Two Habitual Residences

Ikimi v Ikimi ([2001] FCR 385, CA)

The husband filed a petition for divorce in Nigeria asserting his Nigerian domicile and the wife filed an answer and cross-petition pleading that her permanent address and matrimonial home were in Lagos and that she was domiciled in Nigeria. The wife then applied for dissolution of the marriage in England on the basis that she had resided in England for the past 13 months. The husband challenged the jurisdiction of the English court arguing that the periods spent by the wife in England amounted to only 161 days, or 44 % of the year which was insufficient to be categorised as residence, let alone habitual residence.