Legal Issues Affecting Couples Commencing Cross-Border Divorce

For many years the ties between Hong Kong and Mainland families have inevitably become closer. In 1991, only about 1.6% of marriages in Hong Kong involved a party from the Mainland, in 2006 this had risen to almost 43% and this has averaged out recently to about a third of all marriages in Hong Kong. Such families typically have assets and businesses in both jurisdictions and children born in either one or the other, with cross-border education, and extended family members living in both. Where, then, is the appropriate place for such families to finalise their divorce?

From 2017 to 2019, 18% of all divorce cases filed with the family court in Hong Kong involved cross-border couples and, until the recent legal changes allowing for the enforcement and recognition of decrees of divorce and judgements, this posed a real problem for such families.