Family
Divorce Act with Civil Code rules on succession
Divorce is governed by the Divorce Act, with irretrievable breakdown shown most often by one year of separation. The Civil Status Act governs registration of marriages and births, and the Children (Care, Protection and Adoption) Act deals with children in need of protection. Succession is civilian, and the Civil Code imposes forced heirship style protection for certain heirs.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — High Court for divorce and succession; District Court for protection orders
- Deadline — Divorce: generally one year of separation before petitioning
- Deadline — Protection order: available ex parte in urgent cases
- Deadline — Renunciation or acceptance of a succession: within the codal period after the death
Governing law
- Divorce Act
- Civil Code of Saint Luciamarriage and succession
- Children (Care, Protection and Adoption) Act
- Domestic Violence (Summary Proceedings) Act
In practice
Succession is where the mixed system most surprises foreign advisers, because the Civil Code restricts complete freedom of testation and reserves shares for close heirs, so an English style will leaving everything to a spouse may be partly ineffective. Estate planning for Saint Lucian immovables therefore has to be done under the Code, whatever the testator's domicile.