Is it better to get divorced in Germany or the USA?

Question

I am a US citizen. My wife iand I are seperated. Under German Law we have to be seperated for 1 year before we can get the divorce. I am thinking on returning back to the US permanently and then get divorced. We were married in Denmark.

Answer 1

There are some considerations that you should make, it is more complicated than a simple one place or the other.

In Germany, even a simple divorce will cost more upfront and take longer. In the US, you may have to pay a higher cost over time.

If children are involved it gets even more complicated.

With a German divorce, there is a requirement to split the German retirement points accrued from the time of the marriage until the divorce is filed, if you do the US divorce, you forfeit the points.

Alimony in Germany may not be required, US, depends on the state.

There are benefits and drawbacks possible from both directions.

I am familiar with the German side and have also looked into the option of a divorce in Arizona, my home of record. I chose the German. I live between Mannheim and Kaiserslautern. If you would like to mail me, we could get into more detail than there is space possible here. If you would like, we could also talk about the options.