Legal Question in Family Law in California

My fiance is currently in county jail and has been for the last 18 months. He and I applied for a marriage license over a year ago.Through the process, we found out that his divorce from a previous relationship was never finalized. Therefore we could not legally be married. His ex was granted the divorce and full custody of their children back in 2004. Unfortunately she never got the judgment signed off on by the judge to finalize the divorce. She was the petitioner and she is not in jail, so you'd think this would've been taken care of over a year ago when I informed her of the proper steps the lady at the county clerk's office told me she needed to take, which were very simple. Well my fiance and I have grown extremely frustrated and impatient with the situation because we feel she is probably doing this out of spite and jealousy. So we would like to take matters into our own hands. We just don't know how to go about doing it seeing how she was the petitioner and he is currently in jail. Please advise!


Asked on 1/20/10, 11:33 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cristin Lowe Law Office of Cristin M. Lowe

If the divorce was granted by the Judge, meaning that it was during a hearing or trial, I would advise you to try and find the transcript from that hearing. In your fiance's file (which is open to the public, including you), there should be a document called a "Minute Order" from the court proceedings. The Minute Order should have the Court reporter's name, and you would need to contact the reporter directly to purchase the transcript.

Once you have the transcript, you will need to complete the judgment documents based on the Court's orders from that proceeding. Your fiance does not technically have to be the one to draft the document.

Depending on your county of residence, there may be a free clinic or a family law facilitator who can give you a little bit of assistance.

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Answered on 1/26/10, 1:00 pm


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