Can financial consequences of your divorce pronounced in Monaco or abroad be challenged by another Court system?

Against all expectations, the answer is yes.

In the United Kingdom, (England and Wales) for example, there is a procedure allowing additional post-divorce financial claims to be made before the English judge, even if a foreign divorce judgment has definitely settled all financial consequences arising from the marital breakdown.

While the Monegasque judicial system, like many other systems, is based on the principle of res judicata, which makes final judicial decisions irrevocable, this possibility to “review” the judgement given to the English judge puts the legal security attached to this fundamental principle at risk.

The English court may take jurisdiction on the basis of different connecting factors such as the domicile or habitual residence of one of the spouses or even rights still held in a dwelling house that constituted the marital home in England or Wales.

Then, if the court considers itself competent, it will check whether or not the financial arrangement, agreed between the parties at the time of the divorce or ordered by the foreign judge who granted the divorce, is sufficient.

The stronger the ties to England, the greater the risk.

What is the impact on the divorce pronounced in Monaco or abroad?

Such a procedure can result in increasing the financial compensation already granted by the Monegasque or foreign Judge, or even of bringing it up to the very high standards of the English Courts.

When one knows the extent of the discretionary powers of the English Judge, it is advisable to seriously anticipate this additional procedural risk weighing on the economically stronger party.

It is therefore very important to identify and assess this risk, to define a global strategy aiming to reduce it considerably, by means of legal techniques adapted to each situation, before or after the union has taken place.