Spouse missing in West Africa for three years and domestic assets being transferred

Background

A husband working in Ghana became unreachable and, over three years, domestic assets worth roughly RMB 10 million were being transferred out of his name. The wife needed both the divorce and the assets secured.

The difficulty

The transfers were already underway, the husband's whereabouts were unknown, and any judgment would be difficult to enforce across jurisdictions with limited mutual recognition.

What was done

Pre-litigation preservation was applied for immediately, before the remaining assets could be dealt with, and the case proceeded on public-notice service. The division was then structured so that the wife's share was satisfied out of the preserved Chinese assets, which avoided reliance on cross-border enforcement.

Outcome

The divorce was granted in the husband's absence and the wife's share was realised out of the preserved Chinese assets, with no need for cross-border enforcement.

Why this pattern recurs

Where assets are already being moved, preservation is not a step in the process — it is the whole case. Everything else can be dealt with afterwards, but the assets cannot be recovered once they have gone.

If your situation looks similar

Send the facts in one message: where the marriage was registered, where each party lives now, where any children are, and where the assets are held. That is usually enough to say whether a China route exists, and there is no charge for that first review.

Figures and outcomes described here relate to a specific matter and do not indicate a repeatable result.

Points to take away

• Where assets are already being moved, preservation is not a step in the process — it is the whole case. Everything else can be dealt with afterwards, but the assets cannot be recovered once they have gone.
• The divorce was granted in the husband's absence and the wife's share was realised out of the preserved Chinese assets, with no ne