I'm an American married to a Russian woman for the past 7 years. We married in 2008 in Moscow and have lived in the Netherlands for the entire time. I bought properties during marriage with money I had earned long before marriage. These are mostly in another European country.

When I purchased them I was required to give wife's consent as I was married.

We are currently discussing divorce.

Will I be obligated to give her a portion of these properties by law under divorce settlement?

Is there a possibility to get a pension from him after divorce? In which case would be more profitable?

What if I have proven that my husband cheated me? It would influence on my rights during divorce? If so, in which way?

And what are the differences in the case of divorce with and without a child? In which case would be more profitable for me?

You told me it would be more profitable for me to born a child in my country than in Russia; why so? In which case I would have the child's custody?

I'm an American. I'm married to a Russian citizen two years ago.
I have no idea in which regime we’ve got married.
I mean, all documents are written in Russian language, and we haven’t made any Marriage Contract before wedding.
I would like to know what my rights are if I ask a divorce.

The only one document I can give you is the Marriage Certificate.

I'm an American. I'm married to a Russian citizen two years ago. I’ve been asked to go twice to notary to sign a document for renting his property, as they told since we’ve got married he’ll always need my signature for any renting/selling properties.

Good Afternoon Mrs Duvall,

I need your help to get a divorce in Russia, i will explain my situation.
I have Moroccan citizen and living in France with a permanent residency card.

My husband from whom i am separated since almost 2 years and half, is Russian and is living in St. Petersburg.

He has been converted to islam and we get the islamic marriage in the mosque in Moscow respecting all the rools of an islamic wedding 2 witnesses (his friends & collaborators) the dowry, and even the amount he should pay if we get divorced , i have attached the marriage document.

My husband from whom I want to get divorced refused to give me back all my staff work products clothes choses bags he kept all my personal staff in his flat in Russia and also in our common flat in france. He changes the lock in that way he kept even my jewels and all my personal staff.

Please i need help to have my rights from this man, first of all i want to know if this wedding is available in the russian civil law, if it isn’t i want to divorce with the islamic law in russia and get my rights.

Please let me know if you can help me and if you need more information more details please just ask me.

Thank you very much for your help,
looking forward hearing from you

Ms Duvall,

We have a legal issue we would like your advice on (we're not planning a divorce - but you have useful info on your web site about our question and would seem to know more than most, including lawyers and notaries in Moscow) -

What is the best ownership of Moscow property for tax and survivorship purposes for a couple with one Russian citizen (wife - who is a dual Russian / US citizen).

We have an apartment in Moscow bought originally under under the husband's name (US citizen) via a mortgage. It is currently listed under the husband and wife's name. We would like to minimize potential taxes if we decide to sell (which would probably mean putting it solely in the wife's name (she is also still registered as a Moscow resident - and did recently complete the registration of the fact that she has also a foreign passport), but also make any survivorship issue as uncomplicated as possible. Our assumption is that there is no straightforward Russian equivalent to Joint Tenant with Right of Survivorship ownership mechanism.

What would be your estimate for basic review and advice of our issue.

My wife told me below that she sent you a letter. Asking for child support. What are child support payments on average in Russia? How you can help me?