Married in India and Divorce in Australia

[richard nainie]

Hi, I was married to an Indian lady (now 56 years old) for 9 years, she migrated to Australia soon after we got married in India. A couple of years after she moved to Australia she insisted that I sponsor her two adult children to Australia, I did not want to do this as their father is ‘well to do’ and loved his kids. So I refused; soon after this she become very reticent towards me and threatened to leave if I did not move to India with her. I did this 12 months ago but before this, we bought a house in India which I later found out that she had excluded my name from the title, this was done whilst I was working in Australia.

1. 6 months ago she told me that she wanted a divorce and as such has threatened and asked me to move out of my house. I did this and now she is looking to procure the following (a) the house and the flat that I bought with my money after I sold my family home in Melbourne. She also wants part share of my house in Melbourne that is on joint name and also another flat here in India that is on joint name.
   
   
2. This will leave me with not much resources to continue living a retired life (now 62 years old). She has also lodged false police complaints against me – something that is considered deformation in our country.
   
   
3. I have sourced a local lawyer that has been recommended and he is trying to help me. However he is not fully across the laws in Australia and has asked me to find out what rights I have as an Australia citizen that will / can support me and bring her to justice in my country.

Addendum
I would also like to know if I can within my rights as an Australian citizen to have the divorce and settlement undertaken in Australia, where we both will have to attend court proceedings in Australia. It is imperative I know this simply because I don’t have much faith in the local courts here in India that are corrupt and will be biased towards her. I am fully aware that her family are behind this scam, and they seem to have the ability to bribe the local police and courts here in India. I do not have anyone here that I can look to for support.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would review my predicament and provide me with your response.

Look forwards to your response.
[Contact Number redacted by Moderator]

 

[Sophea]

Hi richard,

Although you were married in India and your wife is Indian, you are able to get a divorce in Australia if you meet one of the following criteria:

• you consider Australia your home and intend to live in Australia indefinitely, or
• you are an Australian citizen by descent or by grant of Australian citizenship, or
• you normally live in Australia and have lived here for 12 months immediately before divorce.

You will need to provide documentation to prove your residency or citizenship status etc.

To obtain a divorce in Australia you need to have been married for a period of 2 years and separated from your wife for 12 months before you can apply. You will need to provide a date on which you separated and evidence of this.

Check out these other posts for more information:
WA - Divorce in Australia for PR and Overseas Marriage | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums
VIC - One Sided Divorce in Australia | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums
NSW - Overseas Divorce - Canada | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums

And have a read of the family court website:
How do I - Apply for a Divorce

If you are married in Australia you will be able to apply to have your property settlement handled in Australia. The Australian courts will also be able to take into account your real estate held in India as part of your asset pool to be divided. such as benefiting from the income, or contributing to the mortgage. If your properties were owned or purchased during the marriage, your wife will likely be considered to have an interest in it. However if you believe the indian courts are corrupt then I would take your chances here.

 

[richard nainie]

Hi richard,

Although you were married in India and your wife is Indian, you are able to get a divorce in Australia if you meet one of the following criteria:

• you consider Australia your home and intend to live in Australia indefinitely, or
• you are an Australian citizen by descent or by grant of Australian citizenship, or
• you normally live in Australia and have lived here for 12 months immediately before divorce.

You will need to provide documentation to prove your residency or citizenship status etc.

To obtain a divorce in Australia you need to have been married for a period of 2 years and separated from your wife for 12 months before you can apply. You will need to provide a date on which you separated and evidence of this.

Check out these other posts for more information:
WA - Divorce in Australia for PR and Overseas Marriage | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums
VIC - One Sided Divorce in Australia | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums
NSW - Overseas Divorce - Canada | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums

And have a read of the family court website:
How do I - Apply for a Divorce

If you are married in Australia you will be able to apply to have your property settlement handled in Australia. The Australian courts will also be able to take into account your real estate held in India as part of your asset pool to be divided. such as benefiting from the income, or contributing to the mortgage. If your properties were owned or purchased during the marriage, your wife will likely be considered to have an interest in it. However if you believe the indian courts are corrupt then I would take your chances here.

Hi richard,

Although you were married in India and your wife is Indian, you are able to get a divorce in Australia if you meet one of the following criteria:

• you consider Australia your home and intend to live in Australia indefinitely, or
• you are an Australian citizen by descent or by grant of Australian citizenship, or
• you normally live in Australia and have lived here for 12 months immediately before divorce.

You will need to provide documentation to prove your residency or citizenship status etc.

To obtain a divorce in Australia you need to have been married for a period of 2 years and separated from your wife for 12 months before you can apply. You will need to provide a date on which you separated and evidence of this.

Check out these other posts for more information:
WA - Divorce in Australia for PR and Overseas Marriage | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums
VIC - One Sided Divorce in Australia | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums
NSW - Overseas Divorce - Canada | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums

And have a read of the family court website:
How do I - Apply for a Divorce

If you are married in Australia you will be able to apply to have your property settlement handled in Australia. The Australian courts will also be able to take into account your real estate held in India as part of your asset pool to be divided. such as benefiting from the income, or contributing to the mortgage. If your properties were owned or purchased during the marriage, your wife will likely be considered to have an interest in it. However if you believe the indian courts are corrupt then I would take your chances here.

Thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate your time taken. Just to further add some clarification; I am an Australian Citizen where I lived and worked for over 40 years. We were married in India and then she moved to Australia to join me legally as per Australian immigration law. We were married for 9 years and then things went pear shaped just a few months after we moved to India in July 2014. Will Australian courts recognize this as a marriage ? I should have registered my marriage but like a fool I did not for reasons beyond me. However I really want to drag her across to Australia to face the courts in my country - will this be possible. She seems apprehensive of doing this for some reason and thinks that the courts here in india will assist her to grab my assets that I worked hard for all my life. As mentioned this is a known scam, which I later found out and unfortunately I have got caught in their well panned execution. She has also falsely lodge 3 police complaints against me for harassing her and threatening to harm her. She did not realize that I was out of the country when this happened. I explained this to the police but they did not listen and put me in a cell and were threating to confiscate my passport. I am hoping that these false accusations will be taken into consideration by Australian laws for harassing and defaming me to the lowest level. I have ever experienced this in my entire life. She also broke into my apartment whist I was away and stole all the house title documents and my heritage belongings - again when I lodged a complaint with the police they appeared unperturbed and did not accept my complaint. I am certain they have been well paid off by her which is why they are still harassing me to hand over my passport

The AHC office in India are aware of my predicament and have asked me to leave the country and head back home, not sure if this will help me in this situation considering my divorce that is certain to be conducted in India.Which means I will have to return to face the corrupt courts in this country.
I would appreciate any feedback from you for this I will be ever so grateful. I am also prepared to call and speak to you directly just to get some clarity and am willing to pay for services rendered.

Many thanks Richard

 

[Srikanth]

Hi Richard,

Hope everything is sorted and if not wish you good luck.

I am also in a similar situation.