Legal Question in Family Law in California

I just finished a case almost exactly like yours. Although the marriage is void, it is still "on the books," and it's voidable status has not been officially established. Therefore you cannot marry again. You must get an annulment. If he will cooperate, the process can be pretty quick and relatively inexpensive. Because annulments cannot be done without a trial, however, it is not recommended that you try to do it yourself. Even Nolo Press, which bases its entire existence on helping people do things without a lawyer, recommends you have an attorney help you with an annulment.

I am sorry to hear this, your situation sounds frustrating.

When someone commits bigamy, meaning they are already married when they enter into another marriage, the subsequent marriage is not legally valid. However, since there is likely record of the marriage through registration of a marriage license, it may be a good idea to get the marriage legally annulled. A legal annulment will create a court record that the marriage was never legally valid. Additionally, an annulment proceeding may provide protection for you in the event you decide to remarry. Through the proceeding, your ex will either participate or not. If he does not participate, then you are creating a record of the facts the way you know them. If he does participate and has no defense then a record is created that this truly was an invalid marriage. If he participates and has some sort of defense, that will go into the record and create clarity as to the true status of your marriage. This is relevant because if you choose to remarry and there are some facts you do not know rendering his (your ex') prior marriage invalid or terminating it in some fashion, you may unknowingly create bigamy yourself by getting married while you are legally married.

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