July 29, 2025

How to Divorce for Persons Who Live Abroad

by Ekosolicitors

For cost efficiency, yes, a spouse who live abroad can conduct a divorce case in Nigeria. Furthermore, for the preference of applying Nigerian matrimonial laws, individuals residing overseas can pursue divorce in Nigeria. This flexibility makes divorce for persons who live abroad a viable option.

The widespread search for better opportunities and current economic conditions are causing mass emigration from Nigeria. Spouses living abroad are certainly part of this movement. The added pressures of integration and significant culture shocks often strain marriages and the personal lives of these individuals. This frequently leads them to seek a cost-efficient way to end such marriages. This article addresses a key concern: divorce for persons who live abroad.

The crucial factor for a spouse living abroad to bring a divorce action and seek other reliefs in Nigeria is domicile. This is distinct from residence, which simply indicates physical presence, and citizenship, which denotes patriotic allegiance. However, there are times when these three concepts align in the same individual. Understanding domicile is key to understanding divorce for persons who live abroad.

Domicile, as a legal concept, generally signifies a person’s intention not to be estranged from a place. It’s often that deep yearning for home that never leaves a person—a nostalgic affiliation and a fixation to home that truly endures.

Therefore, if a spouse living abroad harbors such intentions or nostalgic feelings of not abandoning home, regardless of how long they’ve been away, they can still be considered domiciled in Nigeria. This principle directly enables divorce for persons who live abroad.

Initiating a divorce suit in Nigeria by an individual residing abroad is not limited to those resident in Nigeria. Thus, it is legally permissible for a spouse not physically in Nigeria to initiate a divorce process in Nigerian courts. This underlines the accessibility of divorce for persons who live abroad.

Further, divorce for persons who live abroad and not resident in Nigeria is not restricted to those married in Nigeria. It is entirely possible for spouses who married outside of Nigeria, but where one or both are domiciled in Nigeria, to conduct their divorce proceedings perfectly within the Nigerian Court system.

There are clear advantages to using the Nigerian Court System for divorce for persons who live abroad. A notable case, Ogunlesi v Ogunlesi, involved a spouse living abroad and another in Nigeria. In this instance, the spouse residing abroad initiated the case in Canada, while the spouse in Nigeria filed in Nigeria.

The Nigerian case, in a manner of speaking, eventually took precedence over the proceedings in Canada. This highly publicized case involved one of the four ultra-wealthy Ogunlesi brothers, children of Nigeria’s first Professor of Medicine. Numerous properties in both Nigeria and Canada were involved, and the Nigerian Court’s decision was binding across both jurisdictions. This case serves as a powerful precedent for divorce for persons who live abroad.

Alli v Okoloko is another such case where a spouse living abroad challenged the court’s jurisdiction in a case initiated by a spouse living in Nigeria. The Court affirmed that an individual residing abroad can file a divorce suit in Nigeria, with domicile being the crucial factor.

The court even went far as to state that the spouse living abroad in that case were still domiciled in Nigeria. The Court further extended the capacity to sue in Nigeria to individuals who did not even marry in Nigeria. Broadening the scope for divorce for persons who live abroad.

Modern virtual proceedings now also facilitate divorce for persons who live abroad, allowing both spouses to conduct complete proceedings using Nigerian Courts without ever physically stepping into Nigeria.

It is fitting to conclude with the words of Justice Olukayode Jimi Bada of the Court of Appeal on this point:.

“I do not agree with that submission because insofar as determining the Jurisdiction of the trial Court is concerned it is the domicile of the Respondent that is relevant. I have stated earlier that both parties are Nigerians even their children are Nigerians, though the Appellant and the children are for now domiciled in the United States of America but in my view,

that has nothing to do with the Jurisdiction of the trial Court when Section 2(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act is applied. It has been contended that the High Court in Nigeria lack Jurisdiction to entertain dissolution of a marriage that was not celebrated in Nigeria or under the Marriage Act.” This judicial stance firmly supports the possibility of divorce for persons who lives abroad.

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