Divorce and domicile of choice – court of appeal guidance

Those who wish to get divorced in England have to be domiciled in England and, as a Court of Appeal decision showed, establishing that apparently simple fact can be far from easy in an increasingly globalised world.

The case concerned a former couple, both of whom had worked as diplomats for the European Union, whose 20-year marriage had broken down. After the wife launched divorce proceedings in London, a family judge accepted jurisdiction on the basis that she had established her domicile of choice in England.

In ruling on the husband’s appeal against that decision, the Court noted that the wife was born in England and held a British passport. She had studied for her MA at an English university for 18 months when she was in her 20s and had worked in this country for a further 11 months in the early 2000s. She and her husband had substantial assets in England, including a six-bedroom house.

In upholding the appeal, however, the Court observed that she had moved to Ireland with her family when she was a baby and that, due to her work abroad, she had not resided in England for about 17 years. Although she claimed to view England as her adopted home, and said she intended to retire here, she had shown little emotional attachment to this country.

On the evidence, her visits to England were in the nature of passing through and she had no singular and distinctive relationship with this country. In the circumstances, she had not formed the necessary intention to abandon her domicile of origin in Ireland and to acquire a domicile of choice in England.