Legal Question in Family Law in California
Back from the dead...which marriage is legal
if a spouse is declared legally dead, and you remarry, but the spouse really isn't dead is the second marriage legal, or are you still married to the first person? I thought there was a thing about a certain number of years having to had gone by.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Back from the dead...which marriage is legal
This is a very interesting question. The only reference to a missing person appears to be in the probate code. A person who has not been seen for 5 years maybe declared dead by the court. 5 years after the person is declared dead the reappearance of the person does no allow the recovery of distributed property. The court in returning property to the party that was presumed to be dead is to use equity to determine what and how much of the property is to be returned. Unless the spouse was declared dead by the court the second marriage would probably not be valid. You will probably have to pay an attorney to research this issue for you.