Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky

Re: Marriage/divorce

It is not possible to give you a clear legal answer to your inquiry without a more detailed evaluation of the facts of your case. Several questions are presented:

1. Is your "husband" a resident of Kentucky?

2. Do you have any children by this man?

3. During the term of this fraudulent marriage, did you and this man accumulate any assets or debts?

Depending upon your answers to these questions, your situation might be quite simple or very complex.

Basically speaking, you cannot obtain a dissolution of marriage (divorce) from a fraudulent marriage.

The man may be technically guilty of bigamy, but if the status of his previous marriage was unknown to you, your exposure to criminal liability is minimal.

Kentucky has a special procedure, know as "Petition for Declaration of Invalidity of Marriage," in which you can ask a court for an Order declaring that your marriage to this man was "void ab initio" (void from the start).

You may also have to ask the court to divide your mutual assets and debts, and to provide for the custody and support of your children, if any. You may have to file separate court actions to accomplish all of this.

You need to talk to a family law attorney as soon as possible.

You should not take any action, based upon my advice, without consulting an attorney and explaining all the facts to him. You are best advised to seek the services of a competent Kentucky attorney. You can telephone your local bar association for a referral, or can find a good lawyer on-line at the Kentucky Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service:

http://www.kybar.org/Default.aspx?tabid=291

Good luck!

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Re: Marriage/divorce

You need to file a petition to have your marriage declared "void ab initio" (void from the start). If you have your marriage certificate and you have a copy of his divorce decree and findings of fact, it should be pretty straight forward.