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SIX REASONS
Why a Divorce from Guam U.S.A. IS better than a Caribbean divorce

Many people want to know why an American divorce from Guam is better than a foreign divorce from say, Haiti, Dominican Republic, or Honduras. Here are six reasons why you should seek your divorce through Guam rather than some Caribbean nation.

I.  ITS VALID!

2.  ITS FASTER! 

3.  ITS SAFER!

4. CORRUPTION FREE U.S. LEGAL SYSTEM AND U.S. TRAINED ATTORNEYS

5.  ITS IN ENGLISH!

6.  ITS CHEAPER!

For all questions about Guam Divorces, custody or support, ask for attorney Ron Moroni. 1-866-472-1540.

I.  VALIDITY AND RECOGNITION All U.S. courts and agencies, are required to accept a Guam divorce, as Guam is a U.S. jurisdiction. Guam's court decrees are entitled to "full faith and credit."  (read more about full faith and credit) U.S. court's are not required to accept divorce decrees from Caribbean nations. Almost every court and Federal agency that has addressed this question, has found quick Dominican Republic and other Caribbean Divorces  to be invalid and not entitled to recognition. (read more about U.S. courts and agencies refusing to recognize Caribbean Divorces.) In some cases this has had catastrophic results with people remarrying and years later finding out that their second marriage was invalid, or worse, they were bigamists.

2.  SPEED - A Guam divorce is faster than a Caribbean divorce. A Guam divorce can be completed in about two weeks from the time you arrive in Guam. At that time you would receive the final divorce decree and  be free to remarry. A typical Caribbean divorce usually takes at least one month and often  two months. Many websites imply that a Caribbean divorce only takes 24 hours. That is not true. You may only need to be in the Caribbean country for 24 hours. It takes much longer than that to obtain the divorce decree. (read more about the time required for a Caribbean Divorce).

3.  SAFETY  - Guam, while unknown to many people in the continental U.S., is truly an American vacation paradise. Guam citizens are U.S. citizens. Guam has a modern, effective police force, and an affluent, well educated population. There is little poverty; crime is below U.S. national averages; and serious crime directed at tourists is very rare. Sanitation and public health are up to U.S. Standards and the tap water is safe to drink.. Even budget hotels are clean and sanitary. As anywhere in the U.S., restaurants are regularly inspected. Traffic is light compared to most major U.S. cities. Guam is a safe, pleasant and enjoyable place to spend seven days, with extraordinary hotels, nightlife, diving, golf, and beaches.

On the other hand, the Caribbean countries which offer quick divorces are some of the most wretched, impoverished  and dangerous places on the face of the earth. Sanitation is generally poor, and disease is rampant. Dangerous crime is commonplace and the U.S. State Department regularly advises Americans against travel to these countries. (read more about the hazards of traveling to Caribbean Divorce countries, click here.)

4. CORRUPTION FREE U.S. LEGAL SYSTEM AND U.S. TRAINED ATTORNEYS. In most divorces, there is property that needs to be divided, and often child support and custody questions that need to be agreed upon. In an uncontested divorce, these are usually addressed in a marital settlement agreement. If you are an American, you will want this agreement drafted by attorneys that understand American legal principals, and whose principal language is English. You will want the terms of the agreement, and the court decree to be understandable to another U.S. court, should it ever need to be enforced. The terms used should be based on American common law. If you retain our law firm, the same attorneys that represents you in court, will draft your agreement.

The legal and judicial system in Guam is the same as in any other U.S. state or territory. The Guam court system was established by a Act of the U.S. Congress, which maintains ultimate supervision over Guam courts. Guam lawyers and  judges are well trained and educated in U.S. law schools. All proceedings are in English, and based on the American common law legal system and US standards of  integrity. The terms used in court documents and marital settlement agreements  would be recognizable by any other U.S. court. Guam has an active Bar Association which supervises the legal profession. Records at the Guam Superior court are well maintained and accessible.

On the other hand, The Dominican and Haitian Legal Systems, for the most part, are derived from laws or statues known as the Napoleonic code. The legal system then is that of Civil Law and not Common Law, and based on property and legal principles very different from those in effect in the U.S. Proceedings are in Spanish, so all documents must be translated. 

The Dominican Republic requires the parties to enter into a marital settlement agreement, but recommends that it be draft by US attorneys, presumably in English. This means additional time and expense for you. The  lawyers in the DR who handle your divorce and the judge who reviews it, may not even understand it.

Worse, incompetency and corruption permeate DR legal system. Consider this this observation made by a DR reporter familiar with the system:

"Nobody denies the corruption and lack of organization of Dominican courts in general... A visitor unfamiliar with these places will certainly be shocked at the open filing cabinets and the stacks of folders tied with strings covering the floors. The Third World is here for sure...

 … Mediocre or bad lawyers neglect to take any special protective measures and end up harming their clients.

… It is a sad truth that the standard of practice in the legal profession in the Dominican Republic is very uneven.  We do have many reputable law firms with good track records in dealing with foreign clients. But we also have many attorneys who are inept if not crooked. You cannot just assume that the average lawyer is competent to do even a simple real estate purchase..."

The U.S. Embassy in the DR, also emphasizes the importance of being careful when you choose an attorney in a developing foreign country:

"Obtaining an effective Dominican attorney for legal representation is essential.  It cannot be emphasized too much that care should be exercised in the selection of one’s attorney, particularly if (s)he does not appear on the Embassy list.  A defendant should be wary of flattery, extravagant claims and innuendo put forward by attorneys.  Some Americans have ignored this warning and suffered inadequate defense and excessive fees as a result."

Apparently, many of the DR attorneys that offer foreign divorces, cannot be trusted. Consider this warning from the website of the DR Embassy in Washington:

"The Embassy of the Dominican Republic understands that a number of web sites on the Internet assert that U. S. citizens can obtain divorces in the Dominican Republic without either of the spouses having to appear in the Dominican Republic before a Dominican court and without mutual consent. This information is completely incorrect and directly contrary to Dominican law. If someone has paid any money to obtain a divorce in the Dominican Republic, but has not complied with the requirements listed above, that divorce is invalid and will not be recognized as valid by courts in the Dominican Republic or in the United States."

Also, when you finally get your Caribbean divorce decree, make sure you hold on to it, as it may be difficult to get a new copy. From the U.S. Embassy website:

"Obtaining a Copy of a Dominican Divorce Decree

The Dominican public registry offices operate differently from those in the U.S. and documents concerning legal procedures are obtained differently here. The only record of a divorce is a hand-written entry in a book in one of the many civil registry offices in the city where the divorce was performed. Since the records are not entered alphabetically but chronologically, they can only be retrieved on that basis. In addition, registry employees do not perform searches for the public. Books for a particular month are made available so that an individual or her/his representative can locate the desired entry. An extract of the record can then be prepared by the registry employee for a fee.

Searching for a particular record can be very time consuming unless one knows the precise date of the divorce and the precise location of the civil registry office in which the book is physically located. Therefore, if you cannot be in the Dominican Republic to perform the search, you should consider hiring a lawyer or other representative to obtain the extract on your behalf."

Of course, once you find your Spanish divorce decree, you will need to have it translated again.

5.  LANGUAGE An obvious advantage of the Guam divorce is that everything is in English. You will be fully able to understand all of the court documents you sign. There is no chance that something will be lost in the translation. Caribbean divorces, of course, are in Spanish. Your marital settlement agreement will be drafted in English, then apparently translated into Spanish so the Caribbean judge can understand it. The  divorce decree will be translated from Spanish to English. Each time a document goes through a translation, there is a chance that its meaning will be changed. This would be particularly true for property settlement agreements, which contain many difficult English legal terms, that have no counterparts in the Spanish-Civil Law system. With a Guam divorce, at least you will be able to understand the documents you are signing.

6.  COST In most instance, a Guam divorce will be cheaper than a Caribbean divorce. The total cost for the Guam divorce is $1200.00, which includes the filing fee, and a marital settlement agreement, custom drafted by a licensed U.S. Attorney, specializing in U.S. Divorce law.

Now let's look at a Caribbean divorce. Dominican Republic law requires that the parties have a marital settlement agreement. The Dominican Embassy advises that this should be drafted by an attorney where you live: The DR Embassy official website states:

"The spouses should have such an agreement drafted by an attorney who practices law in the jurisdiction of the domicile of the marriage." (i.e., the state where you live)

This is a good idea, since you do not want a Spanish speaking, civil law attorney, accustomed to the Napoleonic Code, drafting an agreement to divide your U.S. property. So before you even leave for the DR, you will expend money on a U.S. Attorney, to draft the agreement. Expect this to cost from $500 to $1000.00, if done by a qualified U.S. Attorney. (For the Guam divorce, this cost is included in the price.)

After you have the Settlement agreement prepared, the the typical Caribbean law firm or divorce service charges $2000.00 for the divorce, making the total cost more than double the cost of the Guam divorce.