Partitioning stocks, CDs, mutual funds held in other country.

[Nadarman]

Hello,
My wife and I are contemplating divorce after 11 years of marriage. No children bron out of our marriage Have CDs, stocks and mutual funds in Singapore, some (may be 40%) on her name and some (60%) on my name. My question: How do we split these cash equivalents? And how will my 401K be split (she works and her own 401K, but a lot less)?

 

[army judge]

Hello,
My wife and I are contemplating divorce after 11 years of marriage. No children bron out of our marriage Have CDs, stocks and mutual funds in Singapore, some (may be 40%) on her name and some (60%) on my name. My question: How do we split these cash equivalents? And how will my 401K be split (she works and her own 401K, but a lot less)?

The offshore assets may not come under the purview of a US court.

The best thing for you and her to do is discuss this with a lawyer.

You each should retain your own lawyer.

If you can agree how you will divide your assets, take that with you when you visit your lawyer.

It will make things easier.

The fact that you created no issue out of this marriage also lessens the complexity of your divorce.

But, and this is why you each need your own lawyer.

Singapore is not a signatory to the 1961 Hague Convention:

http://www.slogold.net/states_and_countries_member_of_hague_convention.html

So, you now have another issue, possibly, unless you can agree to not worry about those offshore assets.

If you can do that, your path to divorce will be appreciably easier.

All assets sitting in offshore locations complicate any US based divorce. The US Department of State will have to notified, as they are involved in matters international. You'll also need them to assist in certifying your apostille. Assuming a party obtains a valid order in North Carolina, it would have to be enforced in a foreign country. The first step is to make sure the property is in the other country. Any financial account numbers, copies of titles or real estate records will assist you in your search. Once it is determined that the property does exist, it may be possible to "freeze" the assets by seeking an order from the local court.

If you have a North Carlina order freezing the assets and it is property certified with the apostille affixed, a foreign entity such as a bank, particularly a bank which does business in the United Sates, may honor the order on a short term basis while an appropriate order is being obtained locally. Check with the State Department to ascertain whether there are any international treaties which may control your ability to proceed. While there is a large and complex international treaty known as the Hague Convention which is often referred to in Child Custody matters, the United States has signed only certain parts of the document and has not signed the sub part known as the Hague Convention on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations. Attassi v Atassi117 N.C.App. 506, 451 S.E.2d 371. The United States and each individual state is hesitant to allow foreign judgments to be enforced here as the foreign courts may not afford the litigants the same due process rights as are required by our courts. Conversely, foreign courts whose judgments are not honored here will often refuse to honor the judgments and orders of our courts.

That does not mean that you are without a remedy if you have a North Carolina judgment. The first step is to certify the judgment and obtain an apostille from the NC Secretary of State.

http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/c16921.htm

This document, with the apostille is then presented to the courts of the foreign country for enforcement. Often times the best means of proceeding is through local counsel. Both the United States Office of Consular Services in the foreign country and the consulate office of the foreign country here in the United States can offer assistance in finding appropriate counsel and in enforcing the order obtained. In almost all cases, the association of competent local counsel is the best way to obtain a satisfactory result. It may be necessary to file an action in the foreign country to proceed with discovery of information and enforcement of the order. Be aware, however, that in many countries it is difficult, time consuming, and costly to obtain a satisfactory result. Whenever possible, a party is best off to be awarded assets located in the United States.

What is an apostille? An apostille is a certification provided under the Hague Convention of 1961 for authenticating documents for use in foreign countries. Its sole function is to certify the authenticity of the signature (or seal) on the document. Put simply, an apostille is a certificate that is attached to another document so that it will be accepted when used overseas.

While the IRS has held that transfers of property incident to divorce are not a taxable event, other countries may not have the same law and there may be unknown tax ramifications. Similarly, it may not be possible to remove property or currency from the foreign location.

International property distribution is a complex and daunting matter even for the most experienced family law attorneys. If your matter includes foreign assets and international issues you would be best to make your counsel aware of these facts as soon as possible so that appropriate action can be taken to find and preserve these assets for valuation and distribution.