Legal Question in Family Law in California
Legal Marriage
My husband was going through a divorce when we got engaged. Two weeks before the wedding we discovered that his exwife attorney never filed the divorce papers. We went through with the marriage with a wedding license in a different county (same state). Three weeks after our marriage, His exwife past away. Next month will be our ten year anniversary. Is our marriage legal and binding?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Legal Marriage
Whether or not you have a "legal" marriage you probably have a putative marriage which will end with the same result. My suggestion, why don't you renew your vows on your tenth anniversay, with a confidential marriage certificate and then there will be no question about the marriage and you can celebrate you ten years of commitment to each other. There is a possibility that you could have a judgment entered "nunc pro tunc" which would validate your original marriage. If you did that you would need to have an attorney review the file and give you an opinion. Good Luck, Pat McCrary