Schedules
Schedule 11 – Financial provision in Scotland after overseas proceedings
676.This Schedule explains the circumstances under which a Scottish court may consider an application for financial provision following the dissolution or annulment of a civil partnership overseas.
Part 1- Introductory
677.This Part states that the provisions of Schedule 11 will apply wherever a civil partnership has been dissolved or annulled after judicial or other proceedings overseas, and the dissolution or annulment is entitled to recognition in Scotland. Dissolutions or annulments granted before the commencement of Schedule 11 are included. “Overseas” is defined as meaning outside the British Islands.
Part 2- Circumstances in which court may entertain application for financial provision
678.This Part provides that the Scottish court may entertain an application by one of the former (or former ostensible) civil partners following the overseas dissolution or annulment if the criteria specified in paragraphs 2(2) and (3) are satisfied. The application must be made by the party who did not initiate the overseas proceedings, and must be made within five years of the overseas dissolution or annulment taking effect. Both former partners must be alive when the application is made. The other criteria are designed to ensure a substantial connection between the civil partnership and Scotland, and between the parties and both Scotland and the jurisdiction of the relevant court. Paragraph 2(4) gives priority to the jurisdictional standards set out in Part 1 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgements Act 1982 and in Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, which will supersede the criteria in paragraph 2(2) where they apply.
Part 3 - Disposal of applications
679.Under this Part, Scots law will generally apply to the disposal of the application. In particular, the court is to endeavour to place the parties in the position they would have been in had the application for financial provision been disposed of by the Scottish court as part of a Scottish action for dissolution or annulment and on the date when the overseas dissolution or annulment took effect. The court is to have regard to the resources of the parties and to any order for financial provision already made overseas in or in connection with the foreign dissolution or annulment proceedings. An interim periodical allowance may be ordered where appropriate to relieve hardship. However, where the Scottish court’s jurisdiction is based solely on the presence of a former family home of the parties in which the respondent has an interest, any order made must relate to the family home, its contents or their capital value.
Part 4 - The expression “order for financial provision”
680.This Part defines the term “order for financial provision” with reference to section 8(1) of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 (as amended by this Act), and to section 109.
