Moving abroad for work: what it changes in your divorce

Does the move start the year of separation?

Moving abroad does not by itself start the Trennungsjahr (year of separation). You only live apart in the legal sense once one of you clearly rejects the marital relationship § 1567 (1) BGB. A long-distance marriage for the sake of a job is not a separation.

If you separate while one of you is abroad, the date that counts is the day one of you says so. Record it in a message or a letter, because the court will ask about it later. More on this in Spouse living abroad: how the divorce works in Germany.

Where you can get divorced after the move

You can still get divorced in Germany as long as one of you lives here and Germany was your last shared home. In that case a German Familiengericht (family court) keeps jurisdiction Art. 3 (a) Regulation (EU) 2019/1111. It does not matter whether the spouse who stayed or the one who moved away files the petition.

After a waiting period, a court at the new place of residence can have jurisdiction as well. If the new home is in Switzerland, the UK or the United States, the European regulation does not apply there, and two sets of proceedings can run side by side. Whoever files first then often decides which rules govern the division. Above all, that affects the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment), which only a German court carries out. How to weigh the two countries against each other is explained in Two possible countries: where should we file for divorce?

Maintenance on a salary in Swiss francs, pounds or dollars

If the spouse entitled to maintenance stays in Germany, German law usually governs their maintenance, even when the salary is earned abroad Art. 3 HUP. The calculation uses net income after the taxes and social security contributions of the new country.

Income also includes allowances and benefits in kind from the relocation package, such as a housing allowance or school tuition paid by the employer. Anything that merely offsets genuine extra costs of living abroad is left out. How benefits in kind count is shown in Company car and maintenance: how the benefit in kind counts.

Where living costs in the new city are markedly higher, the court can adjust the income to purchasing power in Germany. What that looks like for child support is described in Parent living abroad: how your child still gets child support.

What the move does not change about accrued gains

The property law that governs your marriage almost always stays the same, even if one of you moves abroad. For marriages entered into on or after January 29, 2019, it is set by the country where you first lived together after the wedding Art. 26 (1) EuGüVO. Older marriages follow the earlier German rules, and they do not react to a later move either. If your marriage was under the Zugewinngemeinschaft (community of accrued gains), it still is. Details are in Foreign assets and accrued gains: which property law applies.

The calculation runs until the day the Scheidungsantrag (divorce petition) is served § 1384 BGB. Whatever you have saved from the new salary by then is part of your final assets. Shares in your new employer can count as well, as Shares, portfolios and employee stock in the equalization shows.

If you separate and assets are shifted abroad along with the move, disclosure as of the date of separation helps § 1379 (2) BGB. Later on, it shows what was there. How to request it is explained in Disclosure of your spouse’s assets: what you are entitled to.

What happens to pension rights built up abroad

Pension rights you build up abroad, for instance with a Swiss pension fund or in a British pension plan, are not divided by the German court at the divorce § 19 (2) no. 4 VersAusglG. They are left for the adjustment after the divorce, which the court only carries out on application.

One consequence of this takes many people by surprise. If one spouse has such rights abroad, the court can leave the German rights undivided for the time being as well, to the extent that dividing them would otherwise be inequitable § 19 (3) VersAusglG. With account-based plans such as an American 401(k), it also has to be clarified case by case whether they belong in the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) or in the Zugewinnausgleich (equalization of accrued gains).

The adjustment covers what you acquired during the marriage, from the month of the wedding to the end of the month before the petition is served § 3 (1) VersAusglG. How the post-divorce adjustment works is explained in Pension earned abroad: what happens in the pension adjustment.

If the children stay in Germany

If the children stay in Germany, everyday life with both parents turns into contact across a distance. Arrangements that have worked well are longer blocks during school vacations, extended weekends and fixed times for video calls. Put this in a written contact agreement before either of you moves.

As a rule, the parent who moves pays the travel costs for the visits. If the children have so far lived under a Wechselmodell (shared care model), it ends with the move. The parent who leaves then pays child support based on their own income. What changes as a result is covered in Shared care in Frankfurt: when it fits.

If a child is to move abroad too and you share parental responsibility, the move needs the other parent’s consent or a decision by the Familiengericht (family court) § 1628 BGB. This article assumes that the children stay here.

What to settle before you move

The most clarity comes from an agreement made before one of you leaves the country. In it, you can settle maintenance, assets, the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) and contact with the children. You can also determine which law applies to the divorce, to your property regime and to maintenance. How such a choice of law works is shown in Choice of law in a marital agreement for binational couples.

You do not have to move back for the divorce itself. Most of the proceedings can be handled remotely, as our page on online divorce describes. For the hearing, the court usually summons both spouses in person § 128 (1) FamFG. If the journey cannot reasonably be expected of you, the law provides for exceptions § 128 (3) FamFG.

The next step

If you already have the offer from your new employer, bring it with you. It shows us which parts of the package count for maintenance and which pension rights you will build up abroad. What an agreement can cover is described on our page on the divorce settlement agreement.

We advise in German, English and Spanish, by video as well. The first consultation costs up to €190 plus VAT, at most €226.10 in total. If we take on your case, this fee does not apply. Our page on international family law has more on cross-border cases.