Expert: Andreas Moser - 6/4/2008

Question
QUESTION: My wife and I have separated after 22 years of marriage.  We were married in Denmark.  I am an American citizen.  My wife is a German.  She lives in Bavaria and I live in Japan but will soon move to Belgium.  How can we get divorced in the EU?  She says she will get half my retirement but I don’t want to give her anything.  How can I protect my assets?  We have children but they are all over 18 years of age.  I work fo the military but am not a soldier.

ANSWER: Hello Rod,

after you move to Belgium, you could get a divorce either in Germany or in Belgium. Having married in Denmark is not enough to establish jurisdiction there.

Germany would apply the law of the country where you last lived together. Which law Belgium would apply, I could only say after some research as I am not a Belgian lawyer.

According to German law, she would indeed be entitled to half the retirement (that was paid for during the time of the marriage), but you would of course have the same claim towards her retirement.
But German courts do not have any jurisdiction over US military pensions, so she would need to go to a US court to get that.
Realistically, you are therefore pretty safe as I have almost never seen that to happen because most German wives shy away from the expenses incurred by that.

Andreas Moser
Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für Familienrecht
(Attorney at Law and Family Law Specialist)
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Gustav-von-Schlör-St 10, 92249 Vilseck, Germany
phone:  49-9662-289981 - fax:  49-9662-701391
cell phone:  49-172-8100726
www.moser-law.com
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---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am a civilian working for the military. I get a federal retirement, not a military retirement.  Do German courts have jurisdiction over a federal retirement?

Answer
Hello Rod,

yes, German courts do have jurisdiction over your civilian retirement.

I have also researched the Belgium Law of Conflicts meanwhile and Belgium would also apply the law of the country of your last joint residence. So if this was Germany, choosing Belgium jurisdiction would not help.

Andreas Moser
www.moser-law.com