Blog

For a founder, a company is not just an asset; it is a life’s work, a source of income, and often an identity. When a marriage ends, that business can suddenly become the most contested item on the table, and in a French-American divorce, the questions multiply. Is the company “yours” or “ours”? What is…

Emily moved to Lyon from Boston eleven years ago for her husband’s job. The marriage ended last spring, the divorce was finalised in France, and the children, nine and six, live with her during the week and with their father every other weekend. Her parents are ageing, her career has stalled, and she has been…

Ask an American what they own with their spouse, and they will usually answer by state: “We’re in California, so it’s community property.” Ask a French person the same question, and they will answer by regime: the legal framework their marriage runs on. Understanding how these two ways of thinking collide is the heart of…

A transatlantic life is a beautiful thing until it has to be divided. When your wealth sits on both sides of the ocean, an apartment in Paris, a home in the U.S., retirement accounts, a business, perhaps a trust, a divorce becomes an exercise in coordination as much as in law. The decisions you make…

Of every decision you will make in a cross-border divorce, the choice of where to file may be the one that shapes the outcome most. Before a single financial argument is heard, the country whose court decides your case has already tilted the playing field. And in many French-American situations, both countries’ courts can legitimately…

What happens to the family home when an international couple divorces in France.

The stages of a French divorce, explained for expatriates and binational couples.