A divorce judgment handed down by the civil courts of Abu Dhabi awarding custody of a couple’s two children to the wife and ordering the husband’s compliance with support provisions is entitled to recognition in New York, a judge has ruled.
“None of the principles used by the Abu Dhabi courts in the parties’ divorce action may be considered violative of our public policy. . . [T]his Court finds that the foreign court had jurisdiction over the parties at the time the divorce was granted and judgment was entered, and that recognition of the foreign judgment would present no serious conflict with a compelling public policy of this State,” Westchester County Supreme Court Justice Francesca Connolly (See Profile) wrote in S.B. v. W.A., 000408/11, citing the doctrine of comity to grant the wife’s bid over the husband’s objections to have the divorce decree recognized.
