disregard the importance of the ante nuptial contract and many embark on marriage without due cognisance of the repercussions that might follow at a later stage, especially when the marriage end in divorce. Somehow many people see the ante nuptial contract as a mere formality, something that needs to be signed prior to the wedding day, without realising the consequences of such an important legal instrument. In most cases the focus is unfortunately more on the wedding ceremony than the ante nuptial contract. No one goes into a marriage contemplating a divorce but when you consider that the ante nuptial contract governs what will happen to your assets and liabilities on divorce or death, it makes lots of sense that considerable thought should be given to concluding it and that its contents should be fully understood by all parties concerned. Unfortunately many people are more drawn into the eyes of their spouse prior to the marriage than to the importance of the wording of a proper ante nuptial contract.

Where spouses did not conclude an ante nuptial contract prior to their wedding day, they will automatically marry in community of property. ‘In community of property’ means that everything the couple owns, and their debts, from before their marriage are put together in a joint estate and everything they earn or buy after their marriage is also part of this joint estate. Any money or possessions belonging to either of the spouses at the time of the marriage, or acquired by them at any time thereafter, cease to be the private property of the one person and become part of a joint estate in which each of the partners has an equal, undivided share. On termination of the marriage, the husband and wife are each entitled to a half-share of the joint estate and they are jointly liable for any liabilities. There is however some protection afforded in a case such as Norman’s. In terms of section 9 of the South African Divorce Act an order for forfeiture of benefits may be granted if the court is satisfied that one spouse will be unduly benefited in relation to the other.

In deciding whether an order for forfeiture should be granted, the court should first determine whether or not the party against whom the order is being sought will in fact be benefited if the order is not made. Once this is established, the court must determine whether the benefit is undue. Factors which the court will take into account when deciding whether the party against whom forfeiture is sought would be unduly benefited or not are the duration of the marriage, the circumstances that gave rise to the breakdown of the marriage and any substantial misconduct on the part of either of the parties. Want to reply to this blog or share your views? #

Original Article: http://voices.news24.com/bertus-preller/2012/02/divorce-and-the-mail-order-bride/

Bertus Preller Family Law Attorney Abrahams and Gross Inc.

Twitter: @bertuspreller

Web: http://www.divorceattorney.co.za

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divorceattorneys

When billionaires divorce

When dealing with high net worth and multimillionaires divorce matters a divorce attorney must make sure to employ the best possible experts as part of the legal team, this is especially so if the assets at stake run into millions. I was involved as the divorce attorney of a client in a recent matter where two British citizens divorced in South Africa with assets across the globe that ran into millions of rands. In matters such as these various expert witnesses may be employed to lead evidence on behalf of a party to the divorce proceedings, consisting of forensic auditors, valuers, art experts, industrial psychologists, child psychologists, immigration experts etc.

In this matter I was fortunate to work with one of Britton’s top leading Family Law Barristers Richard Todd QC who rendered an opinion on the division of the matrimonial assets in this divorce case as far as it relates to UK law. Richard is an Oxford scholar who won the Hugh Bellott Prize (Highest Placed in the Oxford University Public International Law Finals) and who obtained the highest awards available to a practising Silk: The Chambers & Partners “Family Law Silk of the Year “ and The Lawyer’s ”Hottest Family Law QC”. Richard have given expert evidence of English law to the courts of Australia, Belgium, the Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, Cyprus, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and the USA and appeared in over 4000 matrimonial cases with a long list of report cases, needless to say the identity of former clients is confidential. However former clients include twelve Billionaires (Sterling) and two Oscar winning actors (plus another three who have been nominated).

In this matter the parties were married in England and subsequently immigrated to South Africa. In such a case the matrimonial property regime of England would apply to their marriage and English law would always apply to their marriage. In a case such as this and where the divorce is contested a South African court could divorce them but, the court would have to apply English Law. It is interesting to note that if a South African couple is on holiday in England and decides to get married, they would automatically marry in community of property and not according to English law.

The test is the husband’s domicile as at the date of the marriage, i.e. what country the husband considered to be his permanent home plus his mental intention to remain there indefinitely. Domicile is defined as the principal place of residence of an individual. This is determined primarily by intent.

Thus, if the husband regarded his place of domicile to be Cape Town at the time of the marriage, the parties would be married according to the laws of South Africa and not England and their type of marriage (matrimonial property regime) would be one in community of property. For the marriage to have been out of community of property, the parties would have had to enter into an antenuptial contract in South Africa before leaving for holiday. If they failed to do so, they would have to apply to court to register an antenuptial contract, postnuptially.

About the author:

Bertus Preller is a Divorce Attorney in Cape Town and has more than 20 years experience in most sectors of the law and 13 years as a practicing attorney. He specializes in Family law and Divorce Law at Abrahams and Gross Attorneys Inc. in Cape Town. Bertus is also the Family Law expert on Health24.com and on the expert panel of Law24.com and is frequently quoted on Family Law issues in newspapers such as the Sunday Times and Business Times and magazines such as Noseweek, You and Huisgenoot, and also appeared on SABC television on the 3 Talk TV show. His clients include artists, celebrities, sports people and high networth individuals. His areas of expertise are Divorce Law, Family Law, Divorce Mediation, Parenting Plans, Parental Responsibilities and Rights, Custody (care and contact) of children, same sex marriages, unmarried fathers rights, domestic violence matters, international divorce law, digital rights, media law and criminal law.

Email: bertus(@)divorceattorney.co.za

International Divorce – can I divorce my spouse living overseas?

If you are living in South Africa and your spouse overseas, you are able to institute divorce proceedings against your spouse through a South African. The same applies when you are a South African citizen that lives overseas and one spouse resides in South Africa.  Also foreigners living in South Africa may approach a South African court to institute divorce proceedings. A South African court has jurisdiction where the parties or either of the parties are domiciled in the area of the court’s jurisdiction on the date on which the action is instituted or ordinarily resident in the area of jurisdiction of the court on the date on which the action is instituted or has been ordinarily resident in the Republic for a period of not less than one year immediately prior to that date. Domicile is a matter of choice and although a person might work overseas a South African court may still have jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

The person instituting the divorce proceedings are called the Plaintiff. Where the parties reached a settlement, only the Plaintiff appears in Court. So, if a Plaintiff  works or lives overseas he/she will have to appear in a South African court once the matter is placed on the Court roll. The same applies if the Plaintiff resides in South Africa. It is not necessary for the Defendant to appear in court where the parties have reached a settlement and the divorce is uncontested.

Where a Defendant (the person against whom the divorce is instituted) lives in another country, a Plaintiff must first approach the court by way of what is known in law as an Edictal Citation application, a Defendant may direct in an appropriate way acceptance of the Summons at an address in South Africa. This affords permission to a Plaintiff to serve the divorce documents on a spouse living in a  foreign country by way of local service.

The proprietary consequences of a marriage are governed by the lex domicilii matrimonii, that is the laws of the place where the husband was domiciled when the marriage was concluded. The law of the husband’s domicile at the time of the marriage governs the matrimonial property regime of the spouses even if the husband subsequently acquires a new domicile.

If for example the husband was domiciled in England at the time of the marriage and no Antenuptial contract was entered into in South Africa, the marriage will be out of community and in terms of English law. Should the parties later emigrate to SA, the marriage would remain out of community of property. Thus in a contested divorce where the husband was domiciled in England at the time of the marriage, a South African court is obliged to apply English law in respect of the patrimonial consequences of the divorce, i.e the division of the estate. Maintenance however and the aspects surrounding the children, like maintenance, care and contact will be dealt with in terms of South African law.

We have been dealing with numerous international divorce matters in South Africa matters concerning South African citizens and has acted in matters for South Africans living in countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, USA, Indonesia, The United Emirates, Germany, New Zeeland, Namibia to mention but a few and have been able to finalise some of these matter in as little as three weeks.

For further information email: info@divorceattorney.co.za