I have a filipina british national friend who wants to divorce her husband in the Philippines. When she came here to UK she left her 4 children in the Philippines but after a few years she took her husband and her son to be with her. My friend was well aware that her husband was having an affair few months after she left for UK. But then she still love her husband so much that she tried everything to bring back the old happy family again. To make the story short, after a year of working here the guy with my friend and their son went to Philippines for holiday. Her husband didnt come back to UK but rather went back to his "kerida". My friend wants to divorce her husband but is asking if the divorce here will be valid in the Philippines. She is also concerned about all the assets she earned while working here if the divorce is not valid in the Philippines.
Is she a British Citizen now? If she is then she can file for a divorce here but it will not be valid in the Philippines, in the Phils she will have to try to process an annulment as there is no other way to dissolve a marriage between two Filipino's. Regards the assets does she mean assets held here in the UK or over there in the Phils?
Just as a practical matter, if she owns property in the Philippines or if it is in joint names I hope she has the title deeds with her, here.
Ive just edited out my original advice as it could have badly damaged the guys new life if he is the wronged party.. There are always two sides to every story and without his testament there is not much more I wish to add. Best advise I can give is to persuade him to give her a divorce in the UK.. The Filipina is then treated as a single woman as she did not initiate proceedings.. In that case there is no need for her to worry about assets in either country.
The land does not need to be titled in order for her to claim her rights to land or property here.. A deed of sale for example would be fine. The British guy has no ownership rights whatsoever in the Philippines unless with a legal lease in his name.
Won't work with two Filipino's mate unless one of them has renounced citizenship and even then there are legal obligations on Filipino's that state they are held to Philippine standards and laws and treated as Filipino's wherever they reside even after renouncing citizenship. I will need to try to find the references, I read through all this stuff over the last five years when researching our own case but I don't have a list of links sadly.
Yes OSS...You are probably correct!! I should have read the OP more carefully. Sorry! OK original poster...Scrub everything I just said!! If both are Filipino`s then things can get really complicated,messy and expensive. Of course..The husband is committing a serious offence(concubinage) here in the Philippines but the burden of proof is on your friend. If she can get together enough witness testimony and some juicy compromising pictures of her husband together with his mistress then she now may have bargaining power regarding her assets here..Ask a good local attorney first about strategy though. She can get a divorce in the UK but unfortunately its not recognized here in the R.P. I wish her luck.
If the divorce will be granted, which is im sure it will, and if it's not valid in the philippines, can her husband claim all her assests/properties she bought while working here in UK when she dies? Legally in the philippines she is still married to the guy. Can the husband claim her pension? She is really worried that what she earned for will not go to her children when she dies but to her promiscuous husband. Properties she bought were all in the Philippines. Are they considered conjugal?
She needs to file for 'Legal Separation' on the basis of the husbands adultery, this is not divorce but I believe it will deal with issues relating to inheritance. See here The Civil Code of the Philippines and search for Title IV. - LEGAL SEPARATION it starts at Article 97. The inheritance laws in the Phils are pretty complicated.
My reason for saying that she should be sure she has the deeds to property in the Philippines is to stop the ex-husband from mortgaging it - she will risk having to clear the mortgage or losing the lot. My ex-wife has, on my advice, been extremely careful to lodge the deeds with her solicitor here because her own mother once mortgaged my ex-wife's house(its a nice house; I should know, I paid for it! )
My brother in laws wife filed for separation on the grounds of adultery..Her evidence was about as good as it gets! She hired one of the best known and powerful lawyers in town that initially charged her 100K.. This lawyer was looking to get his client complete control and become custodian of all assets which are substantial.. It cost him 30k just to answer these complaints in court. My Bro in law sweet talked his wife out of continuing the action and they are now back together.. Had the case continued I dont think 500k would have been enough. In this country its all about who has the most money and the best connected lawyer.
