Getting Divorced with a Polish National

Hi There,
Unfortunately after being married for 4 years and together for 9 years my marriage have gone bad and I want to get divorced. Its very sad and it looks like it will be a bad divorce. I wanted to hear if anyone of you have any advice. I speak English, Swedish and Polish.

Here is my problem
We live in the UK
We got married in Thailand (civil)
We did a church wedding in Poland
I'm a Swedish National
She is a Polish National
I'm working but she is not

She is threatening me that she will take me to the cleaners and will be asking for spouse support for a very long time. Of course I don't think that is fair as we are both at fault.

I wanted to hear if anyone has any advice on how to best to do this and what country will be able to be most fair to me. I don't feel bad about asking as I know that she has been doing the same and of course I want to protect myself the best way that I can.

Any advice or suggestions would be hugely appreciated.
Many Thanks
UnhappyDan

Forget Poland. You most certainly will not get a fair deal from a Polish court. The spousal maintenance thing in Poland states that if you Dan admit fault, then you can in theory be obliged to support your ex-wife literally for the rest of her life, or until she remarries.

Can't see the point of getting a Thai divorce, complicating matters unnecessarily I would say. Your best option is the UK as you both live there and their laws are on the whole pretty fair. You could also consider Sweden. This site might be helpful to you. Just be sure that you don't sign anything admitting fault to a Polish court.

kingsleynapley.co.uk/news-and-events/blogs/family-law-blog/international-divorce-do-you-need-to-divorce-in-the-same-country-you-were-married

Are there any kids involved?

No kids involved.

In which case I would agree with Atch, start proceedings in the UK, It should be straight forward, go to the local Citizens advice bureau they will guide you through the process state "irreconcilable differences" as the cause, that way no one admits blame. Better luck next time.

Unless you registered your marriage in Poland, then the 'church wedding' was only for show. It is not legally binding.
Make sure that your Thai civil wedding was legally recorded in England. if not, then you are not married. (Mick Jagger married Jerry Hall in some foreign land, and as the wedding was not registered in England, they were not formally married, so it does happen).

In my opinion, after you are absolutely sure that you are formally married, start all proceedings in the UK.

While trying to solve an issue, i have got to know them: divorceinpoland.com/. It looks like they really have got experience in international cases. It might be worth to contact them.

I agree with Terri in most part.

1.The church wedding has no validity outside the RCC unless your Wife registered your Thai wedding in Poland.
2.As you are both EU members, I am guessing you did not register your Thai marriage in the UK?

Its good there are no children involved makes life simpler, if I was in your position and you have not registered your marriage in Poland or UK then I would definitely seek the advice of a lawyer with knowledge of Thai marriage law/

Good luck with it all.