Financial provision on divorce with cross-border property elements.
Background
In this Aberdeen Sheriff Court action, decided by Sheriff Philip Mann in August 2025, the court dealt with financial provision following the breakdown of a marriage, in circumstances involving heritable property in Russia and disputed questions of valuation.
Why this decision matters
Cases with assets held abroad raise practical questions that purely domestic divorces do not: how foreign property is to be valued, how findings about it are to be evidenced, and how it is to be brought into account in the fair sharing of the matrimonial property under the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985. The decision illustrates the care the courts take with such questions. A fuller summary will follow once the full judgment has been reviewed.