{"id":23458,"date":"2026-11-04T16:05:36","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T21:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virtulexavocats.com\/?p=23458"},"modified":"2026-11-04T16:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T21:06:31","slug":"foreign-divorce-recognition-jurisdiction-support-property-quebec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virtulexavocats.com\/en\/foreign-divorce-recognition-jurisdiction-support-property-quebec\/","title":{"rendered":"Divorced in the UAE, still fighting in Quebec: who decides support and property division?"},"content":{"rendered":"

They lived their married life in the United Arab Emirates. She came back to Quebec with their daughter; he filed for divorce over there. Four years, two countries and more than a million dollars in legal fees later, the Superior Court must decide who will rule on what remains: support, a provision for legal costs and the division of property. A decision full of lessons for every family whose life straddles two countries.<\/em><\/p>\n

The international mobility of families raises questions most people only ask themselves when the relationship ends: which court has jurisdiction? Which law applies? Is a divorce granted abroad valid in Quebec? The judgment in Droit de la famille \u2014 26711<\/em> (2026 QCCS 2119), rendered on May 11, 2026, by the Honourable Johanne Mainville of the Superior Court (District of Montr\u00e9al), answers each of these questions in a particularly acrimonious case in which neither party is still represented by a lawyer.<\/p>\n

The facts: a marriage in the Emirates, a breakdown in Quebec<\/h2>\n

Both parties are Canadian citizens. The husband, who arrived in Canada in 2003, left the country at the end of 2009 and, in 2012, settled in a city in the UAE (referred to as “Ville A” in the judgment), where he held senior management positions. The wife, a real estate broker, also worked there from 2010-2011 onward, while keeping her condo in Quebec. The couple signed two marriage contracts before a notary in Quebec: in 2012, separation as to property, then, in 2015, the soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d’acqu\u00eats<\/em> (partnership of acquests, a regime under which property acquired during the marriage is shared). The church wedding took place in Ville A in 2014; their daughter was born in Quebec in 2015. Every summer, the mother and child spent several months in Quebec.<\/p>\n

In December 2021, the wife left Ville A with the child for Quebec, announcing a stay of a few months. She never went back, citing physical and psychological violence by the husband, which he categorically denies. In August 2022, the husband filed for divorce in Ville A and asked for the return of the mother and child. In September 2022, the wife applied to the Quebec Superior Court for separation from bed and board, with all the accessory measures: custody, support for herself and the child, division of the family patrimony and liquidation of the partnership of acquests. A safeguard order (an interim order made while the case is pending), issued by default in October 2022, set, among other things, support of $20,000 a month for the wife.<\/p>\n

On May 24, 2023, the Ville A court granted the divorce, awarded custody of the child to the mother and dismissed the return application, taking the father’s violence into account. That judgment was upheld on appeal and then by the Court of Cassation. The foreign court did not rule on support: the wife had instructed her lawyer to withdraw her financial claims so that they could be decided in Quebec. In July 2024, the husband moved to Quebec; support arrears piled up, his passport was suspended in September 2024 and, in December 2025, the sale of his two condos was authorized. In February 2026, he filed a declinatory exception: he asked the Superior Court to declare that it lacked jurisdiction in favour of the Emirates and to declare all orders made since 2022 lapsed.<\/p>\n

Can a court’s jurisdiction be challenged after four years?<\/h2>\n

The wife argued that the husband, who had actively taken part in the Quebec proceedings and had discontinued his jurisdictional challenges in 2024, could no longer raise the issue. The judge deplored that such an exception was brought more than four years after the proceedings began, but concluded that the husband was not foreclosed: custody and support are matters of public order, and the Court of Appeal has held that lack of jurisdiction in this area may be raised at any time. In passing, she noted the sharp divergence in the case law and legal scholarship on the exact nature of the international jurisdiction of Quebec courts.<\/p>\n

Do the Quebec courts have jurisdiction?<\/h2>\n

Yes. The husband relied on “international lis pendens,” that is, the existence of an identical proceeding already under way abroad. The judge recalled that this requires the same parties, the same cause and the same object. Yet separation from bed and board (provided for in the Civil Code of Qu\u00e9bec<\/em>, which does not dissolve the marriage) and divorce (provided for in the Divorce Act<\/em>, which does) have neither the same cause nor the same object. The Quebec courts had jurisdiction over the separation from bed and board, since the wife was residing in Quebec when she filed her application (article 3146 of the Civil Code of Qu\u00e9bec (C.C.Q.)), which also gave them jurisdiction over custody.<\/p>\n

The foreign divorce renders the separation from bed and board moot, but only as regards the marriage bond itself. As the Court of Appeal has already recognized, when a divorce has been granted by a competent foreign authority, a Quebec court may rule on the accessory measures that were not decided. The wife, who resides in Quebec, will simply have to convert her application for separation from bed and board into an application for corollary relief following the divorce, which the judge described as a “formality.” As for the safeguard orders made since 2022, they have not lapsed: the Code allows Quebec authorities to order provisional or urgent measures, and setting them aside would cause certain harm to the child and the mother.<\/p>\n

Forum non conveniens<\/em>: sending the case back to the Emirates?<\/h2>\n

Even when it has jurisdiction, a Quebec court may, exceptionally, decline to exercise it if it considers that the authorities of another State are better placed to decide the dispute (article 3135 C.C.Q.). This is known as forum non conveniens<\/em>. The judge reviewed the ten criteria recognized in the case law and concluded that no single, clearly more appropriate forum emerged. She noted in particular that the parties are Canadian citizens, that the child was born in Quebec and has lived there for more than four years, that the marriage contracts were signed in Quebec, that property is located there, that no financial proceedings are pending in the Emirates, that the mother, who has no resident status there and is no longer sponsored by the husband, may not be able to live there, and that the Emirates are not a signatory to the Hague Convention. The exception was dismissed.<\/p>\n

Which law applies? A three-part answer<\/h2>\n

Having jurisdiction does not mean applying one’s own law. Quebec private international law sometimes points to a foreign law. Its content must then be proven, usually through an expert. Failing that, the court applies Quebec law (article 2809 C.C.Q.). This is where the judgment becomes particularly instructive.<\/p>\n

The matrimonial regime and its amendments: Quebec law.<\/strong> The content of UAE law on this question was not sufficiently established; the husband’s expert had filed some 500 pages of statutory texts, and the judge pointed out that it is not up to the court to dig through them to find an answer.<\/p>\n

Support and the provision for legal costs: Quebec and Canadian law.<\/strong> According to the expert evidence, the UAE’s 2005 law provides no support for the ex-wife beyond a short period following the divorce; as for the new 2022 law applicable to non-Muslims, it causes the ex-wife to lose support if she loses custody, and limits the father’s contribution to custody-related costs to two years in the case of joint custody. The judge set aside the 2005 law, which would lead to a result manifestly inconsistent with public order (article 3081 C.C.Q.), and the 2022 law, because of the uncertainty surrounding its application (its implementing regulations had not been published when the expert reports were prepared) and because, in her view, those rules are contrary to public order.<\/p>\n

The family patrimony: UAE law\u2026 which has no such thing.<\/strong> This is the surprise of the judgment. The family patrimony (which includes, among other things, the family residences, the household furniture, the family vehicles and the rights accumulated in retirement plans) is classified among the “effects of marriage,” which are governed by the law of the spouses’ domicile (article 3089 C.C.Q.). The parties, however, were domiciled in the Emirates, whose law provides no comparable mechanism. The wife therefore cannot obtain its division in Quebec.<\/p>\n

Finally, at the request of both parties, the Court recognized the Ville A divorce judgment and declared it enforceable in Quebec: the foreign authority had jurisdiction, since the husband was domiciled there and had resided there for at least one year, and none of the exceptions provided for in the Code was established.<\/p>\n

Why this decision stands out<\/h2>\n

First, it shows how a simple move abroad can change a couple’s rights. The family patrimony is a matter of public order in Quebec: spouses domiciled there cannot waive it in advance, even by marriage contract. Yet because the couple’s domicile was in the Emirates, the wife loses the benefit of it. The contrast is striking with the validity of the amendments to their matrimonial regime (the partnership of acquests chosen by notarial contract in Quebec), which will be assessed under Quebec law for lack of sufficient proof of the foreign law.<\/p>\n

This conclusion is open to debate. One may wonder why public order, which made it possible to set aside the foreign rules on support, did not operate in the same way with respect to the family patrimony, which was designed precisely to protect the economically vulnerable spouse. One may also note that the judge herself found that it is not known which UAE rules apply to the division of property, which, under article 2809 C.C.Q., could have led to Quebec law. The solution adopted is nonetheless grounded in the Court of Appeal’s consistent characterization of the family patrimony as an “effect of marriage,” and in the wording of article 3089 C.C.Q. The debate could resurface in another case.<\/p>\n

Second, the judgment shows the human and financial cost of a conflict that drags on: more than a million dollars in legal fees according to a judge who heard the case earlier, a child who has not seen her father in years and a parent who considers himself a “prisoner” in Canada. The judge noted that the husband is partly the author of his own misfortune, having, among other things, withdrawn his own claims and failed to comply with the safeguard orders.<\/p>\n

Key takeaways<\/h2>\n

Your domicile largely determines your rights.<\/strong> Before settling abroad with your spouse, find out how that country’s law treats support, the division of property and child custody.<\/p>\n

A marriage contract does not settle everything.<\/strong> The notarial contracts signed in Quebec did not, on their own, determine the applicable law: it was for lack of sufficient proof of UAE law that the judge applied Quebec law to the matrimonial regime (article 2809 C.C.Q.). If you plan to live abroad, have a professional check which law will govern your matrimonial regime.<\/p>\n

A foreign divorce does not prevent you from seeking relief in Quebec.<\/strong> If the foreign court did not rule on support or property, and you reside in Quebec, the Superior Court can do so. Recognition of the foreign judgment can be sought in the same proceeding.<\/p>\n

Foreign law must be proven, and proven up to date.<\/strong> A party who wants a foreign law to apply must establish its content through precise and recent expert evidence. A three-year-old opinion, given before the implementing regulations were published, was not enough here.<\/p>\n

Safeguard orders must be obeyed.<\/strong> Support arrears can lead to severe measures, up to and including the suspension of a passport and the forced sale of real property.<\/p>\n

Further reading<\/h2>\n

See also our columns on the parental union, the unified family tribunal and siblings caught between two courts<\/a>, on spousal support after a 22-year relationship, where the Court set an end date<\/a> and on the rules for relocating with your child after a separation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

This column is published for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Because every situation is unique, you should consult a lawyer for advice tailored to your own case. Feel free to contact Virtulex avocats to discuss your situation.<\/em><\/p>\n

William Desrochers, Attorney, Virtulex avocats \u2014 www.virtulexavocats.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Reference: Droit de la famille \u2014 26711<\/em>, 2026 QCCS 2119, Superior Court of Qu\u00e9bec, District of Montr\u00e9al, the Honourable Johanne Mainville, J.S.C., May 11, 2026 \u2014 read the judgment on CanLII (in French)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A divorce granted in the United Arab Emirates, a mother back in Quebec with the child and four years of litigation. The Superior Court recognizes the foreign divorce, refuses to send the case back to the UAE and rules that Quebec and Canadian law will govern support. 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