Question

please help! (divorce?)

Asked 2 January 2013 · 1 answer

The question

When I was 19 my boyfriend at the time and I decided to get married... We went to city hall in NY and got a marriage license. A few days later we had a small wedding in a hall where a reverend performed a ceremony. After the ceremony the reverend handed me the license and said here you go congratulations.... 5 years, 2 kids later when we decide to call it quits we come across the marriage license which we never turned in. We had no idea that we were supposed to return anything to the county clerk. When I went to city hall to see if I am legally married one person said No and another said Yes.... I am now in a relationship and want to marry my fiancé.... What do I do? Am I married still? Am I free to do as I please? Fyi he and I have been broken up since 2002... Helpppppppp!

From the LawyerCentral forum archive. Originally posted 2 January 2013 on a legal forum that has closed. Names and contact details were removed. See the original (Internet Archive).

1 answer

Visitor answer 8 January 2013

Requirements for marriage in New York state is 1) two individuals sign a license in the presence of a town or city clerk. After a 24 hour waiting period, there is 2) a ceremony in city hall. That is it. (removed)

You should go through divorce, if only to avoid possible bigamy, or trying to marry someone else despite already being in a marriage. Although criminal bigamy laws are very very rarely enforced, your new marriage could still be annulled, or voided as a result.

I am not an attorney. Please seek a family lawyer for legal advice.

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