International childsupport
November 6, 2010 6:09 PM Subscribe
International Child Support Question. B, a UK citizen has knocked up P, a Philippine citizen. This happened in Dubai and now it comes out that B is already married back in Britain and soon will be going back there. P is going to be going back to the Philippines before giving birth.
Does P have any legal options with regards to child support ect?
Should she be talking to a lawyer in the Philippines, Dubai or Britain?
And what kind of lawyer?
P doesn't have much money so I don't want to suggest lawyer visits that would just use up all her money with no benefit.
Does P have any legal options with regards to child support ect?
Should she be talking to a lawyer in the Philippines, Dubai or Britain?
And what kind of lawyer?
P doesn't have much money so I don't want to suggest lawyer visits that would just use up all her money with no benefit.
Best answer: My understanding is that the U.S. courts will generally enforce orders/judgments against U.S. citizens, including in family law, from other countries (assuming things like basic fairness/accuracy in that proceeding in the other country). These types of things usually work pretty similarly in the UK.
(This is all something like informed speculation, or an educated guess. I'm not an expert in family law or international law (or British law), but I have some familiarity with this stuff.)
1. Yes, P certainly has legal options. If she can establish that B is the father, I can't imagine her not being entitled to child support.
2. Not Dubai. Either Britain or the Philippines could make sense... I would go with the Philippines because it will be less expensive, more convenient, and communication might be easier/more effective. My guess -- and this is more highly speculative than some of the other stuff I'm saying -- is that establishing entitlement to child support can be done in the courts of the Philippines and under that country's law, and then there will be a second step of bringing that to a UK court and getting it enforced there. I know P doesn't want to waste money talking to lawyers who can't help her, but a Filipino lawyer can tell her off the bat if she should instead and only be talking to a British lawyer.
3. She wants a family law attorney. This is a family law thing with international aspects, but it is a family law thing and not an international law thing. It would also be worth looking into whether she can get a free initial consultation with a lawyer -- there's a non-negligible chance that she can.
posted by J. Wilson at 9:32 PM on November 6, 2010
(This is all something like informed speculation, or an educated guess. I'm not an expert in family law or international law (or British law), but I have some familiarity with this stuff.)
1. Yes, P certainly has legal options. If she can establish that B is the father, I can't imagine her not being entitled to child support.
2. Not Dubai. Either Britain or the Philippines could make sense... I would go with the Philippines because it will be less expensive, more convenient, and communication might be easier/more effective. My guess -- and this is more highly speculative than some of the other stuff I'm saying -- is that establishing entitlement to child support can be done in the courts of the Philippines and under that country's law, and then there will be a second step of bringing that to a UK court and getting it enforced there. I know P doesn't want to waste money talking to lawyers who can't help her, but a Filipino lawyer can tell her off the bat if she should instead and only be talking to a British lawyer.
3. She wants a family law attorney. This is a family law thing with international aspects, but it is a family law thing and not an international law thing. It would also be worth looking into whether she can get a free initial consultation with a lawyer -- there's a non-negligible chance that she can.
posted by J. Wilson at 9:32 PM on November 6, 2010
P wants to get out of Dubai rather quickly, I would suggest. The punishment for breaking morality laws can be quite severe, should the authorities choose to prosecute (which doesn't always happen, but is unpredictable). If she takes B to court in Dubai, they could both end up facing jail time prior to deportation.
IANAL
posted by bardophile at 12:06 AM on November 7, 2010
IANAL
posted by bardophile at 12:06 AM on November 7, 2010
Yeah, seconding bardophile that Dubai isn't the place to do this. It sounds like they'd both be out of the country by the time she gives birth anyway.
posted by atrazine at 12:18 AM on November 7, 2010
posted by atrazine at 12:18 AM on November 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cromagnon at 6:40 PM on November 6, 2010