Legal Question in Family Law in Connecticut

I was married (or so I thought) in FL in 2006. I filed for divorce in CT in 2011. No divorce has been granted as of yet, and I recently found out that in order for a marriage to be valid in FL there must be a ceremony performed. We didn't have any type of ceremony whatsoever, I was pregnant and we went to a UPS store and simply paid the notary fee and had our license signed by the notary. The only exchange of words between the three of us (myself, my "husband", and the notary) were questions about how much she would charge us to notarize it, her asking for our IDs, and "here you go, have a nice day!"...I looked at a notary handbook for performing wedding ceremonies (www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/notary/wedding_handbook.pdf), and found that notaries, although allowed to perform wedding ceremonies, are NOT allowed to simply sign the paper without an exchange of some type of vows, and that their signature actually indicates that they have already performed a ceremony. Are there any FL statutes regarding the necessity of a ceremony to legalize a marriage? I know that there are no laws in FL regarding annulment, but would a copy of the wedding handbook for notaries suffice in a CT court to prove that our marriage would be invalid without a ceremony? And would my statement that there were no vows exchanged, combined with the UPS store receipt, be proof enough that there was no ceremony? My "husband" will also attest to this fact. What are my chances of the court granting us an annulment?


Asked on 7/23/12, 9:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Linda Subbloie Linda A. Subbloie, Esq.

Although I would have to do some research on your question before giving you a more definite answer, if you can show that the wedding ceremony was defective under Florida law and the marriage is not recognized under Florida law, then CT would most likely not recognize it either and grant you an annulment. I believe you could convert your divorce action to an annulment action.

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Answered on 7/24/12, 12:42 pm


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