I have seperated from my husband 6 months ago because he is very
emotionally abusive. We were living in Germany for 1 1/2 years. We
have two children 3 and 15 months. In Germany we own a business and
two pieces of real estate. He is German and I don't even speak German
so he has all financial control. Since being seperated he has denied
me access to any money and denied to give me half of everything if we
get devorced. He has gone as far as to put one of the building we own
into his sisters name and parts of the business in his brothers name.
Also he denies that we have any money and says I will get nothing
because on paper it looks like we have nothing. However, before I
left we were doing very well financially, owned two buildings(one paid
off) and the company was growing and we were ready to make more
investments. Now I have nothing, I can't feed my own kids. I am
living with my parents.
is there any way that I can legally get him to give me my half? From
Canada or Germany? All the money we might have, we made together
after we got married. I have already been denied Legal Aid here in
Canada. I have no money for lawyers. I don't speak German to get
help from there. Any information you could give me might help. |
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
22 Apr 2006 14:28 PDT
Dear liveforever,
Please note that this is not yet an answer, so you don't have yet paid
for anything should this advice not be useful.
I am German, and although I am not a lawyer, I will try to provide you some help.
First, one thing is very important: When you married, did you draw up
and sign a notarised marriage contract (Ehevertrag)? If a such
contract existed, with a definition of the marital property regime
(Güterstand) you have agreed upon for your marriage, the division of
property in case of divorce would be defined clearly and binding for
both parties.
If you have a marriage contract, is is necessary to determine what
kind of marital property regime is defined in it: Joint ownership of
the increase in capital value of assets (Zugewinngemeinschaft):
separation of property (Gütertrennung); or community of property
(Gütergemeinschaft).
If no notarised marriage contract has been set up, you have been
automatically in a marriage under Joint ownership of the increase in
capital value of assets (Zugewinngemeinschaft). It means that if you
are divorced, you get back any property you brought into the marriage.
But that is not all: In case of divorce, any of the spouses has the
right to demand a Zugewinnausgleichsverfahren. That is a legal
procedure in which the value of the property you and your husband
acquired during your marriage is determined and, after that, divided
up among both parties.
Finally, it is important for you to know that after a divorce, you are
entitled to demand alimony according to German laws. The law even
knows two kinds of alimony you can claim: Trennungsunterhalt
(separation alimony) for the time between separation and divorce; and
nachehelicher Unterhalt (post-marital alimony) which is paid after
divorce. Both should be high enough to ensure that you can keep up the
standard of living you were used to during marriage. A court will
deterimine the amount of post-marital alimony. In any case
post-marital alimony must be high enough to ensure that neither your
children must suffer from disadvantages, nor you will have to live on
social welfare.
Giving you nothing at all won't work for your husband. But though I
understand your financial situation, you should commission a lawyer;
before the Familiengericht (domestic relations court) of the competent
Amtsgericht (district court), it is mandatory that, in a divorce
proceeding, at least one of the spouses has a lawyer. I could imagine
that the results would be not favorable to you if only your husband
had a lawyer. Besides, a divorce lawyer knows the procedures for
filing a divorce and making claims.
If this is useful, or if you have more questions, please let me know!
Regards,
Scriptor
|
Clarification of Question by
liveforever-ga
on
29 Apr 2006 14:31 PDT
Well, thank you for the information so far. We were actually married
in Canada, and only lived there for 1 1/2 years, but he is still
there.
My real problem is that if i devorce him i am afaid that i will get
nothing because he has made it look leagally like we have nothing. He
put some real estate in someone elses name and did the same thing with
the business. He tells me that when we get devorced it will look like
we have nothing to divide, so I will get nothing. I have two young
children and i don't speak German so I don't think I could just go
there and fight with a lawyer. Could i do it from here, or is there
maybe a German law line that speaks english? If I devorce him and it
seems that there is fraud on his part am I responsible for charging
him, or does the government do that themselves? I am just confused to
what steps I should take and have no idea how to go about it since it
is international.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
scriptor-ga
on
29 Apr 2006 18:53 PDT
This is indeed a very complex issue. Unfortunately, it goes far beyond
my modest abilities to help you.
One thing is clear: You will under all circumstances need a lawyer,
based in Canada, who is familiar with German law. For example, H.
Liebrecht & Associates in Vancouver and Toronto, who also have an
office in Germany:
http://www.germanlawyer.ca/en/offices/index.php
They are familiar with Canadian-German family law issues:
http://www.germanlawyer.ca/en/services/index.php?service=family
Other Canadian law firms who can advise in Canadian-German family law
issues are, for example:
Kruse, Lawson & Haller
Barristers and Solicitors
370 Frederick St.
Postadresse: PO Box 2215
Kitchener, ON
N2H 6M1
Tel.: (519) 576 8650
Fax: (519) 576 0591
E-Mail: klh@klhlegalservices.ca
Loewen & Martens
Barristers and Solicitors
1101 Henderson Highway
Winnipeg, MB
R2G 1L4
Tel.: (204) 338 9364
Fax: (204) 338 8379
E-Mail: lmlaw@shawbiz.ca
I'm really sorry that there is not more I can do for you.
Best regards,
Scriptor
|
Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
11 May 2006 06:39 PDT
Hi liveforever,
It's important that you seek legal counsel from an attorney in your
province because divorce law falls under provincial jurisdiction.
CANADIAN DIVORCE LAW
CONSEQUENCES OF DIVORCE
Division of property
"Questions of the division of property upon divorce in Canada are
governed by provincial and territorial law. Every province and
territory in Canada has legislation establishing property sharing
rights between spouses upon divorce. These laws were passed to
ameliorate the hardships arising from the doctrine of separate
property (whereby each spouse retained his or her own property in a
divorce) and to ensure that each spouse would receive a fair share of
the assets accumulated during the marriage.
In general, the statutes address the questions of what property is
subject to division, how that property is to be valued, and how it is
to be shared. Some distinguish between "family" assets used by both
spouses and "business" or "commercial" assets used by one. Most of
these laws exclude pre-marital assets and certain post-marital assets
(such as third party gifts or inheritances) from division. Most give
the court the power to divide specific assets, although in at least
one province (Ontario) it is the value of the property, as opposed to
the property itself, that is shared. In general, under these statues,
the division of property upon divorce is not dependent on which spouse
owned or acquired the assets."
http://www.international-divorce.com/d-canada.htm
LEGAL AID and YOU
http://www.canlaw.com/legalaid/legalaid.htm
Good luck,
hummer
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