International Family Law
Lawful advice for spouses and families who need guidance when dealing with cases relating to Germany and other jurisdictions.
International family law is applicable when family members are of different nationalities, reside in different countries, married in a foreign state, or affected by the decision of a foreign court. In these cases, German family law may not suffice. Instead, it is vital to determine the jurisdiction of the country, the law applicable for every case, and whether any judgment or claim can be enforced through the borders of the country.
As a lawyer in international family law based in Berlin, Vera Zambrano provides her clients with information about cross-border family law cases. Her company assists English-speaking people in Germany when dealing with a case involving marriage, parents, children, court, etc.
Clients and Family Situations
The services are aimed at individuals and families who’s marital, child custody, maintenance, property, and court matters are linked to Germany and other countries.
It is designed for couples with different nationalities who want to make sure they understand their legal rights and obligations before entering into a marriage, during their relationship, and after separation as well as when preparing for international divorce.
This service is also available for German citizens who live abroad, want to come back to Germany at some point, or are in a family law-related situation with a husband, wife, parent, or child living abroad.
It is also suitable for parents whose children reside in Germany or abroad. This includes issues of joint custody when a parent lives in another country, visitation rights, and habitual residence of children as well as international travel and relocation.
It can be helpful for individuals who want to ascertain whether a foreign divorce is recognized in Germany and whether a special application for a foreign divorce is necessary.
It is necessary for parents and former partners to determine and verify their rights to child support or spousal maintenance services in the case where one of the parties resides beyond German borders.
Both fathers and mothers together with their children can encounter problems relating to the verification of paternity or challenge the paternity acknowledgment made abroad.
Legal Assessment
Depending on the nature of the case, all types of international family law regulations from Germany, EU law, the law of the other country involved, or international agreements may be applicable.
Actually, there may be more than one country that seems to have jurisdiction over a marriage or family matter. However, the rules applicable in international divorce, child custody applications, and support proceedings are not always the same.
Legal Approach: It is crucial to analyze all relevant connecting factors for each of the issues separately. These may be nationality, habitual residence of the person, the last place of residency of the spouses together, habitual residence of the child, and commenced proceedings in any other state.
When it comes to international divorce in Germany, it is important to differentiate between jurisdiction and applicable laws. If the couple has already divorced in another country, it is necessary to find out whether this divorce has been recognized in Germany and whether there is any need to carry out recognition in a formal way.
Legal Approach: The consultation will be devoted to questions about international divorce jurisdiction, the applicability of the Rome III Regulation, divorce matters, and recognition of foreign divorce in Germany. In the process of recognizing a foreign divorce in Berlin, the following factors will be taken into consideration: the country of the divorce, the nationalities of the spouses, the date of the judgment, and the type of process.
Joint custody, visitation, and the authority to determine the child’s residence may become very complicated if one of the parents lives abroad or plans on relocating with the child. Many international custody cases hinge on the child’s habitual residence.
Legal Approach: Before moving internationally, traveling, or changing the child’s permanent residency, regular custody and visitation arrangements, necessary parental agreement, and possible court proceedings should be analyzed. Some typical situations involve situations where parents share custody and one of them stays abroad, share custody and move to another country, or travel abroad with a child under shared custody. Even if one parent is granted exclusive custody, moving to another country may raise additional issues concerning jurisdiction and visitation.
When a child is taken out of a country without the needed consent or is not returned after the international trips, urgent return processes may be employed. These processes have their focus on sending the child back to their initial country and do not take care of determining the parent that will have custody.
Legal Approach: Depending on the countries involved in the finding of the kidnapped child, the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, the Brussels IIb Regulation, and national procedures may be referred to. The most crucial factors can be the previous habitual place of residence of the child, custody arrangements, and dates of removal and retention.
International child support matters can result in problems related to jurisdiction, calculation methods, currency used, ways to establish purchasing power, and hence legal titles and enforcement issues whenever the person obligated to pay or entitled to receive the support resides abroad.
Legal Approach: The evaluation may also involve the application of the EU Maintenance Regulation and Hague Maintenance Protocol as well as other relevant laws. In this case, the specific cross-border situation will also be considered along with the existing child support orders, income of the parent, their permanent residence, and any possible enforcement procedures.
Usually, someone who wishes to establish child paternity has to comply with different legal systems and regulations connected to acknowledgment and establishment of paternity. If both parents are citizens of different countries, then both the applicable law and right form of declaration or proceedings have to be checked.
Legal Approach: The situation also may be analyzed in terms of the establishment of paternity whenever the father lives abroad, whether parental consent is needed, and what consular procedures should be applied along with the establishment of paternity and situations in which paternity can be denied.
Structure and Legal Clarity
In-depth legal advice offers a picture of the jurisdictions involved, connecting factors, and the possible procedures available. It probably cannot substitute an individualized assessment but allows making informed choices according to your real family situation.
The client has and receives detailed information on which court has jurisdiction, likely on which country’s law applies in each of the situations: divorce, alimony, child custody, and recognition of a foreign red judgment.
Divorce, support, custody, and recognition of court decisions take place in different ways. Rather than regarding these troubles separately, all cases are analyzed in the context of the common international situation.
Foreign marriage certificates, foreign birth certificates, court judgments, proof of service, apostille, and verified translations are all relevant documents. The consultation will help understand the necessary papers and how they should be arranged.
In the international child custody, visitation, residency, and relocation issues, the child’s habitual place of residence, legal situation, and existing decisions are evaluated from scratch.
A court judgment can be of practical value only if it is recognized and enforced if necessary in a foreign country. When planning the legal strategy, it is therefore important to address the issue of international recognition and enforcement.
The company provides services to foreign customers and consultations in different languages. Clients are able to understand better legal proceedings, document packages, and next steps, even if the international case is dealing with Germany and the client prefers communication in English.
International Legal Perspective
Individuals in need of international family law advice in Berlin-Charlottenburg should look for help that brings German family law and international procedural regulations together in one place. Vera Zambrano & Associates offers services in English for customers in Germany and handles German family law cases having an international character. The firm conducts negotiations, litigation, and coordination of cases.
The company works on family law cases involving international law, European legislation, international treaties, and international legal relations.
The complicated legal issues are expressed clearly. The clients are provided with an overview of the issues they need to solve, the documents to be obtained, and the next steps of the case.
Depending on the situation, the work may include consultations, negotiations, applications, representation in court, and preparation of the court order for enforcement.
The company works in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, and Ukrainian. In case of need, sworn interpreters or translators can be involved.
The company is located at Kurfürstendamm in Berlin-Charlottenburg. It gives consultations to people living in Germany as well as foreigners who have family, personal, or financial connections with the country.
In case any documents, authorities, courts, or lawyers of different countries are involved in the case, relevant actions need to be coordinated in the framework of the international case.
Your Legal Contact
Vera Zambrano is the founder and lead attorney at Vera Zambrano & Associates, a law firm with an international focus based in Berlin-Charlottenburg.
Attorney Vera Zambrano
Zambrano has been licensed to operate as a lawyer since 2017 and specializes in private international law, family law, and other cross-border laws. She helps her clients in divorce cases, custody and visitation matters, issues concerning payment of support and paternity concerns, recognizing foreign court decrees, and other family law issues that exist between Germany and other countries.
She also holds a position as a lecturer at the Berlin School of Economics and Law and strives to provide a simple explanation of challenges connected with jurisdiction and choosing law, considering personal family situations, language, culture, and foreign circumstances.
Becoming an attorney in Berlin in 2017 and being a member of the Berlin Bar Association.
The firm deals with complaints across traditional boundaries (particularly issues related to private international and international family law cases).
Client communication is available in seven languages, with sworn interpreters for other languages if necessary.
The membership of the practice in professional networks includes associations related to IBA, as well as German-American organizations concerning law and business.
The application of international family law is possible when family members possess different nationalities, live in different countries, get married in a foreign country, own property in another country, or are subject to a foreign court ruling. Another situation that could bring about a matter involving international family law is when a planned relocation abroad with a child takes place.
International divorce jurisdiction does not depend only on where a marriage was conducted. What also matters is the common habitual residence of spouses, which they may have shared together; their nationality; and the time when proceedings were initiated. The existence of any case that is now pending in another country must also be taken into account.
While the competent court and applicable law are separate questions, in Germany the Rome III Regulation can determine the divorce law applicable in the case. A valid choice-of-law agreement of spouses may also matter at the same time when different aspects of divorce proceedings may fall under different laws.
A foreign divorce can be recognized in Germany, but this depends on the divorce jurisdiction, the date of the divorce, and the nationality of the former spouses. Many divorces are recognized automatically, while others need a recognition process. It is necessary to obtain the divorce judgment and the additional documents to evaluate the recognition.
A divorce obtained in Germany can only be recognized abroad if the laws of the other country allow that; European and international norms are taken into account, too. The confirmation made by the courts of Germany is usually needed to legalize the divorce abroad and to prove that it was granted.
The standard list of documents may include a copy of the divorce judgment, evidence of its finality, marriage certificates, and any other documents needed for confirmation with regard to the place of residence of the divorcees.
Joint custody continues to apply even when one of the parents is living in a different country. Depending on the issue, it may be either a matter of ordinary life or an important issue. Existing agreements and court decisions are very important for habitual residence as well as for international journeys, visits, and places of residence of the child.
A full international move is considered to be an important issue. When parents share custody, the moving parent may need permission from the other parent or a decision of a family court. Moving abroad without sufficient grounds may lead to the procedure of return of the child.
In the event that a child is unlawfully taken away or retained abroad, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction may come into play. In the European Union, the Brussels IIb Regulation may also be applicable. The aim of these procedures is usually to return the child to his/her home country, where he/she has been residing on a regular basis, and it is important to point out that these procedures are distinct from the actual custody procedure.
A child maintenance obligation does not change simply because the father lives abroad. Whether the father has to provide maintenance and how much he has to pay is determined in accordance with the applicable legislation, his income, the needs of the child, and any existing court ruling. If the person providing maintenance does not change his behavior, the child may be entitled to various enforcement measures according to the law of the European Union or any relevant international treaty.
Paternity can be recognized even if the father is living abroad as long as relevant legal procedures are followed correctly. It is also possible to recognize paternity before the birth of the baby. Depending on a person’s nationality and residence, documents may be signed in Germany, at the consulate of Germany, or by any competent foreign authority. Moreover, it is also necessary to gain consent from both parents where required.
The law in Germany establishes certain time limits for contesting paternity, and this can depend on when the party entitled to contest knew about the situation. In an international case, one needs to determine jurisdiction and the law applicable. It is important to check the timeline since many procedures are time-sensitive.
International prenuptial agreements can solve different legal issues for spouses from different countries, planning to reside abroad, or having property in various jurisdictions. The choice of law clause may be necessary for some aspects of the agreement. The agreement can regulate applicable law, marital property system, spousal support, and property ownership. The validity of the document must be analyzed according to the legislation of all states concerned.
Yes, they can receive assistance in English, German, and Spanish. Other languages used by the specialists include Italian, Russian, and Ukrainian. In situations when a foreign language is needed, sworn translators or interpreters may be required.
Your Next Step
The more details the clients provide about the cross-border family case, the better it's possible to draw and carry out a plan of action. Clients should let the attorney know about all countries involved in a case, where the parties and children reside, what citizenship they have, and whether court and administrative proceedings have been initiated.
