Brexit is going to be felt across all areas of our day to day lives and that includes family law. We are no longer a nation of people who are born, marry and die within their own village, town or even country. We are international travellers and workers now. Our families often reflect this so it is not uncommon for a husband and wife to originate from different countries, either within Europe or beyond.
When the family relationship breaks down, we have international regulations and treaties (agreements) in place between countries around the world to address family law issues and to recognise and enforce the decisions made by courts in other countries.
The 2007 Hague Convention is a treaty or international agreement to give rules for international recovery of child maintenance and other family maintenance, of which spousal maintenance is one form. Countries around the world sign up to the terms of agreement which mean that orders made in one country (that has signed up) are recognised and can be enforced in another country (that has signed up).
The EU joined the 2007 Hague Convention on 1 August 2014 and because we were a member of the EU at the time, we got our membership through the EU. However, we are going to exit the EU and when that happens at 11pm on 29 March 2019, we will no longer be a member of the EU and therefore no longer a ‘contracting party’ of the 2007 Hague Convention. What happens to enforcing our maintenance orders for our citizens abroad in other countries?
Well, the government is planning for that and have released a set of regulations to address that point. It is complex but in a nutshell it says that we are going to ‘apply’ (by ratifying the treaty) to be a contracting party of the 2007 Hague Convention in our own right (and not via the EU membership); that we know we have to wait 3 months before we are a fully fledged contracting party; and during this wait period time, we are going to abide by the provision of the Hague Convention anyway.
At present, we have EU regulations in force that are similar to the 2007 Hague Convention but apply for European to European countries. The 2007 Hague Convention presently deals with non-EU members such as USA, Brazil, Turkey, Ukraine etc. For the 3 months waiting period, though, it looks like we will not be a member of the EU and we will not be a contracting party of the 2007 Hague Convention. So, whilst we are saying we will treat maintenance obligations, applications, requests for specific measures and direct requests received from all Hague 2007 Contracting Parties as if the UK continued to be bound by the Convention, it looks like there is not a lot we can do about other countries/contracting parties if they refuse to offer the same back to us during that wait period.
There will be more rules drafted to deal with the situation where an application has started UK/EU and vice versa prior to Exit Day but would not conclude prior to Exit Day, when all EU regulations cease to apply. The form of those regulations (and I think for the 3 month wait period before the 2007 Hague Convention comes into effect in the UK) will depend on the deal struck for Brexit. No deal means, I think, a period where we are not a member of the EU and not a contracting party of the 2007 Hague Convention so a bit of a problem if you want to enforce an order internationally in that period, perhaps?
This is an interesting area that I think will unfold fairly quickly so if this applies to your family, keep your eye on the news!
If you need help enforcing a court order, whether in the UK or abroad, contact us. We can help.