EU aims to close down 'divorce shopping'

BRUSSELS - The European Commission has unveiled plans to end the widespread practice of "divorce shopping", where one separating spouse rushes to court before the other to exploit advantageous laws in a particular country.

Under proposals, rules would be laid out to make clear which legal system would administer the growing number of "international divorcees". With 25 different legal systems in the EU, divorcing couples often find themselves in a legal morass. Problems are common for spouses of different nationality, those who have separated and live in two countries or those who are abroad.

New rules would allow couples to choose which of the legal systems to which they have ties they prefer to use. If they cannot agree, EU regulations would use a scale of "connecting factors" to determine the country to which the couple had strongest ties. Officials are also looking at adopting a similar plan for division of property rights during international divorces.

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