Divorced in FL trying to get half in DR

[qstorm]

My friend just got divorced in FL. He was married here. I am trying to find out if the house he build in DR after he got married in the states, his is ex wife entitled to half.
Does the law there acknowledge US marriage/divorce

thanks

[korejdk]

if she has connections I would say yes

[qstorm]

Originally Posted by korejdk

if she has connections I would say yes

The only connection she will have is hiring a lawyer there in DR. But The law does acknowledge that

[korejdk]

Originally Posted by qstorm

The only connection she will have is hiring a lawyer there in DR.

that would be an avenue...

[CFA123]

It'll be interesting to see Mr Guzman's answer... but I would think that the divorce settlement in U.S. would've covered the division of all marital assets, wherever they existed & that would be the end of the story. Unless he built the house without her knowledge & didn't disclose it to her...

[AnnaC]

Here's what Mr Guzman has said

If you are getting married in the Dominican Republic, the separate property agreement must be prepared by a Dominican Notary BEFORE the marriage (that’s why it’s called a “prenuptial” agreement) and handed over to the Civil Registry Officer (“Oficial de Estado Civil”) at the marriage.
I am assuming that you’ll want the agreement to be enforceable in the Dominican Republic. If you don’t care about this but are only interested in its validity in your home country, then you’ll have to consult an attorney from home.

The prenuptial agreement is as simple or as complicated as the future spouses want it to be. A straight separation agreement is a very simple document. It will state in legal terms that whatever a spouse acquired before or during marriage will belong to him/her exclusively and that assets in a spouse’s name belong to that spouse exclusively.

If the spouses do not sign a prenuptial, their assets are governed by the community-property provisions of the Civil Code (Articles 1400 to 1496). Spouses are 50-50 owners of all matrimonial assets. These assets consist of the following:

1) All moveable properties (in essence, everything but real estate) belonging to either spouse at the time of the marriage or acquired by either of them during marriage, even by inheritance or gift unless the testator or donor has expressed otherwise.

2) All income from properties belonging exclusively for whatever reason to either spouse.

3) All immovable properties (real estate) acquired by either spouse during marriage.

To translate this into simple terms, without a “prenup,” whatever money, stocks, bonds, vehicles, credits, etc. (everything but real estate) you may have on the day of the marriage, is split 50-50 with your spouse when you say “yes, I do”. If your parents leave you $1,000,000 in their will and they do not expressly or implicitly state that this is for you alone, and not for your spouse, then your spouse will get 50%. (Fifteen years ago, I actually dealt with a case like this involving an American couple living in the DR).

You may ask why this is so. The answer is that we are, I believe, the only country in the world still governed by the original provisions of the Napoleonic Code, which dates from 1804, a time when wealth was almost exclusively “immovable”, i.e., real estate, and therefore it was not considered of importance that all “moveables” be part of the matrimonial community. In France, the code was amended a long time ago to include only properties acquired during marriage as community property.

I’ll refer later on to the question about inheritance in case of death of a spouse. I have run out of time.

But not if you were married outside the DR

someone asked

Mr. Guzman I would like to know if these same rules apply to a person who marries a Dominican outside of the Dominican Republic and takes residency in another country?

The answer is no. In your case, there is no possible link to Dominican law since neither the place of marriage nor the domicile of the spouses is in Dominican Republic. This subject can get incredibly complicated sometimes.

Taken from Seperation of Assets

[MikeFisher]

an other interesting question to your friend:
he/she married and divorced in Florida.
the house in DR is in who's name??
does he think he/she will get half of the house in DR or will it stay on the Isle??
Mike

[JDJones]

Originally Posted by qstorm

My friend just got divorced in FL. He was married here. I am trying to find out if the house he build in DR after he got married in the states, his is ex wife entitled to half.
Does the law there acknowledge US marriage/divorce

thanks

Where is "here"?

[Fabio J. Guzman]

Assuming that the court in Florida had jurisdiction over the divorce, Dominican courts will respect the provisions of the settlement...99.9% of the time.

If your friend is willing to spend some money exploring the possibilities of the remaining 0.1%, have him or her contact a good Dominican matrimonial attorney.