USTDC

Photo of USTDC courtesy of Les Duffin

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Technical Expertise

Okay, this is way off-topic but I could really use some advice from the knowledgeable folks who read this blog.

Long story short: I'm taking a little non-credit creative writing course and am working on a short story that includes an American military guy who divorces his Taiwanese wife, while still in Taiwan. In the story, the guy also gets custody of their two kids -- let's say they're maybe three or four years old. Let's say she did something really bad to lose the kids in a custody fight. Obviously this would have taken place somewhere between 1955 and 1979.

Two quick questions:
  1. Would a divorce like this have been handled in a Taiwanese court or an American court, or would the government have just sent her (and/or him) back to the States?
  2. Would there ever be a circumstance under which she could have lost the kids?
This is all fiction, so whatever I write becomes the reality. But it always bugs me to read a novel and see something that I know is just simply impossible, and I'd like to avoid that.

If anyone has a thought on this, either post it here or just drop me an email.

Thanks much,

Don

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No legal expert, but it has been common amongst expats in Taiwan NOT to get married in Taiwan because of the 'legality' of Taiwan marraige in countries that do not recognise Taiwan as a country. Same goes for divorce. It may not be recognised.

Also, very few non-Taiwanese passport holders are actually official residents in Taiwan. The process to gain citizenship has always been a pain.

Don said...

Thanks very much for your comments. I think I'll slightly modify the story line to just avoid the issue altogether.