Legal Question in Family Law in California

You've got a problem. If you are not divorced from your first wife, your second marriage is considered a bigamous marriage, and is void and could be subject to annulment. But it does not sound like you want to end your second marriage, and your second wife would be a putative spouse, entitled to the same rights as a nonbigamous marriage.

You need to find out if you are truly divorced. You can only do that by searching the court records where your divorce should have taken place. A marriage is only terminated when the court signs a decree of dissolution, that terminates the parties status as married and restores them to a status as a single people.

You are exactly right. You must annul your second marriage, complete the divorce of the first marriage, and then remarry your wife. Your second marriage is void. The status of putative spouse does not validate the marriage, as Mr. Roach seems to be implying (I can't quite tell what he is saying about that). The status of putative spouse is only relevant in an annulment proceeding. If you intend to remarry, you most likely will want to give your second wife putative spouse status, since that means treating everything you thought was community property as community property, making it easier to recombine things as soon as the annulment and divorce are completed and you remarry.

I just recently concluded a case almost exactly the same as yours: H thought W1 had completed the divorce, when W1 had not, so we had to annul the marriage between H and W2 and complete the divorce of H and W1 so H and W2 could re-marry. If you would like assistance with your case, please let me know. If the case is uncomplicated and W1 cooperates, the total cost should be quite modest.