Complex Multi-Jurisdictional Divorce with Child Custody

We immediately coordinated with the husband's Canadian family-law counsel to manage the parallel proceedings. The first decision: which jurisdiction was the appropriate forum for the substantive issues? The factual case for Vietnam was strong:

- Children's habitual residence: Vietnam (last four years);

- Children's schooling, friendships, medical care, and language: Vietnamese and English in Vietnam;

- Joint marital home: Vietnam;

- Both parents resident in Vietnam at the time the marriage broke down;

- Substantial Vietnamese assets including the consultancy business.

We filed comprehensive evidence of these factors with the Vietnamese court and made parallel submissions in Toronto (through Canadian counsel) urging the Canadian court to defer to Vietnamese jurisdiction on the principle of forum non conveniens.

In parallel, we worked with Canadian counsel and a court-appointed child welfare assessor in Hanoi to develop a comprehensive parenting plan. Recognising that the wife had genuine Canadian connections and that the children had Canadian citizenship, the plan provided for the children to remain primarily in Hanoi during school terms, generous summer and winter holiday periods in Canada with the mother, and structured travel protocols requiring written consent from both parents and notice to both courts.

The property settlement followed a similar structure: Vietnamese assets divided in Vietnam under Vietnamese law, Canadian assets divided in Canada under Canadian law, with a side-agreement reconciling the totals to ensure overall equitable division.

The Vietnamese court issued a final order incorporating the negotiated parenting plan and Vietnamese-asset division, six months after our initial filing. The Toronto court accepted Vietnamese jurisdiction over the substantive parenting issues and adjusted its proceedings to address only the Canadian-asset and Canadian-immigration questions, which were resolved through corresponding orders.

The arrangement has now operated for nearly a year. The children continue to attend school in Hanoi; they spent eight weeks in Toronto over the summer holiday with their mother; both parents speak with the children daily through video calls. There has been no further court intervention. The mother subsequently relocated to Toronto on her existing professional commitments, and the children's primary residence with the father in Hanoi has been stable.