Moving abroad changes your address and, often without your knowing, the rules governing your family. In international family law, habitual residence is the decisive connecting factor.
- Divorce: courts in your new country of residence gain jurisdiction (Brussels II ter, Article 3, within the EU). Without a choice of law, a French court applies the law of that residence (Rome III Regulation, Article 8). The conditions and consequences of divorce may be very different.
- Children: once their life is established in the new country, their habitual residence moves there, together with the court competent to decide residence and contact.
- Maintenance: in principle it is governed by the law of the creditor’s habitual residence (2007 Hague Protocol, Article 3).
- Matrimonial property: for couples married between 1992 and 2019 without an agreement or choice of law, the applicable law may change automatically, for example after more than ten years in the new country (1978 Hague Convention, Article 7).
- Succession: in principle it is governed by the law of your last habitual residence (Regulation No 650/2012, Article 21), which may not recognize forced heirship or a surviving spouse’s rights.
Planning before departure allows you to fix these rules: choosing the law governing matrimonial property, divorce and maintenance, choosing a court where possible, choosing your national law for succession and preparing a suitable will. An international consultation before departure costs far less than litigation in two countries.